“— I done it for my own pure-D satisfaction.” (Welty 216)
The short story, “Where is the Voice Coming From?”, by the great Eudora Welty is by far a must read. It is personally my favorite story from Mrs. Eudora Welty. It is brutally honest in its writing from the mind of a white supremacist within the 1960’s. The story was written following the assassination of Medgar Evers, and is to have been written based on his assassination. For this review, I went back for a second time reading this story looking for understanding within the mindset of the narrator. Through my first read, I only found anger. I believe my first read did not give the work itself enough justice. I read the story and could not get past the language to find the beauty in the message. In this read, I searched for an understanding. By stating understanding I do not by any means refer to compassion for the narrator; my meaning is finding a comprehension as to what leads the man to take action. In this read, I found great detailing in his thought process, his own personal character flaws, as well as the character development throughout the story which I found a great interest in. The story as so many symbolic aspects to it, and I encourage others to challenge themselves to dig deep into the story and find the dark thoughts of what I can only label as a jealous and unrighteous man.
A disclaimer to potential readers that I can give, is that Eudora Welty does not under any means restrain language from this piece of work. It has a few demeaning words, as well as racial slurs, and it does a very adequate job of portraying the narrator. Some readers may become very uncomfortable reading the work; however, if you can look past the language and find the root purpose of the writing then you will definitely find the boldness in the writer herself.
The timing for when Eudora Welty released this work, in my opinion, only adds to the power of the piece itself. Within the era of civil rights, the African Americans were making a difference in the community. Not to mention that Ms. Eudora Welty was a Caucasian woman writing a work that slandered a white supremacist man, which were few men she grew up around. She gave a look through the eyes of a man that many people feared and fought against. For me, this work following a powerful leader’s death made the piece phenomenal.I encourage others if possible to visit Medgar Evers home where he was assassinated after reading this work. The setting that Ms. Eudora Welty describes is not the same as it was many years ago; however, the similarities to today’s view and the past is bone chilling. For me, the location mixed with the story gave me goosebumps.
I encourage others if possible to visit Medgar Evers home where he was assassinated after reading this work. The setting that Ms. Eudora Welty describes is not the same as it was many years ago; however, the similarities to today’s view and the past is bone chilling. For me, the location mixed with the story gave me goosebumps. Overall, the story is a great work of artistry, written by a well-respected writer that is worth a read.
