A Biography of Eudora Welty by Carolyn J. Brown

Eudora, a famous writer from Jackson Mississippi has had many biographies and books dedicated to her memory and focused on her life. Many of these biographies hold details of her writing life and her incredible love for books. There has even been a visitors center open in her dedication detailing her life and how she wrote her books. Her house is open to the public, and we easily get a glimpse of her life. However, many biographies do not go in to detail heavily about her personal life and beliefs. Carolyn J. Brown tried her hand at Eudora Welty and the end result was a wonderful depiction of Eudora.

The biography begins with details about Eudora’s home life in Jackson. She brings the topic up with the statement that Eudora had a teacher who when the first snow fell drew out her black cape and caught a snowflake “running up and down the isles showing the flake before it melted”. Eudora had such a small town life, much like most people do in Mississippi. She didn’t get her groceries from a store, instead she grew her own food and killed her own meat for the house. If they needed anything they didn’t have Eudora would have the task of going out to the small country store and buying it as well as one extra dollar for a peice of candy. This small life was so well conveyed and understood to readers.

Many people who have been to the visitors center do not know much about Eudora’s family members. Eudora held her family close, however, most people in her family died at a relatively young age. Her father was the first to pass away after complications. Her brothers both enlisted in the army and died shortly after for other problems not related to the army. Her mother was too weak for her to care for and was later put in a hospital. When she lost her mom she continued in her footsteps addopting her garden outside of the little house in Jackson. This became her way of expressing herself, and she considers herself as more of a creative person not just a writer. The garden still stands outside of the house in Jackson and there are always flowers budding throughout the years. The garden is beautiful, and holds a strong reflection of both Eudora and her mother. It was wonderful for the garden to be mentioned in the biography due to the underlying fact that the garden was important to Eudora’s life.

The book itself was outlined in a way that held the readers attention. It was split up into different chapters that showed different time periods in her life. From her life in Jackson, to her education, to the serious times during war when her brothers were fighting, to her career, to friendships, and to the Eudora house, the chapters all held something special. The book also was scattered with quotes from Eudora herself and some special pictures of her as well as artistic work that was never really paid attention to outside of the biography. In the end there is also an outline of her life in order of the time it happened. This is essentially interesting as well as helpful for people who wish to learn more about Eudora. It was all beautifully arranged and just the way Eudora would want it herself.

 

Author: Cassidy Williams

Finding small detail in a world of complex reality is difficult. Yet, when looking at the world, complexity isn't as important as an individual goal for one life. When I write, I like to take simplicity and correlate it together into one piece. Writing is essentially reflecting the simplicity of my existence on its own.