Sister Rivalry

The short story "Why I Live at the P.O." By Eudora Welty is a family drama structured as an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the main character's alienation from her family. Sister is the story's protagonist, though she is not an entirely reliable narrator as she is entrenched in bitterness about her family situation. Sister's life changes when her sister Stella-Rondo returns to town after a long absence and reignites their long-held rivalry. One by one, Sister's family members take Stella-Rondo's side in the argument. Thus the reader is left as Sister's sole confidante, as we are privy to her point-of-view and she calls upon us to empathize with her struggle. As such, the reader is torn in half: One side seeing Sister as a victim of her sister's manipulations and her family's abuse, and the other half seeing that Sister has created some of the circumstances of...
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