On Eudora Welty's 'Why I Live at the P.O.'

Some observations:

Ironic that the point of mail is communication and yet the story is all about communication breakdown.

I also thought of the biblical parable of the ‘Prodigal Son’ in Luke 15, except in this instance it seems as if the older sibling is justified in her resentful feelings about the rest of her family siding with her sister.

I wondered what the significance of the grandfather’s beard is and thought perhaps it is meant to evoke ‘Uncle Sam.’ This fits nicely with all the references to 4th of July.

That this all occurs around the 4th is ironic because the 4th is normally a time for family to get together and have a great time. It is also a celebration of freedom, yet our narrator is under attack from her own family; she is even ‘bombed’ by her uncle (against the backdrop of the real war the U.S. is fighting). In the end, our narrator ends up in a cell, trapped at the Post Office. Or is she finally free?