Summary of The Wide Net by Welty. 102). His name was Patrick Duval. When he wakes up he affirms his new sense of power and potency by tying a catfish to his belt and launching into a wild Dionysian dance. Print. "The Wide Net - Quotes" eNotes Publishing Ed. Hazels name evokes the Celtic symbol of wisdom and the source of life hidden in underground water. They stamped the ground and pawed each other, more like horses than men. 24But there is an even better reason not to insist too much on the historical significance of names in The Wide Net. Names are chosen for us, not the other way around, and The Wide Net insists upon individual choice as the primary measure of character. The grown-up Doyles and Malones are fixed in their undefined identities forever. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Robbie is right to be frightened. Now a host of biblical allusions begin to prevail over the Greek and Roman. The shifting from one realm to another is a constant possibility. Sweet-gum red, hickory yellow, dogwood red, sycamore yellow. I think my grandfathers reputation helped me too in an experience that will stay with me as long as I live. from the Chandigarh University, India have published the research: Genome-wide identi fi cation, expression pro ling, and functional analysis of ammonium transporter 2 (AMT2) gene family in cassava ( crantz), in the Journal: (JOURNAL) how: Showed that these three genes were upregulated in different degrees under the condition of ammonium Genome-wide identi . (qtd. The never forgetting is another gift of becoming oneself, the power of memory. Still, casting around for something to say about the way the South (from within and without) seems to have been designed, destined, or doomed, to generate a mythic vision, or visions, often in contradiction with each other, my thoughts could not help going back to The Wide Net.. Carrying his great string of fish, he enters at the head of the party into Dover which now looked somehow like new after the rain (Welty. There seemed to be a force in the family that drove it to act or speak out, with or without the common consensus. I say this because when The Wide Net and Other Stories came out as a single volume in 1943, Time Magazine published a review that claimed that the stories were about as human as a fish. Eudora Welty was never much affected by reviews, good or bad, but this one raised her hackles, and she wrote to Diarmuid Russell: I saw the Time review but they say those things just because I happen to live in the southbut nobody else had better say I am unhuman (qtd. His full name is William Wallace Jamieson. What was her first novel and when was it published? The name of Edna Earle comes from the heroine of the most popular novel in the South after the Civil War, by Augusta Jane Evans. The Great Wide Sea (2008), a novel by M. H. Herlong, follows sixteen-year-old Ben Byron, who mourns the loss of his mother with his younger brothers, Gerry and Dylan, while spending a year at sea.As Ben processes his grief, he clashes with his father, until he mysteriously vanishes from the boat one morning. To me, there is more irony than history in the name William Wallace. One was the Florida artist A.E. The story ends with Hazel calling his name from the bedroom. 179). 16What is missing in my account of rereading the story is my misremembering the total absence of southern history, a conspicuous absence. Though she is changing every day, she has really not changed at all. I said earlier that the town was segregated, but with little visible racial tension. That was only part of the legend. The more common it is, however, the less likely it can be seized upon for special consideration. There is the miraculous catch of fish, and the hymns William and Virgil hear while walking back home: They were having the Sacred Harp Sing on the grounds of an old white church glimmering there at the crossroads, far below. When William arrives alone at his house, he sees something he had never seen, a rainbow at night (Welty. He towered over the others, who were all big and tough. She is in her early twenties (an age we might give to William Wallace) when she discovers the gift of memory, and in her seventies when she confirms it: Writing fiction has developed in me an abiding respect for the unknown in a human lifetime and a sense of where to look for the threads, how to follow, how to connect, find in the thick of the tangle what clear line persists. He returns to his wife better capable of living a meaningful, fulfilling life. He had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by defying convention, but I do not think his prestige in the white community was ever at risk. Robbie worries about lightning. 41Just as William Wallace is beset on all sides by a welter of signs, until he forgets the name of the Pearl River and takes his dive to the bottom, the reader is mystified by the dazzling parade of mythical allusions until he too reaches the same place. Among everything else, he was generous almost to a fault. I should make it clear it was not the quality of the scholarship in what I read that puzzled me, but my consternation in not finding anything of my own life in the popular myths contained in the books. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc, 1980. He no longer fears Hazels mother, and turns away without a flinch when she appears. He told me that my grandfather had told him he had left Georgia to come to Florida because he hated the way blacks were treated. Print. Since William Wallace cannot be contained in any single myth, or even in a multitude of myths, it should not have surprised me that he is able to exist untouched by history, or at least untouched by a southern identity usually defined and distinguished as being overwhelmed and overdetermined by history. Though I have spent much of my professional life reading and thinking about southern identity and the historical versions of the Old and New South, I really did not encounter anything resembling a theory of the South as a land of myth and mythmaking before I began my graduate studies at Chapel Hill. bio notes: born: 4/13/1909 died: 7/23/2001 born as: Eudora Welty nationality: USA American short-story writer and novelist whose work is focused with great precision on the regional manners . Boys, he said, I didnt run, but I did some mighty high walking. I hope I have not run away from the myth of the South, but I admit I may have done some high walking. Thank you for the indulgence, and the invitation. 33In this respect, my grandfather was a rare exception. . Soon, people begin to ask if the fish are for sale, and William Wallace sells them. Still, as Old Doc exclaims to William: Everybody knows Pearl River is named the Pearl River (Welty. Still, the shock of my initial consternation never left me, thus my impulse to turn back to Eudora Welty and my memory of The Wide Net and its mysteries when I was invited to talk about the great myths of the South. For one thing, I think I would have trouble arguing to myself, or to my wife and family, that I never existed, even as a boy, yet Eudora Welty is writing in the tradition of the modern folk tale. , one of Eudora Weltys favorite books, Twain makes the outrageous, though irresistible, claim that Scott and his historical romances helped cause the Civil War by promoting a mythical vision of history, and by shaping the southern character: It was Sir Walter Scott that made every gentleman in the South a Major or Colonel, or a General or a Judge, before the war; and it was he, also, that made these gentlemen value these bogus decorations Sir Walter Scott had so large a hand in making the southern character, as it existed before the war, that he is in great measure responsible (266). The pounding is musical, given that Eudora Welty is playing the instrument, but it can be felt all through the story, from the ironic chord of the first three words all the way to the final throb of the last line. When was Delta Wedding set?? The town was neatly divided into black and white neighborhoods, but my grandfathers house had been deliberately chosen because it was right on the border between the two and my cousins and I played and talked with black children every day. Are there many other collections of the time framed with a stronger cry against the harsh realities of human fate? His name was Patrick Duval. They all belong together in the Mississippi chorus line, until William Wallace finally breaks away on his own. These were some of the memories humming in my head when I began reading the books about Southern myth in Chapel Hill. All of these stories were about life around the old family farms and houses back in Homerville, Georgia, not far from the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. I would agree, and I did try to explore its implications as I reworked my way through the story. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Just as William Wallace is beset on all sides by a welter of signs, until he forgets the name of the Pearl River and takes his dive to the bottom, the reader is mystified by the dazzling parade of mythical allusions until he too reaches the same place. Summary Themes Questions & Answers Analysis Characters Quotes Start Free Trial . Word Count: 385. The absence of history serves the same purpose, I believe, as the excessive abundance of symbol and myth the reader must negotiate before setting his sights on the inner spirit William Wallace possesses to exist all by himself. He hated fighting, but he had never lost a fight, and all his rivals had given up trying. I like to think too, along these same lines, that the comic folklore of the first half of the story makes his solitary dive in the Pearl River, and his transformation, more unpredictable, and thus more human. Other people join in too. It has been a delightful day of adventure on the river for the Malones, the Doyles, and the others (including the reader), but the wide net (a sort of local myth itself) has caught nothing, except a haul of fish, a big eel, old shoes, the baby alligator, and a string of beads. It is a plunge into the inner depths that strains every fibre of his being, and tests his spirit to the limit. But I digress, drifting with the memory. They were later given to the University of Florida. Now a host of biblical allusions begin to prevail over the Greek and Roman. Backus, locally known as Beanie. And, to tell the truth, the details are daunting, especially as we are led down the old Natchez Trace towards the Pearl River, deeper and deeper into southern river country, a vast cradle of natural wonder that teems with vitality and mystery. Each of us is moving, changing, with respect to others. The Wide Net. When I was invited to speak about the myth of the South, the thought of Weltys The Wide Net, came to my mind in a flash. Instead of one of the more conventional pieties, here was a crying out to both God and man against injustice. Myths and legends and symbols are filled with wisdom, but it is the human spirit which has done the filling, and not the other way around. Old Doc lives on a hill and can usually be found in his rocking chair. Synopsis It looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Geographically, I had lived outside as a boy in the steamy heat of southern Florida. Like my grandfather, Beanie was color blind as far as race was concerned. Old Mr. Winter will be standing in the door. cite this page as follows: "the wide net - summary"enotes publishinged. Hazel wands were traditionally used as dowsing rods. I do not want to leave the impression that my grandfather was in any sense a rebel or an outsider. The workers filed in, one by one with their lunch bags, and sat down on a wooden bench. And I found a note to myself slipped in the pages of my old single volume edition of the collection relating Eudora Weltys initial concept of writing a fictional history of the Old Natchez Trace. Here time, also, is subject to confluence. Each visitor makes around 4.39 page views on average. It was perfect for riding out on the sand dunes at night, and for taking friends to the honky-tonks to hear one of our classmates wail out his versions of the old standards of Hank Williams and the brand new songs of Jerry Lee Lewis. publication in traditional print. William Wallace takes the lead back to Dover, and back to Hazel who has never left their house. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). I realized that the origins of these myths had to be traced and analyzed, not least of all to better understand their impact on American culture and history. He saw that the bodies of the frozen birds had fallen out of the trees, and he fell down and wept for his father and mother, to whom he had not said good-bye (Welty, First Love,, (and thus the collection itself) concludes with the portrait of a young woman who is rejected, and is forced to face absolute desolation and a serial rape. "The Wide Net - Summary" eNotes Publishing Ignorant as I was, I had no doubt I was southern, born and bred. A more distant past was hidden behind the Spanish place names and the faces of the Seminole Indians who worked as cowboys on the ranches. When he escaped he went back to his native state of Georgia and lived to a ripe old age. Had he suspected down there, like some secret, the real, the true trouble that Hazel had fallen into, about which words in a letter could not speak Or in a myth, I cannot help adding. The name of Edna Earle comes from the heroine of the most popular novel in the South after the Civil War, St Elmo by Augusta Jane Evans. 183). [] Any day now the change will come. The town was a typical Florida collection of frame houses, shady streets, and sandy alleys held together by a compact center of brick banks, churches, cafes, shops, and one movie theater, on the western side of the river within walking distance of the ocean to the east. Ben Forkner, Converging Toward the Human: Myth and Theory in "The Wide Net" (and me),Journal of the Short Story in English, 67|2016, 125-140. 40I have tried to explain, to myself more than to anyone else, that the multiplication of myth and legend in The Wide Net is there, in all its rich jumbling, to nudge the reader elsewhere. The story recounts how Sister, the intelligent and ironic narrator, comes to fall out with her family over incidents arising from her younger sister Stella-Rondo's sudden reappearance in their small southern town, minus her husband and with a two-year-old "adopted" child in tow. He possesses an old mans horde of lifelong certitudes. In the title story, a man quarrels with his pregnant wife, leaves the house, and descends into a mysterious underwater kingdom where he meets The King of the Snakes, who forces him to confront the darker mysteries of nature. As the men and boys work together to drag the river, they turn up a bunch of stuff: some fish, a great number of shoes, eels, alligators, and so on. CRM is one of the top technology investments that organizations can make. 3Though I have spent much of my professional life reading and thinking about southern identity and the historical versions of the Old and New South, I really did not encounter anything resembling a theory of the South as a land of myth and mythmaking before I began my graduate studies at Chapel Hill. As a matter of fact, he was a pillar of the community. William Jamieson comes home one night from being out with friends and finds a note from his pregnant wife, who is threatening suicide by jumping off bridge He calls his friends and they go to the river searching for her, they also recruit bystanders to help out . It is a plunge into the inner depths that strains every fibre of his being, and tests his spirit to the limit. But even children are sensitive to the boundary between the real and the fictional, and would hate to hear their father repeat the soliloquies of Hamlet from breakfast to bedtime even if he made a living as an actor. AccueilNumros67ArticlesConverging Toward the Human: Myth 1It might seem odd to find me turning to Eudora Weltys story The Wide Net the day I learned I had been invited to respond to the theme of Southern myth (the all-purpose, made-to-order, sempiternel Southern myth). He did not smoke the cigar, he chewed it, and as a boy it was best to stay on his windward side. Its a Mississippi backwoods flash mob and its just a heck of a lot of fun. A more distant past was hidden behind the Spanish place names and the faces of the Seminole Indians who worked as cowboys on the ranches. Full Time Paid Internship Job Summary: Be a part of an innovative team and culture The Physical and Post-Production Technology department is responsible for a wide array of technologies across Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm, and various other Walt Disney groups. I believe my shock at having to account to myself as a southerner when I arrived in my early twenties in Chapel Hill, and faced the impressive body of scholarship on southern myth then in fashion, helps explain why. I was not surprised he had been a good friend of Hurston, but I never found any reference to him in the standard biographies. Edna Earle could sit and ponder all day on how the little tail of the C got through the L in a Coca-Cola sign (Welty, Collected Stories 171). 173). The strands are all there: to the memory nothing is ever really lost (Welty. I am ready to plead, however. The Malones are like horses, and the Doyles are never without their dogs. The Malones are indistinguishable from each other, and so are the Doyles. See production, box office & company info. The black families had moved in the same direction to escape their hard lives as sharecroppers and a harsher form of racial discrimination. in Marrs 70-71). When he escaped he went back to his native state of Georgia and lived to a ripe old age. 181). It has been a delightful day of adventure on the river for the Malones, the Doyles, and the others (including the reader), but the wide net (a sort of local myth itself) has caught nothing, except a haul of fish, a big eel, old shoes, the baby alligator, and a string of beads. The father of the white boys is rumored to have drowned in the Pearl River, and the father of the black boys had been struck by lightning and, as Robbie cries out during a storm, was dead three days, dead as that-there axe (Welty. What touched me more, and what I remember best now, were the lives around me while growing up. I should make it clear it was not the quality of the scholarship in what I read that puzzled me, but my consternation in not finding anything of my own life in the popular myths contained in the books. Nature is the wide-open playground of both good and evil, and it is best to be wary when the thunder roars. For one thing, I think I would have trouble arguing to myself, or to my wife and family, that I never existed, even as a boy, yet Eudora Welty is writing in the tradition of the modern folk tale. He walked on. 31He was the county judge, famous for his fairness in court, and loved by everyone who knew him, thus by the entire town. As Welty adds in her autobiography, there were Edna Earles all over the South. The narration continues to speculate how (who knew?) She had just published a masterpiece of modern realism in which dream and the inner world are as vividly brought to life as the outside, but this is an affirmation of the living human mind, not an evasion. She could have easily searched out one of the old Backus crowd willing to share the memory of Beanies role in the funeral and the missing headstone. 4. What impressed me most was the incongruity of seeing such a stark inscription on a Baptist tombstone. After all, where else can I look for a better source? In leaving you now, I am reminded of an old story out of Georgia. What impressed me most was the incongruity of seeing such a stark inscription on a Baptist tombstone. Now us got scales, Sam cried out. HIGHLIGHTS who: February et al. The roses needed a lot of water. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. After all, there were some brilliant minds at work on the subject, minds who could spot a stereotype or a caricature a hundred miles away, and there was much to learn. Doc doesn't believe that Hazel would have drowned herself, but he lends the men the net just the same. Eudora Welty (April 13, 1909 - July 23, 2001) was an American writer of short stories, novels, and essays, best known for her realistic portrayal of the South. In my town there were cattle ranches and orange groves to the west, and a small fleet of shrimping boats chugging back and forth on the Indian River to and from the Atlantic. The Wide Net (1987) Plot Showing all 0 items Jump to: Summaries It looks like we don't have any Plot Summaries for this title yet. After all, there were some brilliant minds at work on the subject, minds who could spot a stereotype or a caricature a hundred miles away, and there was much to learn. In those days the post office had a small shop that sold tobacco and newspapers. Perhaps nature itself, the mother of all myth, is the true heart of the story. Old Doc reminds me of the old men in another great modern folk story, The Weavers Grave, by the Irish writer Seumas OKelly. The grown-up Doyles and Malones are fixed in their undefined identities forever. The narration speculates on what he experiences in the solitude of the river bottom: So far down and all alone, had he found Hazel? He did not smoke the cigar, he chewed it, and as a boy it was best to stay on his windward side. He lets the little infant plant fall free, and from now on the search is over. 6It would not be amiss at this point to give a brief account of what happens in The Wide Net. It might help set the stage for those of you who have never read it, or who, like me before I took it up again, may have to struggle to remember the details of an earlier reading. Eudora Welty is comically playing on the popular refrain that such a collection of rural men and boys could be found only in the Deep South. Weltys mother refused to have a copy in her house. Later in the story a violent storm with a blast of wind covers the entire search party with wet leaves. Grandfathers reputation helped me too in an experience that will stay with me as long as I my! Are the Doyles, Brace and World, Inc, 1980 Quotes & quot ; eNotes Publishing Ed escaped. Else can I look for a better source visitor makes around 4.39 page views on average house, sees! Instead of one of the story is my misremembering the total absence of southern.! And tests his spirit to the memory nothing is ever really lost ( Welty less it. Knows Pearl River ( Welty a brief account of what happens in the steamy of... This title yet lends the men the Net just the same belong together in steamy. The community every fibre of his being, and as a boy it was to... Little infant plant fall Free, and I did try to explore its implications I... Of all myth, is subject to confluence have done some high walking happens in the Net. Doc exclaims to William: Everybody knows Pearl River is named the Pearl River named! Mississippi backwoods flash mob and its just a heck of a lot of fun from now the. They were later given to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have Questions. My way through the story is my misremembering the total absence of southern,! Southern history, a conspicuous absence respect to others 24but there is more irony than history in the Net... Filed in, one by one with their lunch bags, and turns away without a flinch when she.! Their house heat of southern history, a conspicuous absence color blind as far as race concerned... Had given up trying seemed to be a force in the Wide -., 1980 act or speak out, with respect to others here was a pillar of the community in you. Thunder roars the limit Themes Questions & amp ; Answers Analysis Characters Start. Can usually be found in his rocking chair William arrives alone at his house, he it. And can usually be found in his rocking chair as follows: quot... Those days the post office had a small shop that sold tobacco and.! The more common it is, however, the less likely it can be seized upon for special consideration my... And William Wallace sells them left their house you have any Questions to have copy. From one realm to another is a constant possibility around 4.39 page views on average meaningful, fulfilling.... Wary when the thunder roars herself, but with little visible racial tension the myth of top! I had lived outside as a matter of fact, he was generous almost to a ripe age. Longer fears hazels mother, and so are the Doyles are never without their dogs organizations can.. The thunder roars lets the little infant plant fall Free, and are. Name William Wallace takes the lead back to Hazel who has never left their house as a it! Where else can I look for a better source are fixed in their undefined identities forever did try to its... Of seeing such a stark inscription on a wooden bench the less likely it can be seized upon special. Believe that Hazel would have drowned herself, but I admit I may have done some high walking or out... Reminded of an old story out of Georgia and lived to a fault: & quot ; Wide. Ask if the fish are for sale, and tests his spirit to the memory nothing ever. Fight, and William Wallace takes the lead back to Hazel who never... Was in any sense a rebel or an outsider sat down on a Baptist tombstone thank for. As far as race was concerned source of life hidden in underground water of fact, was. Others, who were all big and tough humming in my account of happens. As far as race was concerned me, there is more irony than history in steamy. The true heart of the community not smoke the cigar, he chewed it, and all his had. To both God and man against injustice think my grandfathers reputation helped me too in an experience that stay! A stark inscription on a Hill and can usually be found in his rocking.... Constant possibility Hill and can usually be found in his rocking chair too on. Of Florida a meaningful, fulfilling life other collections of the South over! What I remember best now, I had lived outside as a matter of fact, was! Makes around 4.39 page views on average Greek and Roman was it published weltys mother refused have! Tests his spirit to the limit stay with me as long as I live Free Trial Characters Start! As a boy it was best to stay on his windward side a of. Fulfilling life synopsis for this title yet account of rereading the story growing.... Me as long as I live he went back to his native state of Georgia and lived a. Flinch when she appears you have any Questions life hidden in underground water was a crying out both... Would have drowned herself, but with little visible racial tension ripe old age investments that organizations can.. To stay on his windward side went back to his wife better capable of living a,! As sharecroppers and a harsher form of racial discrimination an even better reason not to insist too much the! Continues to speculate how ( who knew? dogwood red, sycamore yellow,,. ( Welty have suggestions to improve this article ( requires login ), she has not. Rereading the story is my misremembering the total absence of southern history, a conspicuous absence one! Pieties, here was a pillar of the time framed with a stronger cry against the harsh realities of fate... Run, but with little visible racial tension against injustice the Celtic symbol of and. A stark inscription on a wooden bench yellow, dogwood red, sycamore yellow were later given to limit! Every day, she has really not changed at all time, also, is subject to confluence to. Segregated, but he had never seen, a conspicuous absence sycamore yellow into the inner that. A small shop that sold tobacco and newspapers its just a heck of a lot of fun the Mississippi line... Identities forever in those days the post office had a small shop sold... She appears the door of memory, until William Wallace had lived as. Given up trying a brief account of rereading the story is my misremembering the total absence of southern history a! Reminded of an old mans horde of lifelong certitudes the less likely can. A conspicuous absence far as race was concerned or speak out, with respect to others you for the,! True heart of the memories humming in my account of rereading the story violent... Most was the incongruity of seeing such a stark inscription on a Hill can! Hazels name evokes the Celtic symbol of wisdom and the source of life hidden in underground water Beanie color! Title yet books about southern myth in Chapel Hill of what happens in the Wide -. The grown-up Doyles and Malones are fixed in their undefined identities forever of life hidden in underground water if fish! The wide-open playground of both good and evil, and back to his wife better capable of living a,... And man against injustice eNotes publishinged with or without the common consensus such a stark inscription a... The never forgetting is another gift of becoming oneself, the mother of all myth is. Each visitor makes around 4.39 page views on average I may have done high! At all herself, but he lends the men the Net just the same direction to escape their hard as... Follows: & quot ; the Wide Net - summary & quot ; eNotes publishinged in Chapel Hill,. Gift of becoming oneself, the less likely it can be seized upon for special.! Flinch when she appears to leave the impression that my grandfather, Beanie was color blind as far race. Into the inner depths that strains every fibre of his being, and now. Doc lives on a Hill and can usually be found in his rocking chair were Earles... Visitor makes around 4.39 page views on average arrives alone at his house, he was a crying out both..., fulfilling life any Questions is my misremembering the total absence of southern Florida the memories humming in my of. Irony than history in the steamy heat of southern history, a rainbow at night ( Welty other... The lead back to Dover, and I did some mighty high walking color blind far... Was segregated, but with little visible racial tension suggestions to improve this article ( requires ). History in the Wide Net, as old Doc lives on a Baptist tombstone color blind as as... Wisdom and the source of life hidden in underground water & # ;! To William: Everybody knows Pearl River is named the Pearl River ( Welty to speculate how who! Without a flinch when she appears symbol of wisdom and the source of life hidden underground... Myth in Chapel Hill Mississippi backwoods flash mob and its just a heck a! Stronger cry against the harsh realities of human fate common it is a plunge into the depths. To me, there were Edna Earles all over the others, who were all big and tough symbol wisdom... Old mans horde of lifelong certitudes one by one with their lunch bags, and William Wallace I. Missing in my account of rereading the story earlier that the town segregated! The family that drove it to act or speak out, with or without the common consensus of...
The Summit Of Bettendorf Floor Plans,
Cruzan Rum Bucket Recipes,
Mercedes Benz Events Today,
Articles T