Why I Live at the P.O.

“Told him I was one-sided. Bigger on one side than the other, which is a deliberate, calculated falsehood. I’m the same.”

The main character claims Stella-Rondo caused the breakup between Sister and Mr. Whitaker by telling him that one of Sister’s breasts is larger than the other. The narrator interprets these words literally, but they take on metaphorical importance as the narrative unfolds and Sister demonstrates the one-sidedness of her perspective. The facts surrounding the breakup remain ambiguous, but the fact that Shirley-T. is “too big” to fit within the timeline of Stella-Rondo’s marriage to Mr. Whitaker suggests that Stella-Rondo may have had a sexual relationship with him when Sister was dating him—a notion that Sister does not seem to consider.

“She’s always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away.”

Sister characteristically employs hyperbole to describe Stella-Rondo. This serves to establish the long-standing rivalry between the two sisters, a rivalry that drives the plot of the story. Jealousy of Stella-Rondo is one of Sister’s key motivators throughout the narrative.

“So the first thing Stella-Rondo did at the table was turn Papa-Daddy against me.”

Characters turning against each other is a primary plotline within this story. While Sister has already established her tendency to exaggerate events, Stella-Rondo proves that she can also be an antagonizing force. This quote foreshadows the isolation and alienation that the narrator achieves with all of her family members by the end of the story.

“I did not say any such of a thing, the idea!”

Sister defends herself to Papa-Daddy concerning the notion that he should remove his beard. While Sister’s narration suggests that Stella-Rondo indeed presents Sister’s words out of context in this instance, this sentiment is repeated throughout the story. The narrator continuously tries to emphasize her viewpoint to a degree that brings its veracity into question.

“It was the farthest thing from my mind.”

The narrator spends much time trying to convince the reader of her viewpoint and innocence within the family’s conflicts through the repetition of phrases such as this. The narrator’s superlatives like “farthest thing from my mind” illustrate both her use of hyperbole and Welty’s use of dialect and colloquialism, which further roots the story in its midcentury Southern setting.

“Not that it isn’t the next smallest P.O. in the entire state of Mississippi.”

The family lives in a rural state whose many small towns are often isolated. That China Grove has one of the state’s smallest post offices is therefore notable; indeed, the narrator shares that most of the people who visit the post office are her family members. This emphasizes again the isolation that is a main theme of the story.

“He thinks I deliberately said he ought to cut off his beard after he got me the P.O., and I’ve told him and told him and told him, and he acts like he just don’t hear me. Papa-Daddy must of gone stone deaf.”

The author uses repetition to emphasize the narrator’s words. This repetition takes on a defensive and somewhat frantic tone as Sister escalates the conflict beyond the dinner table, particularly just after Uncle Rondo declares that he’s “poisoned”—a declaration that Sister brushes away without further comment. This scene again illustrates the dynamic between Sister and all the other characters. They don’t seem to hear or listen to each other. Welty employs both dialect and hyperbole in the phrase “must of gone stone deaf.”

“Papa-Daddy woke up with this horrible yell and right there without moving an inch he tried to turn Uncle Rondo against me.”

Sister highlights Sibling Rivalry as a Family Affair as she illustrates how their communication methods lead to alienation that extends beyond the antagonistic relationship between the sisters. Here, the narrator accuses Papa-Daddy of setting Uncle Rondo against her, paralleling her previous proclamations about Stella-Rondo’s intent. Sister again makes a play to gain the reader’s sympathy for her perspective.

“Just like Cousin Annie Flo. Went to her grave denying the facts of life.”

Cousin Annie Flo only receives one reference, but “denying facts” is an important part of the story. Mama ignores facts—such as Shirley-T.’s resemblance to both her family members and Mr. Whitaker—to defend Stella-Rondo’s dignity and support her daughter’s claims about Shirley-T.’s origins. At the same time, Sister doesn’t dig too deeply into the “facts of life” herself, such as questioning the timing of Shirley-T.’s conception or the real reason for her breakup with Mr. Whitaker.

“Do you remember who it was really said that?”

Sister offers a characteristic aside intended to ensure that the reader is still aligned with her perspective—in other words, on her side. The consistency and frequency of such asides actually work to create doubt, however, as they pull the reader from the story and invite reflection on perspective.

“Well, I’m just terribly susceptible to noise of any kind, the doctor has always told me I was the most sensitive person he had ever seen in his whole life, and I was simply prostrated. I couldn’t eat!”

Sister employs hyperbole to illustrate her distress at the fireworks Uncle Rondo sets off in her room. The notion of setting off firecrackers indoors is an obviously antagonizing action, and Sister heightens its significance through her exaggerated focus on her sensitivity. Notably, she doesn’t mention this sensitivity when other loud noises occur in the story: doors slamming, family members yelling, and Shirley-T. loudly singing and stomping. Sister’s literal interpretation of the doctor’s words mirrors her literal interpretation of the “one-sided” comment; this statement, too, has a dual meaning, illustrating that Sister is also “sensitive” in the sense that she is easily offended by others.

“I’ve always got the P.O.”

The narrator looks hopefully at the post office as a source of independence, even though its primary customers are her family members and Papa-Daddy could presumably eliminate her job as quickly as he helped her obtain it. Here, she uses it as a threat, hoping the other family members will beg her to stay.

“But oh, I like it here. It’s ideal, as I’ve been saying. You see, I’ve got everything cater-cornered, the way I like it. Hear the radio? All the war news. Radio, sewing machine, book ends, ironing board and that great big piano lamp-peace, that’s what I like. Butter-bean vines planted all along the front where the strings are.”

This passage suggests that Sister’s monologue has indeed unfolded as she explains her living situation to a post office patron. The question, “Hear the radio?” implies that the person to whom she is speaking is within proximity to do so. The radio is a motif within the narrative that highlights China Grove’s relative isolation; it is the only source of information from outside the confines of the small town, further emphasizing the isolation of the small community. Welty uses imagery to paint a picture of Sister’s haphazard collection of belongings arranged how she likes them, though many of the items belie the destruction of her family relationships.