The Unclaimed Child

            In “Why I Live at the P.O.” by Eudora Welty, a girl only referred to as “Sister” leaves her family’s house to live in the post office where she works because she can no longer tolerate her younger sister, Stella-Rondo, and her family’s preference of Stella-Rondo. Stella-Rondo, after separating from her husband, has just returned to the family home with a supposedly adopted child. “Sister” insinuates that the little girl, Shirley-T, is actually the child of Stella-Rondo and her husband, much to Stella-Rondo’s annoyance. Although it seems unclear upon first glance, when the text is examined closely there are certain clues that suggest that Shirley-T is the biological child of Stella-Rondo and her husband.

            The mother of Stella-Rondo and “Sister” blindly accepts that Shirley-T is adopted, but Stella-Rondo becomes unusually angry and insistent that the child is not hers when “Sister” implies that she is. Therefore, is seems that Stella-Rondo is either telling the truth and is only annoyed that her sister will not accept her word, or is lying because for some reason she is ashamed to be a mother. Stella-Rondo would most likely be ashamed because either the child was conceived out of wedlock, or she does not want to admit that she had a child in a relationship that fell apart so quickly. Regardless of any reasons that Stella-Rondo might have lied, “Sister” observes several hereditary features in the child.

            “Sister” says that the little girl is nearly identical to her grandfather, Papa-Daddy, if he were to have shaved his beard off. Although Papa-Daddy is furious with the idea of shaving his beard off, no objection is made to the comparison. Papa-Daddy would have passed on his genes to Stella-Rondo, and so this is actually “Sister” trying to prove family traits in a girl that she believes to be a part of her family and not her saying the little girl looks like a “million year old” man (595). “Sister” also says that Shirley-T looks like the estranged husband of Stella-Rondo, Mr. Whitaker. These similar traits in Shirley-T suggest that she is indeed the daughter of Stella-Rondo and Mr. Whitaker, but the reason for the secrecy is still unclear.

            One prop that appears a few times in the story is a “flesh-colored kimono, all cut on the bias.” Uncle Rondo, another relative living in the house, is seen wearing this kimono after he drank a bottle of a prescription drug. In the story, “Sister” frequently uses big words incorrectly and rephrases things to seem smart, such as “breast of chicken”(595), which is most likely the author indicating that she is uneducated yet wishes to be seen as smart. Therefore, when Stella-Rondo refers to the kimono as a negligee, it is assumed that it is either a mixture between the two different garments, or most likely just a negligee. The “cut on the bias” section of the kimono description literally means that it is cut at a diagonal to the stitching, as in a v-neck shirt. “Sister” likely intended “cut on the bias” to be a more proper way to say provocative. This provocative cut coupled with Stella-Rondo’s statement that the negligee is a part of her trousseau, or dowry, implies that this garment is actually a type of 1940’s lingerie. The purpose of this garment, besides emphasizing Uncle Rondo’s precarious state of mind, is to shed light on the relationship between Stella-Rondo and Mr. Whitaker before their marriage.

            Mr. Whitaker was a photographer who enjoyed taking photos of both Stella-Rondo and “Sister” when he visited their little town. Both sisters became infatuated with him, and therefore neither minded him taking pictures. This competition clearly caused some unrest between the sisters. What may have tilted the competition is not clearly spoken, but Stella-Rondo says that Mr. Whitaker “took several dozen photographs” of her in the negligee. This statement was made after “Sister” insulted Stella-Rondo’s negligee as being ugly, and it is Stella-Rondo trying to irritate her sister in return. Several dozen photographs is an unreasonable amount today where photographs are easily taken, but in the 1930’s or 1940’s where this story is placed the number is obscenely large. Therefore, this number is an exaggeration meant to draw attention to the amount of time spent on the photos rather than the actual number of photos, and can be seen as Stella-Rondo bragging to her sister that she had sex with the man that they both wanted.

            In conclusion, “Sister” suspects that Stella-Rondo is lying about adopting Shirley-T. The comparisons made between Shirley-T and Papa-Daddy as well as Mr. Whitaker and Shirley-T suggest that the girl is Stella-Rondo’s child. Furthermore, one of the most likely reasons that Stella-Rondo would have lied about the child being hers is if the child were conceived out of wedlock. The presence of a lingerie-like negligee, along with an exaggeration of the number of pictures taken of Stella-Rondo while wearing this compromising outfit, suggest that her and Mr. Whitaker had a sexual relationship during one of their photography sessions, and then created the life of little Shirley-T.