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When Marion first approaches the nursing home it is described as a very cold place.
"Whitewashed brick and reflected the winter sunlight like a block of ice."
The color white, and the ice imply the coldness of the home. Also the nurse wears a white uniform looking cold accompanied with an overall cold and bitter attitude. Throughout the story the author's attitude is cold, by describing the nursing home cold, she shows that the nursing home may not be physically cold, but mentally and emotionally cold. This makes the home feel unwelcoming, dead and unloving.
Described as a clock working on time, the nursing home is a place that is always on schedule and slow moving. Welty describes the home as even smelling like a clock.
"There was a smell in the hall like the interior of a clock."
Not only is the house a working clock but also the nurse is described as moving mechanically and checking her wristwatch.
"Stopping in her tracks, she first extended her arm bent her elbow and leaned forward from the hips-all to examine the watch strapped to her wrist."
Many significant details express that the nursing home is much like a zoo. Filled with animals all trapped inside their cages wanting to get out. As Marian walked down the hall, all the doors were closed. When she entered the room, the floor smelt wet, showing that the room was ignored and unsanitary. It was also small and tight with too much furniture and not enough ways to get out of the room. The elders in the room were wild, with pet-like mouths and red eyes like a sheep. One even was compared to talking like a lamb.
By reading the story "A Visit of Charity" by: Eudora Welty, the audience can clearly see through her various details how she feels about the nursing home.