Family History

As an autobiography, one of the prevalent themes in One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty is that of family history. The first chapter focuses on Welty's childhood, which includes her relationship with her parents and with her brothers. Welty is born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi as the oldest of three children. Her father, Christian Welty, teaches his children about meteorology, while her mother, Chestina Welty, imparts her love of books and reading to her children. Although Chestina avoids Eudora's questions about where babies come from, when Eudora finds two nickels in her mother's treasure box, Chestina explains that they belong to Eudora's older brother who died at birth. The fact that Chestina wants to give her daughter everything possible is the result of wanting to give Eudora the things that she, Chestina, did not have in her youth. Although both of Eudora's parents are from religious...