Eudora Welty's A Visit Of Charity

Coming of age stories have at least one character who evolves over time. Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Visit of Charity,” is such a story in which the protagonist, fourteen-year-old Marian demonstrates maturity in her words, her actions, and perception throughout the entire story. While visiting the Old Ladies’ Home , Marian, a young Campfire girl is faced with a situation that forces her to change from her old ways. The young girl evolves from a self-centered individual into a considerate young lady that learns the value of life and time all in one special visit.
The actions and words of Marian toward the nurse and elderly women from the start is very rude one might say. The conversation between Marian and the nurse brings out important
Marian’s final transformation happens when she watches Addie begin to cry and she makes a quick move toward the door,but the hand of the other elderly woman quickly grasps her arm. The woman begs Marian for the smallest portion of change. At this moment, the readers see the desperate attempt of the women trying to obtain something from the young child as her way out of the home. Then, Marian aggressively pulls away from the elderly woman and runs out of the home without even saying goodbye to the nurse. She settles down under a shrub bush where she finds an apple. When the bus finally approaches her, she quickly aboards it hoping to get far away from the home and the people inside. At the end, she takes a bite out of her apple(lines 196-218). Here not only does the readers see that Marian is filled with a tremendous amount of fear but also with a tremendous amount of knowledge as well. She now understands that life is more valuable than she had thought before. She even comes upon the realities of aging in life and how it can affect one . Her enormous bite of the apple represents the knowledge that she needed and longed for from the very
Initially, she is a self-centered young girl who could care less about the next person. However, through a visit to the Old Ladies’ Home, she learns an important lesson she changes into a mature and thoughtful young lady that opens up to the hurt and pain of others. In this particular story, Marian learns a valuable lesson about life and time that teaches her to be more respectful and grateful for precious time that she has now while she is still young and nimble. Moreover,it will soon come a time when she will be like the elderly women in the home , stuck inside a place where she will not be able to escape ,mentally and physically. There will come a time when she will be faced with the harsh realization of dying. Not only does this happen in the story but it actually happens in the real world too. It is important for one to remember that time is precious , and it should be valued more than it is today. One will be faced with a situation just like Marian is ,and a lesson will be taught and knowledge will be gained for the