This topic contains a solution. Click here to go to the answer

Author Question: What statements does the narrator make that seem unreliable? What will be an ideal ... (Read 3604 times)

daltonest1984

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 536
What statements does the narrator make that seem unreliable?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Can we equate the narrators voice with Weltys? What clues does theauthor give that Sisters opinions are not her own?
 
  What will be an ideal response?



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
Marked as best answer by a Subject Expert

zacnyjessica

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 345
Answer to Question 1


  • Consider, to take one instance, Uncle Rondo, who had seemingly turned against Stella-Rondo at one time because she did something horrible to himbroke a chain letter from Flanders Field, causing him to take back the radio he had given her and let Sister have it. He is on an annual Fourth of July drunken binge during much of the story. He is wearing a kimono from Stella-Rondos trousseau, leading to a conversation between the sisters. Stella-Rondo reportedly states that Uncle Rondo looks like a fool in it, thats all. Sister defends him: Well, he looks as good as he can I says. Its good as anyone in reason could. Yet this is a half-hearted defense at best, and when Stella-Rondo later tells Uncle Rondo that Sister says, Uncle Rondo certainly does look like a fool in that kimono we are left to question which version of the conversation is the more reliable. Regardless, Uncle Rondo believes StellaRondo, leading him to ignite a package of firecrackers in Sisters bedroom early the next morning, the event that finally precipitates her packing of her thingsmany, like the four-oclocks growing in the yard, of dubious ownership at bestand moving into the P.O.



To take another example, Sisters suggestion that she is being maligned and misrepresented by Stella-Rondo may be called into question by the dissatisfaction she registers toward her grandfather and the job he used his influence to get as China Groves postmistress: Oh, Papa-Daddy, I says, I didnt say any such of a thing. I never dreamed your beard was a birds nest, I have always been grateful though this is the next to smallest P.O. in the state of Mississippi, and I do not enjoy being referred to as a hussy by my own grandfather (par. 21). Here, Sister narrates two versions of a conversation, and her protests do not prevent Papa-Daddy from believing Stella-Rondos versionfor Sister, evidence that Stella-Rondo turns everyone against her; for the reader, evidence both of her paranoia and her unreliability as a narrator.

Answer to Question 2


  • As indicated above, the narrators voice is certainly not to be confused with that of the author. Sisters function as an unreliable narrator is intimately connected to her role as a Southern grotesque whose verbal and psychological exaggerations both mirror and instigate her ultimate isolation from her family that eventually leaves her alone at the P.O. Sisters paranoia and jealousy lead her to question the veracity of her family members, particularly Stella-Rondo. They also lead her to engage in conversations with her family that lead to her final, comic alienation from themusually because, as she perceives it, one family member falsely reports her comments to another.





daltonest1984

  • Member
  • Posts: 536
Reply 2 on: Jul 20, 2018
Excellent


softEldritch

  • Member
  • Posts: 334
Reply 3 on: Yesterday
Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it

 

Did you know?

Drug abusers experience the following scenario: The pleasure given by their drug (or drugs) of choice is so strong that it is difficult to eradicate even after years of staying away from the substances involved. Certain triggers may cause a drug abuser to relapse. Research shows that long-term drug abuse results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after an individual stops using drugs. It is most important to realize that the same is true of not just illegal substances but alcohol and tobacco as well.

Did you know?

Pregnant women usually experience a heightened sense of smell beginning late in the first trimester. Some experts call this the body's way of protecting a pregnant woman from foods that are unsafe for the fetus.

Did you know?

The use of salicylates dates back 2,500 years to Hippocrates’s recommendation of willow bark (from which a salicylate is derived) as an aid to the pains of childbirth. However, overdosage of salicylates can harm body fluids, electrolytes, the CNS, the GI tract, the ears, the lungs, the blood, the liver, and the kidneys and cause coma or death.

Did you know?

Not getting enough sleep can greatly weaken the immune system. Lack of sleep makes you more likely to catch a cold, or more difficult to fight off an infection.

Did you know?

Patients should never assume they are being given the appropriate drugs. They should make sure they know which drugs are being prescribed, and always double-check that the drugs received match the prescription.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library