1120 Welty, Eudora
Welty emphasizes human relationships in the
narrative over plot, which may seem unusual to
some readers. However, by doing this, Welty is able
to construct a snapshot of Laurel’s life. The author
conveys meaning through dialogue rather than
action, particularly in her representation of the con-
flict between the novel’s two main characters, and
this ultimately enhances the reader’s understanding
of all the novel’s characters.
Sherah Wells
deatH in The Optimist’s Daughter
The title of Eudora Welty’s novel refers to Laurel
McKelva Hand and her father, Judge McKelva. At
first glance, the novel may seem upbeat, but the
reader soon realizes that the optimism to which
Welty refers will be achieved only as the result of a
struggle. The Optimist’s Daughter may be read as a
study of the way in which Laurel, the title character,
deals with death. At the beginning of the novel, she
is already a widow who lost her mother several years
earlier. When her father dies unexpectedly, Laurel
must return to Mount Salus, her childhood home,
to plan his funeral.
As the novel opens, Laurel travels from Chicago
to New Orleans, where Judge McKelva has been
convalescing in a hospital after an operation for a
slipped retina. Laurel and the judge’s second wife,
Fay, have been staying with him, and it is his death
that serves as the main catalyst for the plot. Fay,
portrayed as a selfish character, grows weary of the
judge’s motionlessness, required for his eye to heal.
One day she becomes so frustrated that she brutally
shakes him; he dies a few minutes later. Laurel is
devastated by her father’s death, while Fay moans,
“Nobody told me this was going to happen to me!”
Fay and Laurel’s father have only been married a few
years, and Judge McKelva’s death exacerbates the
tension present between stepmother and stepdaugh-
ter. Although Laurel never outwardly blames Fay for
her father’s death, the reader would forgive her for
having such thoughts.
When they arrive in Mount Salus, the commu-
nity is waiting to welcome them. As is the case in
many of Welty’s novels, the community serves as a
surrogate family and provides much-needed support
in times of crisis, particularly the death of a loved
one. Equally clear, however, is that this “family” allies
itself with Laurel and her deceased mother, Becky, at
least from Fay’s perspective. Once again, Laurel’s and
Fay’s reactions differ greatly. Laurel is comforted by
the presence of the people who knew and loved her
father, but Fay demands, “What are all these people
doing in my house?” For her, the funeral details are
more about asserting her authority than grieving.
She insists on making all the decisions and resists
help from Laurel and the others.
Through their reactions to death, Welty dem-
onstrates the importance of community in family
life and seems to advocate Laurel’s reactions as the
appropriate response. However, a ghost is present
for everyone, and most oppressively for Fay. Becky
McKelva, and the memory of her death, continues to
influence Laurel, and she cannot help but compare
the events following her mother’s death to those
that are currently taking place. Now, however, Laurel
must bear the practical and emotional responsibili-
ties herself while Fay remains locked in her room the
morning of the funeral. The other ghost whose story
remains unfinished is that of Laurel’s husband, who
died in the war. No funeral could be held for him,
though, because his body was never found. Through
her father’s funeral, Laurel attempts to gain closure
for all these deaths.
At the end of the novel, Laurel returns to
Chicago and leaves Mount Salus and her parents’
house in Fay’s hands. Her father’s death has left her
with no family ties, and by leaving Mount Salus,
she appears to be completely alone. The question
might be asked, then, whether her father’s death has
squashed all of Laurel’s hope, or is she still “the opti-
mist’s daughter”? Although death is the main theme
around which The Optimist’s Daughter centers, it
cannot be said to be a depressing book. Instead,
Welty demonstrates that death can bring out the
best in people. By emphasizing generational ties in
the novel’s title, she indicates the interdependency of
the living and the dead and how important this is to
the community as a whole.
Sherah WellsFamILy in The Optimist’s Daughter
The stereotypical southern family is large and
contributes a great deal to the development of an