I said earlier that the town was segregated, but with little visible racial tension. He hated fighting, but he had never lost a fight, and all his rivals had given up trying. Among everything else, he was generous almost to a fault. I should make it clear it was not the quality of the scholarship in what I read that puzzled me, but my consternation in not finding anything of my own life in the popular myths contained in the books. Marrs, Suzanne. It was written forty years after The Wide Net but I was gratified to find her speak of myth and memory in a way that confirmed what I thought I had found in the story. 19Her reaction is more than understandable. I did recall that it had fascinated (and puzzled) me by mixing together a multitude of myths and legends, reaching far and wide in time and in place, including the local and the regional. The workers filed in, one by one with their lunch bags, and sat down on a wooden bench. When I was invited to speak about the myth of the South, the thought of Weltys The Wide Net, came to my mind in a flash. Welty, Eudora. The Malones are indistinguishable from each other, and so are the Doyles. The Rebellion failed, and Bonnie Prince Charles escaped to become another legend of Scottish resistance. He is holding fast to a little green ribbon of plant, root and all (Welty, Collected Stories 181). Missisippi Delta in 1923. This is the truth that William Wallace discovers by himself, and somehow memory, lost and found, is crucial to the discovery. I loved the music, the food, the voices, the family stories, and to this day I cannot imagine life without them. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Boys, he said, I didnt run, but I did some mighty high walking. I hope I have not run away from the myth of the South, but I admit I may have done some high walking. Thank you for the indulgence, and the invitation. Perhaps nature itself, the mother of all myth, is the true heart of the story. No wonder Eudora Welty was ready to lash out if anyone else showed the same dimwittedness as the reviewer in. This paper reviews the history, the goals, the organisation and the components of CSNET (the Computer Science Research Network). Seeing I was struggling with my bucket and shovel, he came right over and helped show me the right way to do it. Hickory tree there will be yellow. I was fifteen years old, and was the only white in the group of workers. The Wide Net. Hazel wands were traditionally used as dowsing rods. To me, there is more irony than history in the name William Wallace. A more distant past was hidden behind the Spanish place names and the faces of the Seminole Indians who worked as cowboys on the ranches. To begin with, the southern world I grew up in, a small coastal town in Florida in the years after WWII, was not all that representative of the South. 21His full name is William Wallace Jamieson. William must will himself into a new man, and as a Jamieson, he must cease being a perpetual son, and affirm his status as a father. It was a far better show than the movie. He plays his role well, lost in his own performance, an unstoppable gramophone of platitudes, talking just to hear himself talk, but sometimes, almost despite himself, repeating nuggets of wisdom that bear directly on the quest itself: Were walking along in the changing-time. Myths are necessary to our lives and imagination, especially as children. Perhaps nature itself, the mother of all myth, is the true heart of the story. There seemed to be a force in the family that drove it to act or speak out, with or without the common consensus. It had blossomed overnight during the boom years of the twenties. Aeneas needs the golden bough to allow him to safely travel through the underworld to find his father. , and of the river Lethe which the original Virgil tells us must be imbibed by dead souls in order for them to be reborn. It was a far better show than the movie. But I could not remember that it had revealed the slightest interest in the South as a subject of focus or reflection. Faced with the most serious crisis of his young life, William at least has the resourcefulness to ask help from one of his friends from the night out, Virgil Thomas, and they set out to borrow the wide net from Old Doc, and to gather other members of the community to help drag the river. His edition of Alexander Stephens prison diary, Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens, was published by L.S.U. New York: Signet Classics, 1961. We bought ice cream at the same shop even though there were white and colored water fountains outside on opposite sides of the shop. He was a black deputy who had saved Hurstons letters and manuscripts from a fire after her death. 180). Geographically, I had lived outside as a boy in the steamy heat of southern Florida. When they reach the river Old Doc remarks that the world has been turned to gold by the autumn sun: today, in October sun, its all goldsky and tree and water. He made a sign for me to follow him in what was now a blind tunnel steaming with sweat and humidity. The one I want to tell about my grandfather concerns another man involved in the Zora Neale Hurston saga. Print. The white families, like my own, had migrated there from their farms in South Georgia in the hope of improving their prospects. As for me, being known as his grandson allowed me, and my two cousins who lived in his house, special status among the blacks, and a carelessness about crossing the color line. Scottish heroes and William Wallace Jamieson of The Wide Net, surely, we might be tempted to think, the combination brings southern history into the story despite all evidence to the contrary. Apparently, there was one male survivor of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. And if my commentaries, such as they are, do make me vulnerable to all sorts of criticism, especially when judged by the principles of pure scholarship (principles I would be the first to preach), at least I cannot be faulted on what I say about my own autobiography. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The story works on several levels and gives the viewer no clue as to whether it should be taken seriously at all. Among everything else, he was generous almost to a fault. Of course these signs and symbols enrich the story at the same time they divert William Wallace from his search. Ben Forkner, Converging Toward the Human: Myth and Theory in "The Wide Net" (and me),Journal of the Short Story in English, 67|2016, 125-140. 14The second half of the story is rich in events, but the outcome is never in doubt. They were later given to the University of Florida. Whenever Walter Scott is mentioned in the context of the South, Mark Twains theory of the Civil War and the southern imagination immediately leaps to mind. When she allows William his ritual role of thinking himself the man of the house by letting him tamely slap and spank her, the reconciliation is complete. A reality that is, perhaps, a level or two beneath the conventional mode of realism. And finally, on the last page, memory is evoked again, this time in words to be engraved in stone: Of course the greatest confluence of all is that which makes up the human memorythe individual human memory. When the search party spies a large water snake, a local legend everyone knows as the King of Snakes, William Wallace stares him down. When Mother Nature, with majestic abandon, unleashes a storm for the ages (or the makers of myths) to show who will always rule the roost, William Wallace is not deterred or disturbed. Jump-start your essay with our outlining tool to make sure you have all the main points of your essay covered. Foots was in charge. Its a Mississippi backwoods flash mob and its just a heck of a lot of fun. ISBN: 978-1-88301155-0 976 pages. . This was not because it was dangerous, or unseemly; it was simply against the code. In 1940 she had accepted the offer of Diarmuid Russell (son of the Irish poet George Russell) to be her agent. That was only part of the legend. Eudora Welty is comically playing on the popular refrain that such a collection of rural men and boys could be found only in the Deep South. In those days the post office had a small shop that sold tobacco and newspapers. The Wide Net has been one of my favorite stories for at least forty years. 32But I digress, drifting with the memory. When Alice Walker wrote her essay about finding Hurstons unmarked grave, and lamented the lack of a headstone, she was writing only part of the story. Once again, however, we cannot escape the fact that names are chosen for us. But they remain children, and act their age. Sunlight was scarce and each turn of the river took one deeper into a ripe darkness smelling of frog spawn and wild magnolia. But I could not remember that it had revealed the slightest interest in the South as a subject of focus or reflection. In leaving you now, I am reminded of an old story out of Georgia. Are there many other collections of the time framed with a stronger cry against the harsh realities of human fate? He could lift hundred-pound sacks of fertilizer with each hand. The Wide Net has been one of my favorite stories for at least forty years. Subscribers can purchase the slipcased edition by signing in to their accounts. It was perfect for riding out on the sand dunes at night, and for taking friends to the honky-tonks to hear one of our classmates wail out his versions of the old standards of Hank Williams and the brand new songs of Jerry Lee Lewis. There doesn't seem to be a regularization effect from very high depth in residual net- works as wide networks with the same number of parameters as thin ones can learn same or better representations. County judges are elected, and he never lost an election because there was never any opposition. William Wallace knows now that Hazel holds the secret mystery that will continue to make him more of his own man, and he is willing to follow her lead as long as it takes: He climbed to his feet too and stood beside her trying to look where she looked. What interests me more as the years go on is the life story of the individual southerner. But Hazel is no rabbit as Virgil makes clear: Anybody can freeze a. , that wants to he says, and promptly chases the rabbit away: Was you out catching cotton-tails, or was you out catching your wife? (Welty. Me and Benz tight as a pair of shoes. The whole shed shook with laughter, given the reference to his feet, and from that day on I was home free and part of the gang. It begins with the story of a deaf boy whose parents have been killed or captured by the Indians and who is left abandoned in the end, completely alone: He did not know how far he had gone on the Liberty Road when the posse came riding up behind and passed him. In the title story, a man quarrels with his pregnant wife, leaves the house, and descends into a mysterious underwater kingdom where he meets "The King of the Snakes," who forces him to confront the darker mysteries of nature. Eudora Welty (April 13, 1909 - July 23, 2001) was an American writer of short stories, novels, and essays, best known for her realistic portrayal of the South. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. But even children are sensitive to the boundary between the real and the fictional, and would hate to hear their father repeat the soliloquies of Hamlet from breakfast to bedtime even if he made a living as an actor. "The Burning" digs so deep that it verges on becomingas exemplified hereone of the most ferocious of the very few examples of genuinely Expressionist literature by a famous American short story author. Old Doc reminds me of the old men in another great modern folk story, The Weavers Grave, by the Irish writer Seumas OKelly. 179). But more than anything, in rereading the story I realized that my own fading or forgotten memories about growing up in the South had somehow dictated my choice, and that the mythic failures, or inadequacies, of The Wide Net to match the intractable selfhood of the living individual clearly harmonized with my own experience. It was told by Alexander Stephens, the vice-president of the Confederacy. After all, for William it is only October and the baby will not be born until April (fall and rebirth go hand in hand in this story). Right before it begins in force, a holy-ghostly benediction or aeolian charma wind touched each man on the forehead (Welty. Williams dive is not a baptism for the faint-hearted. In keeping with the Scottish link, it might be reversed to be read the son of James. The Wide Net (1987) Plot Showing all 0 items Jump to: Summaries It looks like we don't have any Plot Summaries for this title yet. The town was neatly divided into black and white neighborhoods, but my grandfathers house had been deliberately chosen because it was right on the border between the two and my cousins and I played and talked with black children every day. Given her love of Hurston, a spell had been cast, and the promise of a new myth stopped her in her tracks. Failed rebellions are choice makers of myths, as another failed rebellion was to prove a century later. He took me in and introduced me to each worker by name. But the shifting, or loss of identity, is a constant threat. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [] Magnolia and live-oak never die. But Hazel is no rabbit as Virgil makes clear: Anybody can freeze a rabbit, that wants to he says, and promptly chases the rabbit away: Was you out catching cotton-tails, or was you out catching your wife? (Welty, Collected Stories 172). I was not surprised he had been a good friend of Hurston, but I never found any reference to him in the standard biographies. References to babies, for example, can be found everywhere, from the little man on the toy-like train, to the baby alligator, all the way to the corn shuck doll waiting by itself on the bench back in Dover. eNotes Editorial. I had fished and hunted in the great inland swamps, and had built rafts of giant bamboo to ride with my friends down the St Lucie River, surely as haunting and as hidden away as the Pearl River in The Wide Net. The alligators slept with the water lilies and the night-blooming cereus, and the Spanish moss fell in thick curtains on both banks. Saying so, I freely admit my pirouetting into The Wide Net does take some special pleading. Be the first to contribute! . she had been filled to the brim with that elation that they all remembered, like their own secret, the elation that comes of great hopes and changes (Welty, Collected Stories 180). It begins with the story of a deaf boy whose parents have been killed or captured by the Indians and who is left abandoned in the end, completely alone: He did not know how far he had gone on the Liberty Road when the posse came riding up behind and passed him. Now us got scales, Sam cried out. Print. Full Time Paid Internship Job Summary: Be a part of an innovative team and culture The Physical and Post-Production Technology department is responsible for a wide array of technologies across Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm, and various other Walt Disney groups. Usually there would be shade trees to stretch out under and cool off, but there were none here. The story ends with Hazel calling his name from the bedroom. 183). Myths and legends and symbols are filled with wisdom, but it is the human spirit which has done the filling, and not the other way around. Backus, locally known as Beanie. Sir Walter Scott celebrated both William Wallace and Bonnie Prince Charles, the latter in the most popular series of historical novels ever written, the Waverly novels. William Wallace has done the real catching, unless of course, it has been Hazel herself. William Wallace takes the lead back to Dover, and back to Hazel who has never left their house. In those days the post office had a small shop that sold tobacco and newspapers. Shortly after I finished graduate school and began to read more widely about the South I learned that Zora Neale Hurston had lived her last years in my home town, and was buried there. Learn about student-produced podcasts by reading and discussing the article "Students and Teachers, From K to 12, Hit the Podcasts.". At least the small boys have names that set them apart. Soon, a storm comes, and the lightning strikes trees around the group as they watchit is rather exhilarating. In The Wide Net, William Wallace must make his own way, and history, southern or otherwise, mythical or not, does not provide him (or the reader) with any guidelines. When Virgil finds a string of beads in the river, he gives them to Sam and Robbie. As far as living space was concerned, however, the town was strictly divided into white and black, and though the blacks were often seen in the white district, there were few whites who ventured into colored town. Think of another name in The Wide Net, Edna Earle. Sweet-gum red, hickory yellow, dogwood red, sycamore yellow. They all carried their classic illustrations. 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