Memoirs In Eudora Calloway's Autobiography

Determined to Read

Memoirs help recall a particular time in a person’s life that had a special meaning or a significant impact. Even as a child, Eudora Welty had an insatiable appetite for books. However, the draconian librarian in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi did not create an atmosphere that was conducive to reading. Eudora’s desire to read was so great, she was so hungry for books that this particular time in her childhood left an indelible mark on her. At the same time, she recalls how her mother shared her love of reading and how she was able to achieve her goals with her mother’s support and encouragement. In Eudora Welty’s autobiography “One Writer’s Beginnings,” Welty uses language to convey the intensity and value of these experiences to describe her passion for reading in shaping her future as a writer. She describes Mrs. Calloway as the inconsiderate antagonist, her

“I read library books as fast as I could go.” She would read every word in the book and would need another one to start. Every book she covered meant instant gratification of her devouring wish to read. She knew she had to seize the opportunity to read as many books as she could. She says, “Taste isn’t nearly so important; it comes in its own time”. She was rather eclectic in her reading, which encompassed a wide range from simple children’s books like “Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While” to classics like “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. She knew she was not old enough to develop a taste for books, but her goal was to devour every book she could. Her only fear “was that of books coming to an end”. She had an insatiable appetite for reading, but her greatest fear was that she would run out of books to read. This inspired her to grow up to be a writer, so she could keep writing books and would never run out of