A Visit of Charity

Hope Biggs Char act aser Analysis Paper Dr. Brookter January 22, 2013 No Charity, No alternate Charity is defined as a voluntary giving of economic aid and generosity especi everyy towards the needy or suffering. This small simple news show conveys a much bigger meaning, angiotensin converting enzyme of pity and selflessness. In the twaddle, A Visit of Charity the true act of charity seems to be missing. It is as if the main pieces of the puzzle ar missing. The written report has framework but wishings the shame and selflessness needed to bring it to life. The reality is, charity never came to learn.The story is ab out a young teenage girl, Marion, who in order to relieve oneself points for her Campfire Girl Club must visit the Old Ladies Home. By scarcely buying a implant plant and taking it to one of the residents, she gained tercet points but she stern earn extra points for bringing her bible and discipline it to the residents. Marion brings only a plant. (Welty 1 11) A Visit of Charity begins by describing the bleak winter day and a exposition of the nursing home, a gloss over brick and reflected the winter sunlight like a block of ice (Welty 111).This description alone non only describes the buildings appearance but also is descriptive of the coldness and the overleap of feeling for the elderly. Marion is no different. No thought was post into what might be helpful and useful for the residents, like toiletries, socks, or tied(p) food. Instead her only preparation for the visit was buying the potted plant. It is a clear indication of her selfishness and a reflection of a society that does non value its elderly. Her main concern is in beat outting points because she brings a potted plant.No real thought is put into who to give it to or who might truly enjoy it. She receives more than she gives and this reveals a true caseful flaw in Marion. Repeatedly in this story she reveals a selfishness and lack of connectivity to any social oc casion or anyone that does non benefit her. This is evident when Marion tells the nurse, I stimulate to pay a visit to some old ladies (Welty 111). And when she is asked if she knows any of them, Marion states, no but that is, any of them exit do (Welty 111). The use of some and any argon evidenced that she has no interest in where she is or whom she will meet.There has been no preparation or thought of who could benefit from her visit other(a) herself. In addition, either out of fear or self-preservation, Marions views the deuce old women not as people but as animals and birds. She refers as to one as having a bleating sound of a sheep and the other as having a birds claw. Her descriptions of the women ar reflective of disrespect for older people. In a sense she dehumanizes them as to not see their real inevitably or pains. Sensory need is often seen in older adults that lack stimulation and human contact.Older adults who are confined to a nursing home often lose breed of t ime, place, and person. Joseph Casciani, a geropsychologist, stated in an article about sensory loss, Added restrictions, much(prenominal) as confinement to bed or Geri-chair, increases the risk (of sensory deprivation). on the nose now the old ladies are not the only ones experiencing sensory deprivation. Marion has difficulty tell the old womens questions and to her surprise Marion cannot remember her name (Welty 111). It would be fine to believe that Marions lack of response was evidence of a petty bit of empathy towards these old ladies but it is doubtful.Marion is oblivious to the older ladys needs her thoughts are only of herself and her desire to escape. Time stands still and the diminutive room closes in on her. She realizes that the doors are closed and at one point she contemplates if she were to repair sick, would they let her leave? Her only sign of compassion comes when she is told of Addies birthday and she asks her how old she is. Addies response is to cry, p ossibly from the acknowledgement that she is spending her birthday alone with her roommate, a stranger, and isolated from anyone else. Or perchance she cried because she actually thought Marion cared.Regardless, Marions compassion was short lived. It is a reverberate image of our present day society and our seemingly short economic aid span to the needs and hurts of our elderly. Brief encounters, brief awareness, but little intervention, and no real change. Clearly, all that Marion has encountered is a bit too much for her. Her lack of forethought and preparation of what to bring is also carried over in lack of planning on what she would do or say while she was there. Her thoughts readily move to how she can escape without physical contact from either of the two old women.The abrasive realities of life close in and she quickly escapes into the vestibule with one of the old women following her begging for a penny, Oh, little girl, stool you a penny to spare for a poor old wom en thats not got anything of her own? We dont puddle a thing in the world-not a penny for candy-not a thing Little girl, just a nickel-a penny? (Welty 111). Her mind was only on escape, her ears may have heard what the old woman was saying but her heart did not suffice to the need. Marion was out of her comfort zone and her one desire was to get back in it as quickly as possible.The same can be said for our generation that ignores the cry of our elderly. To truly see and respond to their needs, readers must get out of their comfort zones. We have become a generation that has found value in the selfishness of our own desires instead of the needs of the greatest generation that gave sacrificially for the freedoms we now enjoy. Marion may have escaped the self-consciousness of the Old Ladies Home but the could not escape the knowledge of the harsh realities that she witnessed there. At the end of the story a red apple appears.It is mutable what the apple symbolizes and how it perta ins to the story. One can merely speculate to its importance. In biblical times the apple was symbolic of the knowledge of good and evil. This shows the evidence, When the woman axiom that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also preferredfor gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,who was with her, and he ate it. ( impudent foreign Version, Genesis 36). An apple was given to Adam to eat and when he did his whole life changed.It is quite possible the apple represents that once we have the knowledge of anothers needs but we fail to act on it, then we are no different than any other evil generation. With knowledge comes responsibility. A Visit of Charity is a story that sends a message to our society. What will we do with the knowledge once we break in it? We are clearly a generation that has unlimited access to all kinds of information and knowledge. But with knowledge must come responsibility and that require s that we get out of our comfort zones and meet the needs of the less fortunate and the hurting.Otherwise we are a generation of Marions who think only of themselves and lack the character to change not only their own destiny, but anyone else, as well. wee-wee Cited Welty, Eudora. A Visit of Charity. Making Literature Matter. Ed. John Schilb, John Clifford. New York 2012. 55-56. Print. Casciani, Joseph. Sensory Touch in Older Adults- Taste, Smell & Touch behavioural Approaches for Caregivers. Ezine Articles. com. April 9, 2008. Web. January 16, 2013. Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Ed. Kenneth L. Barker. Grand Rapids, MI Zondervan, 2002. Print.