The Little Store

Welty uses a visual layout and time structure as she describes the area around the side walk that leads to the little store. She walks down the sidewalk she reflects back in time to people and events that have transpired on previous trips on the sidewalk. She also reflects on events people who lived by the sidewalk had but were not related to a trip to the store like the story of Lindsey.

She continues the visual and mixes in time as it progresses and also reflects to previous events. The location of the store is given and with the description she tells of her intimate knowledge of the path she takes to walk to the store. She uses a metaphor with how well she knows the path and states “I know even the sidewalk to it as well as I know my own skin” (155). She goes through a litany of games and activities she enjoyed on this sidewalk as well as her bothers and friends. Her descriptions express a positive and happy time playing and reflect the joy she has when she journeys to the store.

Welty’s effect of presenting the visual of being happy playing games and other activities bring about a since of joy and good feeling before we enter the store with her. When she enters the store she begins to describe the smells as “… almost tangible smells-licorice recently sucked in a child’s cheek…and perhaps the smell of still-untrapped mice” (156-157). I understand the smell of licorice but the rest of the descriptions have me trying to understand the smells. Is the licorice sweet and mixed with other aromas? I also know the smell of caged mice so I use that knowledge to help understand.

Welty reflects back to the time spent playing on her block and the visits to the store with the use of a metaphor with part of her analysis. She eloquently wrote “I believed the Little Store to be a center of the outside world, and hence of happiness-as I believed what I found in the Cracker Jack box to be a genuine prize, which was as simply as I believed in the Golden Fleece” (158). I believe she stated how she felt both of the store and her childhood and compared them to finding the big prize. She uses a simile in describing how well she knows the path to the store by the saying “I knew even the sidewalk to it as well as I know my own skin” (155). A good analogy showing she made frequent trips to the store.

She ended the story on a sad commentary about tragedy at the Little Store and even with tragedy life teaches both good and bad. Some people looked for just the good while others found the bad.