In Eudora Welty's short story "One Writer's Beginnings", the mother...

Challenges Husband's Power:

One way the mother resists repression is by not being afraid to assert herself and making a conscious effort to contribute to the trip. She is described as being alert in the passenger seat. She take on the co-pilot role as opposed to a subordinate. She also keeps track of the mileage and expenses which illustrates that she is a competent traveler. By doing this, she challenges the father’s power. She could not, for example, fix a flat tire as a way of asserting herself, so she gains power by taking on the smaller, yet important role of navigator.

Corrects Her Husband:

The narrator points out that the mother had to try hard in order to assess situations, but she puts an extra effort into correcting her mistakes and, more importantly, the mistakes of others. For example, when the father makes a wrong turn, she points it out to him, saying that she could have predicted it. Again she is trying to prove her competence. By correcting her husband she resists repression. Also challenging her husband, the mother defies a female stereotype of submissiveness. After being corrected by his wife, the father points that that the road he chose was going in the right direction. The narrator then explains that the father’s sense of direction can not be challenged. This illustrates that even though the mother speaks up, she cannot further question the father’s sense of direction. However, this does not show that she is repressed. Partially because of the times, the mother cannot gain complete equality in her marriage and on the road all at once. By asserting herself occasionally and in small ways, she slowly empowers herself.

Seeks Empowerment:

The mother gains power because she wishes to empower herself. Feminists view that women are repressed because of their sex. The mother thinks this as well, which is why the road, a symbol of masculinity, becomes her enemy. She wants to conquer the road because the road and car are traditionally masculine spaces. She does not want to be subordinate to her husband, and by conquering the road, she will take a portion of his power.

Conquers Her Fears:

The mother puts her personal fears aside, which empowers her. One of these fears is water, yet since she recognizes this fear, and can cope with it. Therefore, despite her fear, the mother is not shown as weak. Once on the ferry, the mother stays in the car with the youngest child. The mother controls her fear, and as a result she can help her family. This may suggest repression because it may seem is putting the needs of others ahead of her own. In Welty’s story, it may appear that by taking care of her family despite her fear, she sacrifices her own needs, thus acts subordinate to her husband. However, it is empowering for her on a personal level to conquer her own fears.

Has Equality in Her Marriage:

The father is also nurturing towards the children, which shows a near equality in their marriage. While with the father, the narrator describes the fraying rope in the hands of the man operating the ferry. The father, without being prompted, reassures the narrator, saying it will not break because it has not broken before. Another part of the equality in the marriage is the parents’ personalities. The father is an optimist, who always expects the worse and the mother is a pessimist who takes chances. The father compares the safety of different hotels and bring supplies in case of a fire. The narrator describes of one time before he or she was born when their house was burning down. The mother broke free from the people holding her back and ran into the burning building in order to rescue her literature. Then she jumps out the window. This gives an image of the mother that is a very different from an image of a repressed woman. She is able to help herself as well as her family. She is not afraid to go against what her husband might think if it is not what she agrees with, and she can put aside her own fears.

Controls Husband:

In addition to being able to resist repression, the mother has control over her husband, which is clearly empowering. In addition to putting him in the position where he has to catch her and her books, this control is illustrated when the narrator describes the state of the two parents on the road, explaining how stressful it was for them. However, The mother was the only one who could get the father to stop. That may suggest that is it the mother’s job to take care of the husband in addition to the children. However, because that father needs her to be able to function on the road, which is his masculine place, then she is then empowered. The mother has clear control over his husband, which illustrates that she is not repressed.

Takes Small Steps:

In Welty’s story, the mother and father’s feelings on feminism can be seen. For example, The parents’ respective optimism and pessimism carries over to their different feelings about female roles. The father believes that the mother should be content in her role, but she feels differently, and tells him so by asserting herself. Additionally, she does not want the pain of repression every day and that is why she challenges his authority in the small ways she can, as she does with the directions. Clearly the mother does not want to be repressed. She asserts herself by making a conscious effort to help with directions and by not concentrating on her own fears. These actions combined help her to resist repression and gain empowerment. This short story is an illustration of a woman who takes small steps to resist repression. The narrator observes that they feel as if they are going fast, but they are in fact going slowly. That refers to the small steps the mother is taking. Something that seems small, for example standing up for herself, is viewed as a personal victory by the mother. The mother makes small steps to gaining her own equality in the marriage and for her, these small actions are great.