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Losing Battles (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

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Losing Battles is a book-length illustration of Welty's theory of confluence. When the Beechams, the Renfros, and the Vaughns gather to celebrate Granny Vaughn's ninetieth birthday, they all talk. In the southern social tradition, this talk involves a great deal of storytelling and reminiscence. In this way, people long dead appear among the living, and past events are revived to determine present actions.

As the title implies, there are many conflicts in the novel. Many involve an outsider's attempt to deal with a highly structured society—in this case, the large,...

[The entire page is 1131 words long]

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