Powerhouse (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Eudora Welty
- First Published: 1941
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The late 1930's
- Setting: Alligator, Mississippi
- Principal Characters: Powerhouse, Valentine, Little Brother, Scoot, The narrator
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Segregation or integration, Racism, Art or artists, Prejudices or antipathies, Imagination
- Locales: Alligator, MS
The Story
Eudora Welty is known for her compelling characters, and the protagonist in this story, Powerhouse, is certainly one of her most striking creations. A famous black musician, Powerhouse is appropriately named, for his outstanding characteristic is the creative power of his imagination. This creative power is portrayed over the course of one evening in a small town in Mississippi, during the late 1930's, when the Jim Crow laws of segregation were in effect, as the band plays for a “white dance”—a dance that only white people may attend.
At the opening of...
[The entire page is 1576 words long]
