"The Key" is one of Eudora Welty's short stories--published first in the book A Curtain of Green And Other Stories (1941) and afterwards in several short story anthologies. "The Key" represents well the complexity of theme and figurative use of language that characterize all the major works of Eudora Welty.
Overview: "The Key"
"The Key" depicts the scene of a quiet waiting room of a train station where Albert Morgan and his wife Ellie are sitting quietly, despite the need to communicate. The only movement shown in the room comes from a young, red-haired man who is tossing a small key up in the air and then catching it. Then, in a moment, he lets the key fall on to the floor. The metallic sound the key produces on touching the floor electrically transforms the stillness that has filled the people in the room.
The plot of the story is explored fully in the way the Morgans respond to the presence of the key. Albert picks it up and calls it a "symbol." He feels happy on having it in his possession. Thus the key becomes the symbol of the lost happiness that his marriage caused and/or failed to give him. He hides the key in his clothes, treating it as a treasure. The feeling of possession that comes with it makes him think how his wife lacked the charm--the subtle charm--that attracted him to the key.
"The Key" depicts the scene of a quiet waiting room of a train station where Albert Morgan and his wife Ellie are sitting quietly, despite the need to communicate. The only movement shown in the room comes from a young, red-haired man who is tossing a small key up in the air and then catching it. Then, in a moment, he lets the key fall on to the floor. The metallic sound the key produces on touching the floor electrically transforms the stillness that has filled the people in the room.
The plot of the story is explored fully in the way the Morgans respond to the presence of the key. Albert picks it up and calls it a "symbol." He feels happy on having it in his possession. Thus the key becomes the symbol of the lost happiness that his marriage caused and/or failed to give him. He hides the key in his clothes, treating it as a treasure. The feeling of possession that comes with it makes him think how his wife lacked the charm--the subtle charm--that attracted him to the key.
A Question of Gender
Eudora Welty appears to have touched again on the gender issue. Albert does not feel like sharing the happiness (the key) and power equally with his wife. Ellie on the other hand is a "typical" woman who has worked harder and saved money in order to make their wedding trip to the Niagara Falls possible. The purpose of the trip is to infuse the Niagara Falls legendary influence of love into their relationship.
Albert is revealed as a man "never looking so far and so deep as Ellie." Yet, when the young man's key is allowed to fall, it comes to Albert's feet and not to Ellie's. The key that stands for "peace" is shown as a man's lot while his wife has spent years of restlessness to save money that will bring them happiness.
The gender disparity is not turned into conflict by Eudora Welty--not overtly at least. We read about Ellie: "But she was secretly pleased, and when she saw him slowly look down in his old manner, she reached over, as if to retract what she had said, and laid her hand on his, touching the key for herself, softness making her worn hand limp."
Eudora Welty appears to have touched again on the gender issue. Albert does not feel like sharing the happiness (the key) and power equally with his wife. Ellie on the other hand is a "typical" woman who has worked harder and saved money in order to make their wedding trip to the Niagara Falls possible. The purpose of the trip is to infuse the Niagara Falls legendary influence of love into their relationship.
Albert is revealed as a man "never looking so far and so deep as Ellie." Yet, when the young man's key is allowed to fall, it comes to Albert's feet and not to Ellie's. The key that stands for "peace" is shown as a man's lot while his wife has spent years of restlessness to save money that will bring them happiness.
The gender disparity is not turned into conflict by Eudora Welty--not overtly at least. We read about Ellie: "But she was secretly pleased, and when she saw him slowly look down in his old manner, she reached over, as if to retract what she had said, and laid her hand on his, touching the key for herself, softness making her worn hand limp."
Like other of Welty's works, "The Key" is set in a small town. Only three characters are used to explore the social and quasi-philosophical theme of frigidity and gender inequality in arriving at peace. The situation in the story, however, remains dominantly psychological. In contrast to the freedom of movement and noise made by small nocturnal creatures in the waiting room, the people in the waiting room are still, quiet, and reluctant to move.
Even the married couple going on their wedding trip is in the grip of an indomitable inhibition to interact. In a sense, they are all paralyzed. Only the key--a petty inanimate object--has the power to wake them all from a frozen state into liveliness. The point is that sometimes (or often) triviality rather than grandeur is the right key to find happiness and peace.
Even the married couple going on their wedding trip is in the grip of an indomitable inhibition to interact. In a sense, they are all paralyzed. Only the key--a petty inanimate object--has the power to wake them all from a frozen state into liveliness. The point is that sometimes (or often) triviality rather than grandeur is the right key to find happiness and peace.
