A Worn Path By Eudora Welty Analysis

Most people accomplish difficult tasks with support systems such as family or friends. Phoenix knows she is alone in the world to care for her grandson. This knowledge of solitude makes Phoenix’s mission all the more difficult. The incident with the white hunter along her travel also demonstrates Jackson’s determination. As stated by Dennis Sykes, “Phoenix realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the possible harm that can be done to her brittle frame”(151). Phoenix’s ability to stare down possible bodily harm all for the sake of her grandson’s wellbeing demonstrates her heroic determination. By overcoming adversity, Phoenix’s determined character is revealed very well.

In the end we figure that Phoenix may be on a journey that really does not exist. We find out that maybe the grandson isn’t alive and that he has been dead for weeks. Whether or not Phoenix was aware she did not let life bring her down, whatever she was set to do she did and with great perseverance she has achieved her goal.

In the short story, Phoenix, an old Negro woman almost in her late years, takes her last journey through the woods like she had done for the past years, since her grandson got really sick by swallowing lye. In this journey Phoenix phases difficulties. Her old age made her hallucinate about her getting a marble cake given by a young child. Her difficulties to walk and her poor eye sight made her striped dress get stuck in the branches. Even though she went through all of these obstacles she was determined to go get her grandson’s medicine. Once she got closer to her destination she came across this White Hunter, who points his gun at her. Phoenix gets scared because she thought he saw her get a nickel which had fallen out his pocket, while she distracted him. Then she continued her journey until she saw her destination. When she got there she asked a white lady that was carrying gifts, to tie her shoe laces because she was entering this big building. Once she tied her shoe laces Phoenix continued, until she

When she arrives at the doctors’ office she is greeted first by a grumpy front desk receptionist, then a nice nurse who is familiar when Phoenix approaches her. The nice nurse assures the front desk receptionist that Phoenix is there to pick up her grandsons medication. As she and the nurse chat, Phoenix’s old age starts to play a factor when she loses her train of thought while the nurse asks on the condition of the grandson.

When she finds herself snagged on a thorn bush, she talks to it as she patiently frees herself. "Thorns, you doing your appointed work Never want to let folks pass-no sir (159)." As Phoenix wobbles along, she comes across a sitting buzzard and in three simple words she lets him know that he will not dine upon her. "Who you watching (160)?" She slowly sways past him and continues her journey, while nature carefully plans the next obstacle. Sure enough, as Phoenix stands and ponders, a big black dog creeps up behind her. "Old woman," she said to herself, "that black dog come up out of the weeds to stall you off (161)." She accepts the fact that the black dog is merely following nature's orders. Phoenix's old body is not as quick as her wit. When Phoenix is startled by the huge mutt, her mind reacts much faster than her body, causing her to drop into a weed-cushioned trench. The old woman is discovered by a young hunter who quickly snatches her out of the ditch. As they converse, Phoenix catches a glimpse of a shiny nickel that drops out of the hunter's pouch. Her mind reacts; her face lights up and she claps her hands. "Look at that dog! She laughed as if in admiration. He ain't scared of nobody. He a big black dog (161)." Knowing that her old body needs plenty of time to grab the nickel, she uses her wit to shift the hunter's attention toward the "fearless"

11. The human nature that is seen when Phoenix encounters the scarecrow is happiness. She is glad that is a scarecrow and begins to dance with it. It seems like it is demonstrating life and Phoenix is happy that she is still alive at her old age. The scarecrow also scares away crows that usually symbolize death, so the scarecrow is scaring death away and Phoenix is happy because she is old and she might die soon. Nobody wants to

Phoenix, on the other hand, was a selfish manipulative old woman who had an obsession with power. She was on a journey through the woods to the city, where she had many encounters. When Phoenix encounters the hunter she steals the money that falls out of his pockets. She always seems to want something for her troubles. However, later in the story while in the hospital, Phoenix has a totally different personality. She seems to have no guilt for the actions she makes.

She chances her life and difficulties the quality of her body to enable her grandson to recuperate. All through her trip to the town of Natchez, she battled over the slopes and hedges that took a stab at backing her off, and the spring that was a diversion to her goal. Phoenix had slithered through a security barrier and even got thumped around a pooch all through her voyage. "So she cleared out that tree, and needed to experience a spiked metal perimeter. There she needed to crawl and creep, spreading her knees and extending her fingers like a child endeavoring to climb the means." (Welty 388) Phoenix Jackson cherished her grandson so much that she went an "additional mile" to ensure he would get his prescription. Phoenix demonstrated that she was resolved in light of the fact that she remained solid disapproved and steady all through her

Phoenix Jackson and The Young Man embarked on their journeys for different reasons. Phoenix’s journey was a necessary journey; her grandson needed the medicine in order to be healthy. She took the journey because of her sense of responsibility and love for her grandson. Like any grandmother,

When Phoenix gets to town, she is treated very hatefully by one of the women in the doctor's office. Phoenix swallows her pride and ignores the woman's insults so that she can get what she came for, her grandson's medicine. “A charity case, I supposed, said an attendant who sat at the desk before her” “ Are you deaf?, Cried the attendant” ( 52) The attendant was really rude but she just ignores her so she can just get her grandson’s medicine.

There is nothing Phoenix will not do for the boy she loves. She even endures insult and humiliation when the attendant in the office hatefully calls her a “charity case” and tell her to “Speak up, Granma.” Phoenix endures this kind of disrespect because she has to in order to complete her mission, but “a twitch in her face” suggests it is not easy for her. These similarities show that Phoenix Jacksons charisma can also be seen by multiple

She desires, as an instance, that her shoes be tied so she has some dignity earlier than entering what seems to be the town hospital. at the identical time, Phoenix isn't always above stealing a piece of cash, as while she distracts the hunter and slyly nicks a nickel. After her theft, though, she concerns about her vulnerability to punishment as a bad black ladies, reflecting that she has seen “masses guns burst off nearer by means of, in my day, and for less than what I finished”. Later, in the clinic, the attendant offers her a nickel as charity, and even as status “stiffly” she “carefully” accepts the coin. From those times we understand that Phoenix is each proud and smart, questioning rather of herself but no longer above getting the money and medication she wishes thru anything method she will be able to, whilst also being aware about the ability debasement and dangers of her position. money will become a tool of empowerment for Phoenix, at the same time as the stealing and the charity endorse a separation of training. That she then makes use of the cash no longer to buy the bare necessities however instead for a incredibly expensive and surely delicate paper windmill with the intention to show her grandson the wonders of the sector shows her hope of what the destiny holds and the manner that having wish fuels her will to head on, however additionally the fragility

Welty conveys theme that Phoenix has had a life full of trials and tribulations but her perseverance and courage gotten her to the place where she needed to get medicine for her grandson. Some people are born into

When Phoenix had the encounter with the hunter, she managed to spot a nickel that fell out of his pocket. She devised a plan to get that nickel. As soon as that nickel hit the bottom of her pocket, a bird flew by. Phoenix took this as a sign that God was watching her.

        Along with struggling against her old age Phoenix Jackson had many elements of nature holding her back from helping her grandson. She had to travel very far to reach the hospital for his medicine. On her way she encountered many elements of wildlife, of which she scared out of her path. Her dress was constantly caught in the brush and was in danger of being ruined as she passed a barbed wire fence. This also took place during Christmas time when it more than likely was extremely cold out side. But Phoenix's desire to help her grandson, and save his life, while also preserving some life of her own, helped her strive in completing this trip.