Analyzing “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty - 1

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 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

Phoenix Jackson’s, in “A Worn Path,” physical limitations eluded to the difficulties she faces throughout her journey.

In the story “A Worn Path”, elderly African American woman Phoenix Jackson survives poverty and racism, but shows that she has a deep love for her grandson and that gives her the meaning of life. she is very courageous because in the story it is shown through her efforts to get her grandson who is sick feel better. She walks to the city to get the medicine for her grandson and she doesn’t let any obstacles to stop her. This shows that she is strong, courageous, and is willing to sacrifice for her loved one. Phoenix gets looked down by the nurse at the medical clinic because she is not rich and is African American.

At first glance, Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” leaves the reader with a sense of uncertainty and dissatisfaction. It is only after taking a historical approach to the story when the mood, setting, and theme becomes vivid and insightful. Welty describes Phoenix Jackson, the protagonist, as a humble Negro woman, immediately setting the tone by the matching the language of the segregation era of the mid-twentieth century. Then, the reader learns that the story takes place in the Old Natchez Trace, further solidifying the setting in what is usually referred to as the Deep South. So, it is no surprise that the imagery found in the story also corresponds to the time-period; e.g. the humble clothes made from sugar sacks, the fields of cotton and corn, and the lye swallowed by the grandson. These items would have been common in a time when most African Americans were found in the humble rural areas of the state due to the social inequalities at the time. With the setting in mind, it then becomes evident that Welty creates Jackson as the embodiment of the hopes and struggles African Americans experienced in a post-Civil War era.

Phoenix encountered many obstructions throughout ‘A Worn Path,’ brought by her physicality and destitution, as well as corporal barriers and self-esteem. Even though these roadblocks steadily tried to deter her from her goal, she never wandered off her path. Phoenix is an example of how to overcome barricades, and to always be

In the short story, “A Worn Path" narrator by Eudora Welty, of an elderly African American woman takes a journey with the purpose of obtains medication for her grandson while facing many problematic obstacles. Phoenix Jackson is fragile with poor vision old lady that “Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush.” (649). Phoenix ability to see was difficult for her to walk the path that she remembers so clearly but wish nothing to stand in her way. The legendary Phoenix symbolizes renewal and resurrection through destruction, an example “Every time she took a step she might have fallen over her shoelaces, which dragged from her unlaced shoes” (649). She is a dedicated, persistent grandmother who could not do the duty of fastening her shoe herself. She is willing to take the dangerous quest at the risk putting her life in danger to help her grandson. The symbolism of Phoenix character begins to shift as her expedition progress further into the story showing the similarity of the mythical of the Phoenix.

The last obstacle, and probably the biggest, is when she encounters a young hunter with his dog on a chain. He approaches her asking what she is doing. I get the feeling because Phoenix is an elderly, African-American woman, she is not comfortable with the encounter with the armed hunter possibly because he is probably white and has a dog. She overcomes this obstacle by standing firm and rebutts0 his comment for her to go home by saying that she is bound to go to

If somebody was to read “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, and take it for its face value, that person would miss out on a great deal of insight that the story provides. Welty’s masterpiece is riddled with symbolism, so much that there are hundreds of speculations and theories about what the short literary work is actually saying. At face value, “A Worn Path” is a story about an old woman named Phoenix Jackson who travels down the Old Natchez Trail to a village to purchase medicine for her sickly grandson. One of the most intriguing aspects of the story was the mental state of Phoenix Jackson. She might be a normal, sane lady who uses her old age and the story of her dying grandson to steal money from people (Forest Tate).

(Welty) show him putting her into a stereotype when he does not know why she is going into town. This seems to be a common theme. The attendant calling her “A charity case, I suppose” (Welty) continues the stereotyping of Phoenix with how these characters view black people. Phoenix also went through many trials in the course of her journey to get the medicine for her grandson. These trials seem to represent the obstacles that African American’s fought against to gain their freedom.

Phoenix Jackson endures many obstacles along her journey through the worn path. When faced with hardship, she persevered regardless of her difficult circumstances. The reader watches her climb up and down a steep hill that was hard on her feeble body. Then, she comes to a creek with a log lying across it. The reader is aware that Phoenix has a hard time walking, but instead of giving up she faces this extremely dangerous and challenging situation as “…she mounted the log and shut her eyes” (Welty 645). When she gets to the other side she opens her eyes. Welty uses this challenge to show the reader that sometime one must rely on faith to get through trials. Next a barbed wire fence challenges her but she meets it without fear. Eventually, Phoenix encounters a white hunter who tries to persuade her to turn around by pointing his gun at her asking, “Doesn’t the gun

“ A Worn Path” is by Eudora Welty.. There’s a lot of conflict with Phoenix Jackson. She had two disabilities, but that she doesn’t stop her. Phoenix Jackson is a hero in Eudora Welty A Worn Path.

Before the journey even begins, we come to an understanding that this journey is going to be a struggle for Phoenix. She is described as "very old and small" (86) and walks carefully with her "thin, small cane made from an

In “A Worn Path” an old black woman is seen walking through the forest to get medicine for her grandson. Eudora Welty puts the hunter, the doctor’s office, and aspects of the journey itself in Phoenix’s path to symbolize the ongoing struggle of the African American community to gain freedom in post-slavery American society. At the end of her journey, Phoenix obtains medicine that admittedly will not cure her grandson, but also offers the possibility of future healing and provides the means to bring some unexpected hope back to her grandson.

Every person has a path that he or she must walk in life; and on that path, are many different challenges. In order to overcome these challenges, one must have the determination to push and press through. In the short, “A worn path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson, the main character, was faced with many different challenges. Thou she was very old, but she didn’t let that keep her from what she had to do. Phoenix shows her determination against nature, her mind, and person.