Can Love Conquer All? "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty Essay

In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” the main character, Phoenix Jackson, demonstrates old-age, fearlessness, and persistency. She shows real love and compassion for her sick grandson by traveling a long journey from the country to the city to get him medicine. Most would give up on such a tedious a journey. Though having multitudes of obstacles, she never gives up. Jackson’s relentlessness behavior represents her endurance as an elderly black woman in the 1940’s.

Phoenix Jackson, the main character, is a small, old African American woman who goes on a journey for a purpose that is unknown at the beginning of the story. Although Phoenix has made this trip many times, something is different about this trip. Throughout her journey, Phoenix faces many obstacles and hardships. The author uses symbolism and, later, gives the reader awareness of Phoenix’s character while, hopefully, teaching a lesson about life. In “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty uses the symbols of the name “Phoenix”, life and death, and the main characters’ age throughout the story.

In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” the character Phoenix Jackson is introduced. Phoenix Jackson is an uneducated, African-American woman without any family besides her sick grandson. Phoenix is the hero of this story and fits the role well by delivering much-needed medicine to her grandson. Phoenix shows many distinct traits that reveal her to be a hero to her grandson. The heroic feats she accomplishes pave a path that leads to her satisfaction as well as protection of her most beloved asset, her grandson. Throughout the story, Phoenix’s humble, caring, and determined character is displayed through her actions.

“A Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is based on an elderly African-American grandmother named Phoenix Jackson, who goes for a walk to the town of Natchez on a cold December morning to get some medicine for her ailing grandson. This story speaks of the obstacles Phoenix endured along the way and how she overcame them. The theme, central idea or message that the author wishes to convey to his or her readers, in “A Worn Path” is one of determination. Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to Natchez, in order to get medicine for her grandson; she does not let any obstacles get in her way. The theme of determination is shown in many ways throughout this short story.

In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty uses setting, characterization, and tone to illustrate the progresses of Phoenix, in a physical and emotional sense. The author illustrates the progress of Phoenix’s social, physical, and emotional sense to describe changing times and social norms. This allows the reader to get a clear and vivid out reach of what they are going to read about phoenix journey.

Within every person lies a will and a flame of strength to achieve any goal, or conquer any obstacle in life. In Eudora Welty 's "A Worn Path", her main protagonist, Mrs. Phoenix Jackson, perfectly displays the strength that a human possess. Despite being of old age, poor and out of shape, Mrs. Jackson 's strength defies these odds on the worn path that she walks daily. Human strength is abundant in "A Worn Path", as the author shows the reader the reason why mankind is so strong. Welty demonstrates that love is what makes Mrs. Jackson, and everyone else, strong enough to move mountains. The strength of Mrs. Jackson exceeds more than normal, due to the condition of her beloved grandson, so much that not pain, death, or pride can kindle the fire of her strength.

The short story “A Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty, reveals the life of a poor, old Negro woman living in Natchez, Mississippi during the 1930’s. The protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, lives alone with the exception of her ill grandson out in the country. Throughout the story Phoenix Jackson travels the same difficult journey to town. In “A Worn Path” the author, Eudora Welty, utilizes setting and symbolism to illustrate the character’s perseverance and endurance throughout her life.

“A Worn Path” tells of an elderly and frail black woman and of the hardships that she must overcome. Upon reading the story, you realize that there is more to the story than meets the eye. She faces many roadblocks along her way. Phoenix faces many dangerous obstacles along her way, for a person of her age. She faces racism from some of characters she meets along the way. Phoenix faces inferior treatment, as though she is nothing more than some insect to squash. This story is about not only her ‘journey’ to Natchez, but also about her journey through society and the struggle to overcome the dangers, being treated inferior, and the racism.

Thesis statement: In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson displays extraordinary perseverance in the face of difficulty, which ultimately allows her to accomplish her goal.

In "A Worn Path", a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a "worn path" through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics have speculated that this short story represents the love a grandmother shows for her grandson. Others say this story represents life and death, where Phoenix represents an immortal figure. Dennis J. Sykes disagrees with the other critics by saying,

“A Worn Path” is a short story about an old black woman named Phoenix Jackson. She has to make this long journey to town in order to get medicine for her ill grandson; she is all he has got. On her journey to town she faces a lot of obstacles along her way. For instance, she has to travel through the forest in the winter time, she meets a white hunter that pointed a gun to her face, she has to crawl under a barbed wire fence, she had to walk across a log that lay across a creek, and she even got attacked by a dog. Phoenix also had trouble with the fact that she kept hallucinating and forgetting her memory in some parts of the story. She was able to overcome these obstacles and when she finally got to the doctor’s office, she was

Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is a short story about an elderly woman who shows the qualities of a hero. Phoenix Jackson’s call to adventure was that she needed to get medication for her grandson who swallowed lye.

Laura Garcia Mrs. Metzker English lll B 22 April 2016 Have you ever felt like giving up but something keeps you going, leading you to your path? This is the story of Phoenix Jackson, a small and very old color woman from short story, “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty. This short story was published on February 1941, and is about an old lady making her way to town, to a charity where she will receive her grandson’s medicine for his sickness condition. Old lady, Jackson, passes through many challenging situations on her way to her path, but she does not give up. This short story shows that love for someone can make you do the impossible and its characters are realistic because of their appearance, description, and actions.

  The short story "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, is a descriptive story of a grandmother's difficult journey, for a grandson she loves. Her devotion to her grandson and wanting to provide him with a better lifestyle, was her motivation to overcome these trials. On this trip, Phoenix Jackson, the grandmother, struggles against old age, nature, and reality.

Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler facing a choice, he can either choose the road not taken, or he can choose the road most traveled by. He does not know where either road might lead, but in order to continue with his journey, he can pick only one road. He analyses both roads for the possibilities of where each may take him in his journey. Frost's traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken. Frost, uses literary elements, such as Denotation and Connotation, Symbolism, alliteration, consonance, and assonance in order to convey massage.