Eudora Welty A Worn Path

Also during Phoenix’s encounter with the hunter, the reader and Phoenix face the possibility of her death at the hands of the hunter. Yet, even as the hunter tries to exercise his racial superiority and intimidation over Phoenix, she again never hesitates. When the hunter points his gun into Phoenix’s face her response is simply, “...I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done.” The hunter even threatens, “But you take my advice and stay home, and nothing will happen to you.” Phoenix’s answer is simply an unflinching, “I bound to go on my way, mister.” Again Phoenix symbolises the bird as she refuses to give in to even the

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.

Phoenix shows determination by getting by all of these obstacles and getting to town. Her determination to get to town shows that she would not let anything get in the way of something she knows she must do.

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In this short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, I will be analyzing symbolism. In the story “A Worn Path” the author uses symbolism to create a figurative explanation of the occurrences in her journey. This story has distinct symbols from myths, historical, and biblical events. The character Phoenix Jackson has various trials to go through on her way to town to get more medicine for her ill grandson.

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

The title of the story, “A Worn Path,” is foreshadowing something coming to an end. In Phoenix Jackson's case, it could mean the last time she walks the path or it could even very well be her life. Eudora Welty describes Phoenix walking slowly in the dark pine shadows with a cane, indicating the rough journey ahead. Early on in the story, she encounters a thorn patch. In this story, it states,“Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let old folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush.” The thorns represent some of the hurdles that hinder you if you are born black in America, especially in Jackson's time. The author uses imagery in the story to make the reader feel as if they know her. “God watching me the whole time. I come to stealing.” When Jackson talks to herself aloud the reader imagines the young spirited side of her.

Phoenix lived in a society where racism was still running strong. Yet she faced and dealt with that every day of her life. As an African-American slave, she would have toil in the fields, wondering if she would still be alive by the time the sun was setting. Phoenix is visible shaken with a run a scarecrow she believed to be a ghost. She says to image, "'Ghost,' she said sharply, 'who be you the ghost of? For I have heard of nary death close by” (Welty 24).Slave mothers would often show that same fear as they watched the shadows return from the field; wondering if their loved ones were still alive or was going to come home unharmed. Phoenix faced those same fears as a mother and grandmother. If Phoenix was caught in the

Phoenix Jackson in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" has been compared to the mythological phoenix because of her birdlike qualities, and it's also been noticed that Phoenix possesses many of the same characteristics as Christ. But, what hasn't been addressed is the fact that Eudora Welty didn't just leave the symbolism to Christ alone. Welty also included many biblical allusions as well. Phoenix Jackson is not only symbolic of the mythological bird that rose from the ashes of its own demise or simply a Christ figure comparable to the Son of God, but she is also a biblical hero facing temptation and trials along her journey and succeeds unharmed and steadfast in her faith.

Eudora Welty was a renowned American author who used literary themes and devices to describe the complexities of the human mind and soul. Through her short stories, Welty paints a vivid portrait based on morals, hardships, and human relationships. In her stores, Welty combines this with humor and psychological acuity to allow the audience a glimpse into the lives of her characters and to learn something of themselves in the process. Two of her most famous short works are “Death of a Traveling Salesman” and “A Worn Path”. In her works like “Death of a Traveling Salesman”, Eudora Welty reminds her readers that modernization and work isn’t always a good thing and that we should enjoy our lives. In “A Worn Path,” Welty demonstrates that anyone can accomplish anything if they struggle and work hard for it, even if the path towards success is a difficult one. However, in today’s society many people have forgotten these traditional values and are forgetting what morals are, what human relationships are like beyond the 4.55 pound of technology, and what it’s like to think for themselves and learn from their own interpretations.

When Phoenix's dress is caught in the bush, "it was not possible to allow her dress to tear" (87). She wore this long dress with an equally long apron made of bleached sugar sacks. Phoenix values all of her possessions greatly, including her grandson. When Phoenix was knocked into a ditch by a dog, a hunter confronts her. "He lifted her up, gave her a swing in the air, and set her down" (89). The hunter wants to show off his strength from being young, and his power from being white. He discourages her to continue and treats her with great disrespect. Though, through all of this, old Phoenix keeps her conversation sensitive with sarcasm in her words. Phoenix shows her pride and courage when the hunter points his gun in her face. She remains calm and keeps control of the situation with such a clever response: "I seen plenty [guns] go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done" (89). This was obviously not the first time Phoenix was confronted with death and she refused to let the hunter think he was in control by making her afraid of him. She is full of inner power which consists of her love, experience and sacrificing nature.

Love. Love is the energy that can push one to do the impossible, tolerate the intolerable, and even face death. The love stories that first come to mind are between a lover, the person he/she loves and involves a villain who does all in his power to stop the two from being one. There are people in the world who may say the same kind of love years ago, where the lover is willing to die just trying to get their love, no longer exists.

On Phoenix’s journey to obtain relief for her grandson, the white hunter is the only character that she meets before she gets to Natchez. The hunter finds Phoenix laying on the ground and he helps her get up. Later, the hunter asks her why she needs to go to town and tries to convince her to go home and give up. Welty includes this character in the story to represent the whites who repressed blacks. After helping Phoenix to her feet, the hunter immediately starts trying to get her to go home and give up on her journey towards true freedom for blacks. Phoenix tells him that “I bound to go to town, mister. The time come around,” (Welty 145) showing that she feels that African Americans have been oppressed for too long and it’s her task to help get it for the next generation of blacks in America. But, after she tells the hunter

This story is about perseverance no matter how hard things may be. A worn path is a story about an African- American woman, Mrs. Jackson, who makes a hard trip into town to get medication for her sick grandson. This story is very relatable for me personally because I have always had to dig deep and push though tough situations to achieve my goals. Mrs. Jackson’s main goal was to get medication for her grandson to make him healthy again. This story shows that is you care about someone or something enough then you will do anything for them. Mrs. Jackson reminds me a lot of my Nana because she is a strong woman that would literally do anything for me. She has taught me that life is about enjoying the little things in life, like the paper windmill. Phoenix Jackson didn’t have the cream of the crop, but she did her best to provide for her family. For most people in the world today things are very easy, but that doesn’t mean that the struggles are not real for others.

        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.