Eudora Welty 's A Worn Path

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly women- Phoenix Jackson and who is taking a long journey though the woods into town to acquire medicine for her sick grandson. On her way she encounters many obstacles such as the thorns in which her dress got caught in, barbed wire, a scarecrow, a large dog, a hunter and the lady, which ties her shoes. All of these obstacles among her dementia and hallucinations, which are implied throughout the story, delay her from reaching town. Throughout the story the reader can perceive that her grandson has already died, however due to her dementia she has trouble remembering. A Worn Path by Eudora Welty is a metaphor for people in this world that use the “worn path” instead

Through the progressing journey Phoenix says, “Now comes the trial,” (Welty). This statement refers to her being freed from slavery and starting a new life as a free person. In history, even though the black people were freed from slavery, they were still seen as a lesser race in white folk’s eyes. This made

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.

In her short story “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty incorporates many instances of biblical allusions and racism both within the plot and the main character herself. These aspects of the story, while periodically difficult to recognize, are parts of what make the story and Eudora Welty’s writing so eccentric. At first glance, readers may simply believe they are witnessing the journey of an elderly black woman fetching medicine for her ill-stricken grandson. However, as they dig deeper within the text, they find that Welty’s writing contains much deeper messages and aspects that mimic those found within modern society.

Through the character of Phoenix Jackson in “A Worn Path” Welty produces a picture of an aging African-American woman in the Jim Crow South. In “A Worn Path” we learn of the hardships Jackson faces on her weekly journey for medicine to sooth the pain of her grandson. Welty conveys this these hardships by giving the reader insight into the physical health, the mental health, and the socio-economic status of Jackson.

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 uses partial third person to evoke sympathy from the reader for Phoenix Jackson by revealing her thoughts in the conversations she has with herself. In these conversations, readers get a glimpse of her deteriorating mental clarity and health that comes with age. Her growing senility can be seen when she sees the scarecrow as a ghost. She tells the scarecrow, “who’d you be the ghost of? For I have heard of nary death close by” (Welty235). Readers are drawn into Phoenix’s hardship through statements like, “it was my memory had left me. there I sat and forgot why I had made the trip” (Welty 239). In everyday life, one can both sympathize and relate to her hardships, struggles, and triumphs. In “The Worn Path”, Eudora Welty describes Phoenix Jackson in a such a manner, the reader feels as if Phoenix is right in front of him/her; this can seen in the visual images of skin having “numberless branching wrinkles as though a whole tree stood in the middle of her forehead”, or “she is very old and small” (Welty233). My favorite description of Phoenix is “she walked slowly in the dark pine

The sun pounding down, the cramp creeping up from deep inside the calf muscle, the extreme fatigue sinking in; yet just ahead, he can make out the banner flying in the barely-there-breeze. He may have made a wrong turn at mile 8, started getting cramps at mile 17, and twisted his ankle when he fell at mile 23, but he keeps limping forward. Phoenix Jackson, the elderly woman in Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path”, is a lot like the injured runner. It is her astounding bravery and her innate cunning, along with her eternal love for her grandson, which gives her the ability to endure the hardships of her journey to get her grandson’s medicine. Phoenix Jackson is able to overcome each obstacle and adversity she encounters along the path due to her unending perseverance.

The writing of Welty has many instances of reading between the lines. For example when Phoenix is climbing a hill she states “seem like there is chains about my feet” (Welty 234) which hint back to the fact that Phoenix was born a slave. The tone of “A Worn Path” is airy and full of life and nature. Welty sets the scene of the journey in such a way that intrigues the five senses and allows the reader to go on this voyage with Phoenix Jackson. This could be the result of their only being one substantial character.

Love is a universal concept. We all feel it, how deeply we feel is up to one’s self. How willing we are to let go of our own personal struggles and to take up someone else’s without hesitation. To sacrifice ourselves for another we love. Love can open many doors. In the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson’s character reveals how deep one’s love can go, even when one’s self is in need.

Phoenix Jackson used to be a slave. She references slavery in this story when she says “seems like there is chains about my feet” inferring that she at some point really did have chains on her feet. Her whole life was controlled by others trying their best to strip every freedom they could. She endured hellish situation, that most people have ever only read about in textbooks, or seen in movies. however Phoenix prospered and kept on going. She has been through many situations that have all guided her to live on and still love. She references slavery in this story when she says “seems like there is chains about my feet” inferring that she at some point really did have chains on her feet. Phoenix does not seem to pity herself much considering what she has been through and will push herself

Color is not only defined as the shade of skin, but by every object and the way it emits light. Often times people look into the mirror and see only the present and the past that they have lived. Not many can envisage the thought of living in an inescapable present where they are forced to believe that they were not capable of having or doing better. In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, she uses the main character Phoenix Jackson as a symbol to show that regardless of old age, race, or social status African American women are still capable of rising above the problems they are faced with.

Phoenix Jackson : Is the protagonist of the story. She is described in vivid colors, suggesting her lively nature: she wears a red rag in her hair and her skin is described as “yellow,” “golden” and “copper.” Her age is indicated by the way she moves — slowly, in small steps, with the assistance of a cane — and by the wrinkles on her face, which form “a pattern all its own . . . as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead.” Because of her frailty, her determination to continue on her journey highlights her resilience and perseverance. Old Phoenix sees the Natchez Trace as an obstacle course, one that she tolerates with a fair

In the story of Phoenix Jackson, an old woman whose great courage on and overcoming great obstacles is brought to life in the short story from “A Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty. Now some of Phoenix’s most compelling evidence of perseverance comes from the path she has chosen to take and having the willpower to never give. Old age is not always the end of the road, but the journey it takes to get to that age is worth living for.

In A Worn Path by Eudora Welty, we have the topic of battle, sacrifice, determination, perseverance, magnanimity, and love. Taken from her A Curtain of Green and Other Stories gathering the story is narrated in the third individual by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realizes that Welty may utilize the setting of the story to investigate the subject of battle. All through Phoenix's trip into town, there is a feeling that she is battling, that from multiple points of view she is being thwarted in her attempt to get into town. A few examples of the battle Phoenix experiences incorporate the occurrence when she tears her skirt on the prickly hedge, how she has to experience a barbed-wire fence and later when she falls into the jettison. Each of these occurrences may be important as it is conceivable that Welty isn't just featuring to the reader the battles that Phoenix experiences on her adventure into town however it is also conceivable that Welty is featuring the battles that many African Americans at the time the story was distributed (1941) experienced while endeavoring to make some advance in their lives. At the time the story was distributed racial equality would not have existed in America and African Americans would have been treated as peasants with many white Americans seeing themselves as to have been better than African Americans.