Eudora Welty 's A Worn Path

Through Phoenix’s journey, mythology is included again. Phoenix’s journey begins in “December, a bright frozen day in the early morning” (Welty 1). “She is equated with the morning, the rising sun, for she is the immortal bird which rises from its own ashes as the sun rises, and dies only to be reborn” (Ardolino 2). Eudora does not stop with the opening paragraph to incorporate the old legend. “After Phoenix’s arduous journey into town, she arrives at the charity ward where she is to obtain the medicine for her grandson, and there she saw nailed up on the wall the document that had been stamped with the gold seal and framed in the gold frame, which matched the dream that was hung up in her head. In this office Phoenix stands, a fixed and ceremonial stiffness over her body” (Jones 5). “Obviously like the embodiment of the original Egyptian sun-god that flew home every five hundred years, this Mississippi

In “A Worn Path” colors are used to emphasize the depth and breadth of the story, and to reinforce the parallel images of the mythical phoenix and the protagonist Phoenix Jackson. Eudora Welty’s story is rich with references to colors that are both illustrative and perceptive, drawing us in to investigate an additional historical facet of the story.

A phoenix is a mythical bird that burns into ashes and then rises from its ashes showing rebirth and youth. Also the phoenix shows security and phoenix has security of the medicine that will

In “A Worn Path”, Phoenix Jackson’s name symbolizes the mythological bird “Phoenix.” In mythology, the story of the Phoenix is about a large, magical bird that lived for centuries, created a fire for itself, and rose up out of the ashes renewed again. The bird’s color is described as shimmering red and golden/yellow. Eudora describes Phoenix’s skin as “a golden color” and her cheeks “illuminated by a yellow burning in the dark,” and the red bandana she wears around her head also symbolises the colors of the bird. The idea of Phoenix persevering, like the bird, despite what many would see as insurmountable odds is best seen through her meeting with the hunter. Even when the hunter points out how far the journey is to town for Phoenix, she simply answers, “I bound to go to town, mister. The time come around.” She answers without hesitation, showing that the idea of giving up never entered her mind. It is this resilience in the face of adversity that further ties Phoenix to her namesake.

To establish, connection of Phoenix to a phoenix the narrator described Phoenix as a woman of old age. The narrator placed emphasis on the color of Phoenix eyes (blue with age). The character is described walking slow in the dark shadows. Emphasis placed on the character uncertainty of footing and steadiness suggests she was old. Her wrinkled forehead is a symbol of a person of age. All these references constitute Phoenix was a lady of extreme age. She was also referenced to a grandfather clock. The grandfather represents age, but it also had a hidden

A person’s journey can have symbols that come through everyone’s life. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Eudora describes symbols by using people that come through Phoenix’s path while she’s in her journey to Natchez. Eudora uses a nickel, marble cake, big dead trees, mistletoe, and a white hunter to symbolize Phoenix’s difficulties and obstacles that she had to go through in order to get to her destination.

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.

A phoenix is a bird that lives to symbolize rebirth at its finest. A phoenix goes through the many stages of life, to get to the very moment where it burns itself up and becomes reborn once more. The phoenix comes from greek mythology and is used as the reincarnation symbol in most stories. In the story “Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, the main character’s name is Phoenix. Although I will touch more on this specific meaning, but the story has an incredible amount of hidden meanings that touch on even the most sensitive discussion topics of the modern age. Whether it is about racism, internal conflict, or natural conflict there is always a lesson to learn from this story. Eudora Welty clearly wants to make it known that even as her main character goes through a simple task of walking from her home to the town, she discovers many issues along her journey.

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.

A worn path is a story full of strong mythological figures, but the one we see the most is the phoenix. The phoenix is a very large bird with coloring of scarlet and gold, we are told that Phoenix Jackson has gold coloring. From her appearance and also name we can actually tell that Phoenix is the physical embodiment of the mythological creature the phoenix. We have found that the most amazing power that the phoenix has is determination.

In the story “A Worn Path” uses a continuous number of literary techniques and there is an overflow of symbolism. In the story everything symbolizes an object symbolism is when an object in the story can relate to something. Symbolism is a literary technique that adds meaning to a story by using an event or object as a symbol to represent something else. Phoenix Jackson represents the most important thing in the story the ancient Egyptian bird the Phoenix. The story “A Worn Path” takes place in December 1941. It’s about an old lady named Phoenix Jackson that goes to town in Natchez, Mississippi to get some medicine for her grandson who had swallowed lye many years back. Phoenix faces some obstacles on her way to town that try to keep her

Phoenix Jackson was the woman wrote about in the story “A Worn Path.” She displayed courageous efforts and determination as she walked toward town. The lecture defined a phoenix as a bird that regenerates itself after falling into flames (Bethel University, 2017). The story relates to that in the sense that Miss Jackson doesn’t let anything stand in her way and keeps pushing forward despite her obstacles.

These details correlate with Foster’s ideas regarding season; winter is a time of decay and death. With this in mind, one can assume that Phoenix is on her journey to death. Furthermore, Welty uses Phoenix as a symbol to suggest a renewal towards her life.

  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.