Gender Discrimination In A Worn Path'

People in the story seem to have a reverence for the Phoenix which is shown when a white woman stops to help her tie her shoe which would be highly unlikely in the south at the time. Another incident is when the women at the drugstore in town gives her money for no reason.

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 paragraph 5 Welty said, “Seem like there is chains about my feet…” This is symbolic to Phoenix being a slave in her younger days. In the story Phoenix never reveals her age but it is known that she is old. She was most likely old enough to have been born as a slave and then freed as a young woman. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln enforced the Emancipation Proclamation which freed nearly three million slaves throughout the South.

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 is an elderly, African American women who makes her way to town to pick up medicine for her grandson. Along the way, she encounters difficulties that she overcomes in order to reach her destination. Welty uses the south’s view of African Americans to inspire Jackson’s journey. She meets up with a young, white man who is hunting while walking through the woods. He condescends her because of her old age and the color of her skin. He even, at one point, aims his gun at her as a joke. She never falters, and even ends up stealing a nickel from him. Also, when she enters the clinic where she needs to pick up the medicine, the receptionist thinks she is merely lost and unintelligent. She talks to Jackson as if she is less than her until a nurse, who knows Jackson, steps in. These things are southern aspects that can only be so accurately depicted if the writer is a southerner

Eudora Welty wrote this story in 1941, a time in America where although African Americans were free, they were still treated as a lesser race by the whites. Phoenix tells the hunter that she is headed to town because “the time come around.” (290) The hunter replies, “I know you old colored people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see Santa Claus!” The white hunter is making a stereotype that colored people go to town during winter to see Santa Claus, when in fact the nature of Phoenix’s travel is different. Lastly, before they part ways, the hunter points his gun directly at Phoenix, and asks if the gun does not scare her. She responds, “No sir. I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done.” Since Welty describes Phoenix as being very old, then it is safe to assume that Phoenix lived during a time where black oppression was at its highest. Therefore, since she has through a lot during her days, then having a gun pointed at her does not seem to impact her in any way.

“A Worn Path” is set in the South during a time of racism and injustice. Welty utilizes the setting of the story to help readers understand the struggles and hardships faced along the path and in Phoenix Jackson’s life. Welty also allows readers to fathom the battle faced by all African Americans, especially in the South, during this time period. As Phoenix Jackson makes her way pass the cotton field, Welty describes a figure as, “...something tall, black, and skinny there, moving before her.” As a direct effect of Phoenix Jackson’s surroundings and the time period she is living in, she makes the assumption that the figure was a black male that had been lynched. These were the harsh conditions that she had been exposed to most of her life and yet still she persevered through it all. Phoenix is given an opportunity to give up when Welty writes “Over she went in the ditch, like a little puff of milkweed,” but she finds strength to continue her journey. When the hunter points his gun at Phoenix, she

The story focuses on her determination to help her grandson who is ill because he swallowed lye when he was younger. She faces all types of obstacles like racism, poverty, hard travel, the cold weather and her old age. Phoenix starts by making her way through the wilderness and says, “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals. . . Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites” since its winter the animals will probably hibernating and this symbolizes her easy travel. The old lady without hesitation continues her journey up the hill. She says, “Seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far.” She uses the chains as a sign of slavery since she is a very old lady she might have been through that rough period of time.

There is more than just the force of nature in her way. People, ghosts, and her own imagination attempt to keep her from going to town. After being knocked down by a dog in the forest, Phoenix is assisted by a hunter. He seems to be friendly at first but the hunter is actually not kind to Phoenix. Not only does he send his dog to attack Phoenix Jackson but he also puts a gun to her head. With a gun at her head, the old woman did not flinch because she was not scared or worried. Phoenix Jackson knew that the man could not shoot her because it was against human nature. This act shows Phoenix Jackson’s character, it displays her boldness clearly for the reader. The young man insisted that the trail was not made for old Phoenix Jackson and told her to just go home but she was not giving to give in when she was so close. When brought to a corn field, Phoenix is scared of the “ghost” that is there; but once she's closer, she realizes it's only a scarecrow. Phoenix’s own imagination is the one to blame here for trying to send Phoenix home. The old grandma would drift off in a daydream and have to capture her attention to keep going. The author uses all of these distractions to show how truly difficult this journey was and the dedication displayed by Ms. Jackson.

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

At this point in the story, the strong symbolism of the phoenix is further displayed with the quote by one of the accompanying men, “’There was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix […] every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up. […] every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. […] we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. […] someday we'll stop making the goddam funeral pyres and jumping into the middle of them’” (Bradbury 70). “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty tells the story of Phoenix Jackson, an elderly woman who needs medicine annually for her grandson who ingested lye. The nearest hospital with his medicine is distant journey away. Throughout the story, Phoenix displayed perseverance for her grandson’s sake when she faced many hardships. This perseverance was shown during her conversation with the hunter when she said, “’I bound to go to town […] The time come around’” (Welty 91). Despite her age, Phoenix passed through each obstacle with little complaint as though the obstacles in her path were nothing more than landmarks down the road. Even though she lacked youth and vigor, she remarkably managed to make it to

The author uses her characters, both human and animal, to exhibit the obstacles blacks must face in everyday life. Dennis J. Sykes agrees in his article, “A Critical Analysis of the Worn Path” that “Phoenix Jackson’s … encounters with other characters illustrates the theme of impending black equality and amalgamation in the south after Civil War” (np). The characters,

Gender bias, also known as sexism, is a full of attitudes, laws, taboos, preferences, and behaviors that differentiates and discriminates against either sex. These may be a position of which male dominance and female subjugation in the modern society. It could also be a form of sexual stereotypes between men and women, these are commonly experienced in employment versus other positions. A final place that discrimination is faced is the academic environment, the female to male ratios are not in sync in certain programs and courses because of this and it is pressuring men and women to not go into certain fields and do what they love and please. Most advertisements on Television, magazines, newspapers, online ad’s, use a charged sexually image with a female as the star. Women are to be a pleasure for men, and nothing else. Many people have different opinions on genders and sexuality and that is okay, but sometimes you just need to keep them to yourselves.

Phoenix Jackson lived back in the country past the pines. She lived a lifetime of hardship. Her role in society is an old black woman in a white world, though she is not ashamed of her inferior position. She has walked a path periodically to get medicine for her chronically ill grandson who drank lye. On a cold December day, she shares one of her journeys to the hospital in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path." This specific journey is examined closely of an old woman full of dedication, dignity and high morale.

        Phoenix Jackson was certainly a dedicated old lady. She refused to give up, despite the odds against her, to help her grandson. Her grandson was very sick, and needed certain medication to live. After traveling miles through wilderness, barbed wire, thorn bushes, and being confronted by a white man with a gun, she still persisted on her