Phoenix Jackson In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

The title of the short story, "A Worn Path," is a classic foreshadowing which gives us a feeling that something is going to the end. For Phoenix, “something” would be her life. The author describes Phoenix walks slowly in the dark pine shadows with a makeshift cane (to indicative of her rough journey ahead)***. In the last

The story of A Worn Path goes perfectly with the title; it is a slow paced mood with lots of symbolic messages associated with life. Phoenix Jackson is just representation of one person reaching a simple goal but for her may take a little more effort. Bound by her physical ailments of being old, slow, and brittle she never turns back giving up her goal. Through the symbolic obstacles that author Eudora Welty so cleverly puts together, puts a sense of what everyone goes through in life. Eudora Welty brings forth a theme; with enough persistence and boldness we can overcome any obstacle that we face and reach our goal. As we go through our life no matter what circumstances we may be in, there should be nothing that keeps us from achieving. Just like Phoenix Jackson she works towards a goal so important to her heart; she doesn’t let any obstacle come in her way.

"A Worn Path" is a story about a journey of an elderly black woman by the name of Phoenix Jackson. In this story Phoenix travels through woods, grasslands, farms, and hills. While facing many hardships and violence, Phoenix comes across the four major difficulties in this story being her age, blindness, vulnerability, and ethnicity during this time period. Phoenix is very elderly as the story shows very often revealing plainly to the reader that Phoenix is old, and that she has the difficulties that come with the elderly age. For example in the story the writer states "Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles" (Page 9). With Phoenix being most likely blind, as the writer states "Her eyes were blue with age," and

“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.

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.

While a narrative voice that is non-participating character, Eudora Welty is able to characterize the protagonist, Phoenix Jackson in “A Worn Path” to explain the importance of perseverance. Phoenix Jackson is an “old negro woman” (page 1; line 2) line who is traveling on a long trek through thick to receive a medicine for her ill grandson. Throughout her treacherous journey, she encounters a young white male who threatens her by “lifting his gun” (5;7) and pointing it at Phoenix. The narrator’s initial characterization and interaction of Phoenix, allows her to demonstrate perseverance later in the story. Within the first few paragraphs the narrator describes Phoenix as an “old negro woman” (1;3) who is also “very old and small” (1;3).

"A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty is a heartbreaking story about the heroic trip of an old African American woman, Phoenix. The readers won't find out right away the plot of the story or why Phoenix won't give up her exhausting trip to town-the conflict of this story-especially on a very cold day. The title, "A Worn Path," indicates that Phoenix has obviously walked down this path many times before-also the fact that she can cross a creek with her eyes closed confirms the title's message.

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 the story by Eudora Welty, “The Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson is a complex character who defies a stereotype in a symbolic way. Welty's story describe Phoenix as the o;d lady who had to travel miles a day in order to prove to the other characters that her grandson was not dead. Having to prove that her grandson was not dead Phoenix had three traits of characteristics. She was loving, determined, and persistent. These traits help her to overcome being stereotyped and ultimately her overcoming these stereotype made her symbolic in the journey, her name, and the time frame in which the event happen.

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 frequently studied short story written by Eudora Welty in 1941.This story is structured upon the journey of an old black Negro woman from her home to the city of Natchez to get the medicine for her grandson. The name phoenix Jackson, symbol of life in the face of hardship and death. The name Phoenix comes from an Egyptian bird and symbolize resurrection. This story takes place during Christmas season and the story mainly concern for her grandson representing self sacrifice to him. On the way to Natchez she encounters several obstacles and all the story is about only the obstacles on her path. Phoenix Jackson’s unrelenting progress and her unflinching words, we see a woman who has learned her

At the beginning Eudora Welty explains that in the story “A Worn Path” her character, Phoenix Jackson, goes on a long journey on foot while also being very old. There are clues that she has been on this journey several times and the purpose of it is to get medicine for her sick grandson. We are never sure of the condition of the grandson nor do we see him as a character in the story. In this story the path she takes what seems like more than a mile walk, but she still pushes through all of the hardships that she comes across.

A Worn Path is a great short story because it expresses what Africa Americans went through back in the 1940’s. The main character of the story is Phoenix Jackson; she went through many hardships but never gave up. Ms. Jackson is a very determined, strong-willed woman that has endured a lot of pain. She really loves her grandson and wants to do anything that would make him healthy.

The main moral in “A Worn Path” is the love, and life of Phoenix Jackson. “Though quite old and suffering from infirmities, Phoenix Jackson regularly walks a long distance to obtain medicine for her grandchild. Even in cold weather, when the frozen earth is slippery, she makes the trip. Her journey—the worn path she follows.” (Welty ) The path she travels

A Worn Path is short story. It is written by Eudora Welty in third person point of view. The writer reveals the story through the main character Phoenix Jackson which Phoenix Jackson talks to herself in dialog. The writer sometimes reveals to Phoenix ' mind activities in the narration, which can be seen in this passage "Down there, her senses drifted away. A dream visited her, and she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull." (Lawn, Beverly)