Phoenix Jackson In The Worn Path By Eudora Welty

In the article “Toward the North Star: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” and the slave narrative” by Kevin Moberly, the author Kevin Moberly connects the obstacles that appear in the path to the slave narrative and argues that the journey Phoenix Jackson makes is a journey that does not lead to freedom, but it leads into successive stages of bondage. He also argues that Phoenix’s crossing also suggests a descent into slavery and bondage. For example, the tapping of Phoenix Jackson’ cane links her to a symbol of freedom and voice “the chirping of a solitary little bird” (142). Throughout the journey she encounters different obstacles the first ones are the “woods” and “hills”. She is struggling up the hills, but she maintains her balance. While walking, she complains about how difficult it has become to walk this path, no doubt that she has traveled this path so many times. Climbing the hills, it gives an illusion to bondage. On the way she encounters “thorn bushes”, she struggles to release herself, but gets caught into another “Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes, though you were a pretty little green bush” Phoenix says while feeling a sense of deception. When one examines the first incident that undoubtedly recalls a trope of a slave narrative tradition, Phoenix says, “Now comes the trails,” she then proceeds to cross the log with her eyes shut “like a festival figure in some parade” (143). Phoenix actions, recalls the suffering

The Reader Response Approach to Welty’s “The Worn Path “ assisted in the understanding of Phoenix Jackson’s mentality and the language that was used showed her unusual responses to people and things around her.

In conclusion, Tom Walker is a man known as miserly, brave, parsimony. Tom Walker character describes him as a hypocrite man with a clapper clawing wife. He shows his actual personality by following the footsteps of the devil. Furthermore, Tom is a man who greed for something that is not great. ‘’ The Devil and Tom Walker’’ by Washington Irving proves what kind of unfaithful man he is from the challenges and obstacles that was face. This story mainly tells about many actions that brought forces upon

Phoenix Jackson, the main character, is a small, old African American woman who goes on a journey for a purpose that is unknown at the beginning of the story. Although Phoenix has made this trip many times, something is different about this trip. Throughout her journey, Phoenix faces many obstacles and hardships. The author uses symbolism and, later, gives the reader awareness of Phoenix’s character while, hopefully, teaching a lesson about life. In “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty uses the symbols of the name “Phoenix”, life and death, and the main characters’ age throughout the story.

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.

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

“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 author continuously characterizes Tom Walker in a way that makes the readers pity and resent him to not want to follow the example of his life. For example, after Tom's wife takes all their valuables and tries to strike a bargain with the devil when Tom wouldn’t do it himself, he goes looking for her in the woods. Irving shows just how little Tom cared about his wife when he describes his reaction to her disappearance and death. He is more concerned about the safety of his silverware, which she had taken with her. "He leaped with joy; for he recognized his wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables.” That shows that he is really greedy and ruthless. However, Tom shows no remorse for his dead wife and has evidence that shows that his wife had beaten up even the

As time passes after Tom has made his deal with the devil, and he is working as a usurer in Boston, squeezing every last cent out of the unlucky speculators that walked through his door, Tom begins to wonder whether he made the right choice when he dealt with Old Scratch: "He thought with regret on the bargain he had made with his black friend, and set his wits to work to cheat him out of the conditions" (134). Tom's decision to attempt to cheat the devil becomes his downfall. Tom now begins a routine of attending a Church service and praying loudly for everyone to hear, and he outfits himself with two Bibles which he thinks will protect him to the end. In a great irony Irving tells of how Tom will put down his Bible for a few minutes while he forecloses a mortgage of some poor borrower, and the resumes his reading when he is finished. Stevens recognized this irony and noted that "Irving has a keen eye for the ironies and contradictions of human behavior." Irving presents the reader with the difficulty that can arise when intentions are based solely on personal gain. In the story, one sees how Tom Walker's actions contradict each other in their

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

In addition to her physical deterioration, Phoenix Jackson is struggling with senility and mental fatigue. The round character is fatigued by life. The protagonist is consumed with grief regarding her economic hardship, grandson’s failing health and the blatant racism. All of these social factors are eroding her mind. Jackson has lost her perception and memory. She is easily fooled and mistaken. For example, in the woods, the elderly woman approaches an ominous figure that she is unable to identify. As she continues to approach the unknown object, she realizes that she encountered a scarecrow. Upon this realization, the aged woman acknowledges her decreasing mental capabilities. “My senses is gone. I too old, I the oldest people I ever know” (117). Phoenix Jackson, in Welty’s “A Worn Path” must battle the physical and mental challenges as she travels to Natchez to obtain medicine for her beloved grandson.

Although Phoenix Jackson is old, tired, dirty, and poor, nothing can stand in her way. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Phoenix jumps off the page as a vibrant protagonist full of surprises as she embarks on a long, arduous journey to

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,

Phoenix Jackson endures many obstacles along her journey through the worn path. When faced with hardship, she persevered regardless of her difficult circumstances. The reader watches her climb up and down a steep hill that was hard on her feeble body. Then, she comes to a creek with a log lying across it. The reader is aware that Phoenix has a hard time walking, but instead of giving up she faces this extremely dangerous and challenging situation as “…she mounted the log and shut her eyes” (Welty 645). When she gets to the other side she opens her eyes. Welty uses this challenge to show the reader that sometime one must rely on faith to get through trials. Next a barbed wire fence challenges her but she meets it without fear. Eventually, Phoenix encounters a white hunter who tries to persuade her to turn around by pointing his gun at her asking, “Doesn’t the gun

A loved one’s dedication is a tale as old as time. “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty is a short story that fully embodies this belief. This story was first published in February of 1941 by The Atlantic Monthly (Cummings). Phoenix Jackson, the main character, is an old, frail woman who set off on a lengthy journey in order to get medicine for her grandson. As a very young boy, Phoenix’s grandson had drunk lye and badly damaged his throat; as his only kin, Phoenix cared for him as best possible, including getting the medicine. Despite the various set-backs and obstacles Phoenix encountered, she continued on, driven by her love and dedication for her grandson. Love and dedication are the common themes seen throughout this story demonstrated by Phoenix Jackson making a grueling trek to get medicine for her grandson, and that wasn’t the first time she had gone to get medicine as the nurse her, and she puts aside her own struggles to make sure her grandson was taken care of.