Crazy or Courageous?
The power and determination of women to go to every end of the earth for kids is put into a different perspective in this essay. Women from almost any time period would go and do anything for kids, even if the kids were disrespectful and unloving in return. A perfect example of this is Phoenix Jackson, an old woman making a journey for her grandson in the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty. She runs into many obstacles along the way, but is it enough to take care of her grandson. Another perfect example is Ms. Moore, a woman who moves back to ghetto where she grew up, to help out a gang of uneducated kids in the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. These women are portrayed by their respected authors and narrators as crazy, but they are only crazy about helping others. Phoenix Jackson is the first to be shown in a different perspective.
Phoenix Jackson is an older black woman, making a journey to the town of Natchez, Mississippi. The author portrays her as a woman having imaginations and seeing things that do not exist. Eudora Welty writes, “when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him. 'That would be acceptable,' she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air (Welty 57). The author is swaying the reader into believing that Phoenix Jackson is envisioning that makes it look, as if she is crazy. Phoenix Jackson was in reality, envisioning her grandson who
Mary Hood’s short story, “How Far She Went,” depicts a strong-willed grandmother as the lead character that is proven throughout the story when interacting with her granddaughter. The grandmother in “How Far She Went” exercises her assertiveness and strength in “How Far She Went” by disciplining her granddaughter, completing manual labor, having a protective mindset, and having authority. To assert her strong will, the grandmother disciplines her granddaughter: “The women had to stretch across the table to leave her handprint on that blank cheek” (111). This display of toughness encourages readers to understand that the grandmother does not tolerate misbehavior. Additionally, the grandmother’s strength is also demonstrated when the grandma
At the beginning of the story, Phoenix has already answered the call to adventure. She carries with her a small thin cane, which has been made from an umbrella. She uses this to tap the ground as she walked. She probably carries the sick because of her poor eyesight due to age. Phoenix is determined to have a sooth journey for in her tripped dress, she stacks her pockets with foodstuffs. She is aware of the difficult journey that lies ahead of her, and cannot afford to be hungry on her way to town.
In the short story, “ A Worn Path “ written by Eudora Welty it can be interpreted that Phoenix Jackson is suffering from dementia or some other form of mental illness, and that her grandson that she so lovingly speaks of has been deceased for some time.
for her grand child with lye poisoning. Along the way she encounters several obstacles. Welty throughout the story the author makes several points to connect this work to other famous works of literature to strengthen her character without directly doing so. The author uses imagery to recreate famous parts of The Bible also the main character's name, Phoenix Jackson is a reference to the mystical bird the phoenix which is a symbol for rebirth. Phoenix Jackson symbolically is reborn several times throughout the story. The stories title and main plot point is the path she walks which holds many similarities to the path of life.
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.
The mythological story "A Worn Path” is of tales and figures, the most considerable, being the legend of the phoenix. There are numerous symbols and allusions brought about in the story relating to the legend of the phoenix. The phoenix is a bird that comes from Egyptian mythology. The best analogy of the phoenix is a magnificent bird. The phoenix has astonishing powers. It has the knack to materialize and vanish in the blink of an eye. The myth states the phoenix travels to the sun. The sun gives the phoenix it powers. The heat incinerates the bird. The bird is reborn from the ashes. From her name along with appearance to her action and the symbolism throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson is the manifestation of the phoenix (bird).
Towards the end of the 1800s and into the beginning of the 1900s, the roles of women in society and in the family began to change drastically compared to what it had been in the past. Women were now allowed to own land, vote, and do more than cook and clean. Willa Cather and William Faulkner portray the roles of women in the early 1900s in their short stories, “Neighbor Rosicky” and “A Rose for Emily.” These short stories were both published around the year 1930. Because of what was happening in the US at the time, these stories are very good examples of the ways women were treated at this time.
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
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
Despite the generational birth and childhood struggles as depicted in Three Generations of Native American women’s birth experience by Joy Harjo, The Black Mountain, 1977 by Donald Antrim shows a different type relationship between generations. The young native women experience reflects a struggling time of teenage pregnancy. The author expression that the woman made was “I was a poor, mixed-blood woman heavy with a child who would suffer the struggle of poverty, the legacy of loss.” (Nadlehaft, 2008 pg.126).
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
surroundings. The main character in the story, Phoenix Jackson, is an old black woman who
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.
Along with struggling against her old age Phoenix Jackson had many elements of nature holding her back from helping her grandson. She had to travel very far to reach the hospital for his medicine. On her way she encountered many elements of wildlife, of which she scared out of her path. Her dress was constantly caught in the brush and was in danger of being ruined as she passed a barbed wire fence. This also took place during Christmas time when it more than likely was extremely cold out side. But Phoenix's desire to help her grandson, and save his life, while also preserving some life of her own, helped her strive in completing this trip.