Phoenix Jackson's A Worn Path

“A Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is based on an elderly African-American grandmother named Phoenix Jackson, who goes for a walk to the town of Natchez on a cold December morning to get some medicine for her ailing grandson. This story speaks of the obstacles Phoenix endured along the way and how she overcame them. The theme, central idea or message that the author wishes to convey to his or her readers, in “A Worn Path” is one of determination. Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to Natchez, in order to get medicine for her grandson; she does not let any obstacles get in her way. The theme of determination is shown in many ways throughout this short story.

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty portrays an elderly, southern, African American woman’s endurance through a lengthy journey from her home to Natchez, Mississippi to obtain medicine for her ill grandson. Throughout the journey, the protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, confronts several conflicts. The tale describes the encounters of Phoenix Jackson during her travels using literary devices such as symbolism, conflict, and allusion to detail Jackson’s experiences as she overcomes the physical, psychological, and social obstacles she faces that ultimately emphasize her character.

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

"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

The setting of this story describes to be in “December a bright frozen early morning, far out in the country” (Welty 418). Introducing the story with a vivid description of where it’s going to take place. Welty introduces the setting in an easy manner for the readers to learn where it takes place. In the setting, throughout the story we know that Phoenix, travels through the woods tell their own stories of human intervention. Phoenix walks "along a path through the pine woods" (Welty 419). She comments later, '"Up through pines,' she said at length. “Now down through oaks” (Welty 420). Welty gives you a vivid prospective of where she is leading Phoenix in the story as she describes the paths and what she sees. Welty also elaborates on the time of day, keeping you in mind of how clear, the sun is beating on the old woman’s faces as she is walking in the same path she takes all the time to go to the city. Also the setting is in the depression era. In the source it says “Phoenix journeys through the forest to Natchez, her path takes her from a nonhuman natural world into a space impacted by

This story could make one wonder, how far would you go to get the person of your dreams. In Updike’s story, three young ladies walk into the A&P store wearing nothing but bathing suits. The girls catch the attention of Sammy who is the cashier. Sammy watches the girls walk around the store while making mental notes about each one of the girls. When Mr. Lengel the store manager sees the girls, he lets them know that the store policy is to have your shoulders covered and to dress appropriately when you enter the store. This conversation upsets Sammy, so in the moment Sammy spontaneously quits his job in hopes of being the girl’s hero. After Sammy takes off his apron and walks out the door he looks around, but the girls have already gone.

In “A Worn Path”, Phoenix Jackson shows many characteristics. She is cunning, consistent, selfless, and forgetful at times. Devoted to saving her grandson at all costs, she goes above and beyond to do so. She will do anything for him, even if that means putting her life in danger. Phoenix is very cunning and intelligent. As she distracts the hunter by telling the dog to sic another dog, she steals a nickel from the ground. She says "God watching me the whole time. I come to stealing." This shows that she knows what she is doing is wrong, but it is for the greater good of her grandson. This cunningness important to the story because it shows exactly how she will do anything to obtain her goals. Even when in the aim of a hunter’s

The protagonist, Sammy, in A & P by John Updike is a dynamic character because he reveals himself to a judgmental person who later along the story changes into a mature individual who makes big decisions. Sammy shows immaturity in his work place, as he judges others and try to find his own entertainment. Along with that he judges multiple people including his co-workers and customers. The situation that happens changes Sammy and makes him into a mature person who will need to make multiple decisions. The way Sammy describes his place of work, other people in the store, and the choices he makes at the end reveal him as a dynamic character.

“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.

“’Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!… Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way’” (116).

Sammy faces the decision of staying at his job or leaving. His parents are friends with the manager of the store, Lengel. One day three girls walk into the store wearing nothing but bathing suits. Seeing it is a slow day, Sammy observes the girls as they go through the store and to his luck come to his check out station. Lengel then sees them at checkout and confronts the girls to tell them about the store’s policy that they should be dressed decently upon entering the store, “‘Girls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy’” (Updike). This is where Sammy has his transitioning experience. Upon hearing this conversation, Sammy tries be a hero for the girls by making the decision to quit his job, “The girls, and who’d blame, them are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear,

“It was December—a bright frozen day in the early morning. Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman with her head tied red rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods.” The action takes place in Christmas time, around the 1940s, on the trail from southwestern Mississippi to the city of Natchez. A Negron woman names Phoenix is on her way to the Natchez town, her grandson swallowed Lye, as a result, she needs to find medicine for him. The story is about the selfless love.

The protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, is defined as an old frail woman who walks with the help of a cane. Despite her situation, she managed a very long walk from her home to the town to obtain medicine for her sick grandchild. The path that she took was very challenging for a person of her age as it was filled with adversities such as uphill climbs, dark woods with oak and pine trees, and thorny bushes. Regardless of these obstacles, she was able to reach her destination with the help of her will, determination and

In “A Worn Path,” Jackson is assisted by several helpers that allow her to triumph in the face of tests and challenges. One of Jackson’s challenges involved the physical pain of falling in a ditch. After falling, Jackson encounters a hunter who “lifted her up, gave her a swing in the air, and set her down” (Welty 3). This hunter allows Jackson to allow on her journey by pulling her out of the ditch she is stuck in. Additionally, near the end of Jackson’s journey, she struggles to tie her shoes. In order for Jackson to continue on her journey, she must find someone to tie her shoes, and for this a helper is present. Jackson finds a young lady to help, who then “put her packages down on the sidewalk beside her and laced and tied both shoes tightly”

A Worn Path is a short story about an older woman (A Negro woman named Phoenix Jackson) that goes through incredibly lengths to get her grandson the medicine he needs. This includes her going through the rough country on a bright frozen day in the early morning, running into numerous obstacles along the way. This includes dealing with the fact that her age is getting in the way of her journey, towards the clinic. Her age is constantly being thrown at her (the white man that pointed the gun and her face and also the people at the clinic calling her granny). This is a story of an incredible older woman, breaking barriers and doing what she needs to do for her grandson. To her, her old age is just a number, never discouraging her from taking that