Response Essay: A Worn Path With Phoenix Jackson

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.

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 the end we figure that Phoenix may be on a journey that really does not exist. We find out that maybe the grandson isn’t alive and that he has been dead for weeks. Whether or not Phoenix was aware she did not let life bring her down, whatever she was set to do she did and with great perseverance she has achieved her goal.

"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

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

With the first name of Phoenix, Ms. Welty is showing the symbol of a Greek mythological bird that could live to be one hundred to one thousand years. The old phoenix dies in a pile of ashes, much like the ashes used to make lye, only to reemerge a new magnificent, colorful bird, to live another cycle of life (Wikipedia). Much like the bird, Phoenix Jackson has a red rag around her head, a wrinkled face with yellow illuminating skin, ringlets hanging from her hair, a striped dress, and a bleached sugar sack apron (Welty). In addition, similar, her age, like the bird, Phoenix is aged but wise, likely close to one hundred years, reemerges back to life once she received the medicine her grandson needed. Even the last name of Jackson is likely to be a symbol of a Doctor, who according to an essay by Melisa D. Stang, “Parting the Curtain on Lye Poisoning in “A Worn Path,”” was named Chevalier

While reading the story it appeared that Phoenix does not have a Grandson, or at least he was not alive anymore. She told the Doctor that her Grandson had a sore throat for a long time. When the doctors asked how

The main moral in A Worn Path is the love, and life of Phoenix Jackson. The path she travels across interrupts her life. Her love is the love and affection she has for her grandson. If we read the story closer then it may lead us to the conclusion that Phoenix really does not have a Grandson. Phoenix complains

“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

Joe Jackson “Shoeless Joe” was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player, born on July 16, 1887 in Pickens County, South Carolina. His throw was right-handed and his batting was left-handed. He was 6’1 and played in the left outfield. He first played for the Greenville Spinners, a semi-pro team; he was then noticed and picked up by the Philadelphia Athletics from 1908 to 1909. He was then traded to the Cleveland Indians and played from 1910 to 1915. The last team he was traded to in his career was the Chicago White Sox from 1915 to 1920.

Phoenix Jackson and The Young Man embarked on their journeys for different reasons. Phoenix’s journey was a necessary journey; her grandson needed the medicine in order to be healthy. She took the journey because of her sense of responsibility and love for her grandson. Like any grandmother,

I am Rodneshia Jackson and I will benefit for the Curtis scholars program because I am able to solve problems, make decisions, think critically, communicate ideas effectively and work well within teams and groups. I am deeply involved in culture, intellectual and love to travel however I want to meet different people, share experiences and experiment with different things. I’m very responsible person and trustworthy ready to learn new things about an place I never been before. Earning this scholarship can make an big difference in my life not only will it make an difference it will change the plans I have for the future. I generaly care about passionetly about others and the world we live in. I would love to help to transform the lives

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 is an elderly African-American lady that walking into the forest to the medical clinic because of her sick grandson. Because has been suffered from the diseases for a while without receiving a medical treatment. On her way to the clinic, she has faced many difficulties that she has been through such as thorny bushes, a wire fence or facing dangerous wild animals: foxes, racoons, owls, rabbits and etc. Moreover, she has to walk through the maze which is made from the cornfield. From this situation, it demonstrates her personal strength in terms of mental and physical in order to complete the task and arrived at the clinic.

        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.