Essay about Symbols of a Worn Path

I think the trip to the city to get the medicine represents the mythological trip that the Phoenix takes to the sun to die. I say this because by going on this journey Phoenix is using the last of her energy and will probably die soon after it. On her way to the city Phoenix faces many obstacles. One obstacle she faces is old age “Seems like there is chains about my feet “ she says this because her old age has left her almost immobile. The first actual obstacle she comes across is the scarecrow who represents death or the grim reaper because he is described as wearing all black and is trying to get her to come with him. Another thing that links the scarecrow to death is the simple fact that he is in a field. The next obstacle is the white hunter who tells her to go back and represents evil forces ” Well, granny you must be a hundred years old and scared of nuthin I’d give you a dime if I had any money with me. But you take my advice and stay home, and nothing will happen to you”. He is lying about having no money so she steals a nickel from him, a trivial amount of money for him that won’t be missed so we the readers find ourselves justifying the theft.

Phoenix also brought back memories of my deceased great-grandmother who suffered from a severe form of dementia. The emotion that I felt from the comparison involved a desire to escape the past association with my great-grandmother’s illness and on the same token it caused me to want to finish the story and to find that

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.

Throughout the short story “The Worn Path” there are multiple symbolic terms. Phoenix Jackson an old negro women that ventures into a journey to obtain medicine for her grandson. This story has many symbolic points that expresses Phoenix's life. Her name represents a phoenix by her restoring life by going to the doctors to get her grandson medicine. The title is symbolic because she sacrifices herself for her explicit love for her Grandson. Also while on this journey she struggled with her eyesight and mistakened a scarecrow for a dancing ghost.

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 also symbolizes a mythical bird; she has “the regenerative qualities of the bird are seen in Phoenix’s determination each time she suffers a setback,” Like the bird how it gets reborn again Phoenix keeps on getting up from the challenges and keeps on going just like getting reborn again. That is why the author named the main character Phoenix because she is like the mythical bird the phoenix in many ways even the description of Phoenix gives symbolism of her being like the bird. Phoenix wears a red rag to tie her hair and running underneath her skin “a golden color” [welty1274]. The image of the bird is shown in Phoenix’s face “the two knobs of her cheeks were illuminated by a yellow burning under the dark” [Welty 1274]. Her golden tone skin represents the fiery golden red feathers the bird has.

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.

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).

Phoenix realizes that she must keep on going so as she keeps going she passes through various of places which are all dead which kind of makes her fell like if it was meant to be there for her. So that helped her keep going she remembers that there is a gum tree near by which water flows from it so as she reaches the gum tree she drinks from it and remembers all the times she would go through there. She continues her journey and is approached by a dog that knocks her over into a ditch she asks fell help but there is no one around until a white hunter shows up and helps her out. He asks her what is an old lady like her doing out there in the woods and as if he feels he is more superiorto her, he points the gun he has at her and she doesn’t say anything. He asks her aren’t u afraid grandma but she say no that she has had that happen to her plenty of times and she won’t be afraid he drops a nickel on the ground but he doesn’t realize it. Phoenix rallies his dog up and another dog comes and the hunter’s dog and that other dog start to fight and she quickly picks up the nickel and puts it away hiding it from the hunter. The hunter comes back and tells her if he had money he would give it to her but he doesn’t. the hunter lied to her and then he goes about his own way she finally reaches Natchez and as

“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.

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.

In the story “A Worn Path” uses a continuous number of literary techniques and there is an overflow of symbolism. In the story everything symbolizes an object symbolism is when an object in the story can relate to something. Symbolism is a literary technique that adds meaning to a story by using an event or object as a symbol to represent something else. Phoenix Jackson represents the most important thing in the story the ancient Egyptian bird the Phoenix. The story “A Worn Path” takes place in December 1941. It’s about an old lady named Phoenix Jackson that goes to town in Natchez, Mississippi to get some medicine for her grandson who had swallowed lye many years back. Phoenix faces some obstacles on her way to town that try to keep her

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,