Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

Eudora Welty’s sheltered, adolescent life, coupled with her parent’s emphasis on education and reading, helped to shape her as the writer she was by making her stylistic approaches daring and intelligent while keeping a southern tone and state of mind.

Phoenix encounters a hunter during her mission. The hunter makes racial comments and down Jackson, and tells her to go on back home. Jackson tells the hunter “I bound to go to town” because this was her mission. The hunter tries to scare Jackson with holding a gun to her but because she is dedicated to her grandson she does not skip a beat. Phoenix Jackson tells the hunter, “No, Sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done.” Phoenix loved her grandson and new the only way to help him was to get to town and get the medicine he needed.

In "A Worn Path", Eudora Wetly uses the setting to drive the story. The setting of "A Worn Path" is specifically in a southern town during the nineteen hundreds. This place and time in history affects the terminology used in the story, along with the actions of the characters and in Phoenix Jackson’s case, their intellect. Wetly also uses the natural geography of the path Jackson follows as the story’s closest comparisons to an antagonist.

Most people accomplish difficult tasks with support systems such as family or friends. Phoenix knows she is alone in the world to care for her grandson. This knowledge of solitude makes Phoenix’s mission all the more difficult. The incident with the white hunter along her travel also demonstrates Jackson’s determination. As stated by Dennis Sykes, “Phoenix realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the possible harm that can be done to her brittle frame”(151). Phoenix’s ability to stare down possible bodily harm all for the sake of her grandson’s wellbeing demonstrates her heroic determination. By overcoming adversity, Phoenix’s determined character is revealed very well.

The main character Phoenix Jackson was the one in the story that took a path that she, by all means, knew it would wear her out. In “A Worn Path,” the author identifies the main character, an old African-American woman (Phoenix Jackson); and she describes the old woman’s appearance and thoughts as the woman begins to move along the path in the pinewoods (Clugston, 2014, section 5.3). She was of age, it was not going to be easy for her even though it was to simply go get some medicine for her grandson.

Jackson said, “Seem like there is chains about my feet...”(Welty) This is symbolic to Phoenix being a slave in her younger days. In the story Phoenix never reveals her age, but it is known that she is old. She was most likely old enough to have been born as a slave and then freed as a young woman.

Welty's short story "A Worn Path," the struggles of an old, African American woman from the

“‘A Worn Path’” has received a fair amount of critical attention, most of it presuming that Eudora Welty intended her protagonist, Aunt Phoenix Jackson, to be “a symbol of the immortality of the Negro's spirit of endurance,” as Alfred Appel puts it (in A Season of Dreams: The Fiction of Eudora Welty, 1965). The name Aunt Phoenix and the events of the story appear to parallel the legend of the Phoenix, thereby suggesting new life for the aged black woman,” (Cooley). ‘A Worn Path’ by Eudora Welty has received praise and criticism for its controversial theme. One main reason for the judgment is this short stories relation to Greek mythology discussing a bird, Phoenix. This literary technique of using themes or central ideas from other pieces in

The young white hunter assisted her out of a ditch only to belittle her and put a gun in her face (Welty). This shows great courage to endure this encounter that must have been something Phoenix had endured and witnessed her entire life. Hard work was a way of life, much like Dr. Jackson that worked tirelessly to find a cure to save the young children who had swallowed lye, it made her strong enough to face this encounter (Stang). In addition, it was hard work and agility to walk along a log to cross a creek with her eyes closed, the wisdom to shimmy under barbed wire fences without getting hung up, the endurance to go up and down hills and through hollers, and the devotion to make the trip to the Doctors office and back (Welty). Although, in her nineties Phoenix was strong and very capable to walk that worn path and do it with the dignity of a grandmother that cares about her grandson.

In the story, Phoenix is an elderly lady with the beginning stages of dementia. Yet, she is making her way through the woods on a cold December morning. We do not yet know why though. She clearly is having difficulty getting over the hills and branches yet, she trudges on. “Something always take a hold of me on this hill- pleads I should stay.” (213). Her body can barely make the journey and it is almost like the hill is telling her to rest. It is as if something stronger than her is compelling her forward. At one point she gets caught in a thorn bush and struggles to free herself and after doing so she has to rest because of the physical strain it took her. “But she sat down to rest.” (214). She does not want to waste time but, she is forced to rest so that she may finish her path.

The story opens on a chilly December morning. An elderly African−American woman named Phoenix Jackson is making her way, slowly but surely, through the woods, tapping an umbrella on the ground in front of her as she walks. Her shoes are untied. While she taps along, she talks to the animals in the woods, telling them to keep out of her way. As the path goes up a hill, she complains about how difficult walking becomes. It becomes evident that she has made this journey many times before; she is familiar with all the twists and turns in the trail. She talks aimlessly to herself. Her eyesight is poor, and she catches her skirt in the thorns on a bush. After walking across a log to traverse a stream, she rests. She imagines a boy bringing her a slice of cake but opens her eyes to find her hand in the air, grasping nothing. The terrain becomes more difficult, and at a certain point she thinks she sees a ghost, but it is only a scarecrow. Blaming the confusion on her age and the fact that her "senses is gone," she moves on. She meets a black dog with a "lolling tongue." She hits the dog lightly with her cane, and the effort knocks her off balance and she falls into a ditch. The dog's owner, a white hunter, happens by and helps her out of the ditch. When he hears that she is attempting to make it into town, he says it is too far and tells her to go home. But Phoenix is determined, and Author Biography

Color is not only defined as the shade of skin, but by every object and the way it emits light. Often times people look into the mirror and see only the present and the past that they have lived. Not many can envisage the thought of living in an inescapable present where they are forced to believe that they were not capable of having or doing better. In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, she uses the main character Phoenix Jackson as a symbol to show that regardless of old age, race, or social status African American women are still capable of rising above the problems they are faced with.

Eudora Welty’s story, “A Worn Path” is a story which represents the phoenix. The legend of the Phoenix is a magical bird, with radiant features believed to be colorful and vibrant. The legendary Phoenix is described to have half red legs, covered in scales of yellow-gold talons and striking blue eyes like sapphire. The connection of Phoenix Jackson to the legendary Phoenix is effectively established by considering the similar characteristics of her appearance and behavior. From the start Phoenix is acquainted with rich descriptive passages that give help give insight to every small detail. Phoenix’s physical attributes, more importantly her complexion is described in depth as “…a golden colour ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks

Welty is known as the American literary world Chekhov, Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was one of the most famous short story writers in the south of America. Welty was born in 1909, died in 2001, has gone through nearly a century, experienced two world wars, the Cold War, the American civil rights movement and so on. However, Welty did not show too much political topic in her work, did not criticize(kritəˌsīz) the war too much, she described daily life to reflect the real themes of life, expressed her view point of how we live. Welty won the European Henry novel award by (-- removed HTML --) . The novel is mainly through the description of a negro grandmother Phoenix, struggling to travel to the clinic in the city for her sick little grandson take the drug’s story, basically all descriptions about is a journey, no exciting plot, no dramatic scenes, no Fierce contradictions and conflicts, but it contains a profound meaning, highlighting the profound theme.We gonna through the main 6 elements, others good points, language style and ‘colour’ words four ways on the “worn path" analysis.

Phoenix Jackson in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" has been compared to the mythological phoenix because of her birdlike qualities, and it's also been noticed that Phoenix possesses many of the same characteristics as Christ. But, what hasn't been addressed is the fact that Eudora Welty didn't just leave the symbolism to Christ alone. Welty also included many biblical allusions as well. Phoenix Jackson is not only symbolic of the mythological bird that rose from the ashes of its own demise or simply a Christ figure comparable to the Son of God, but she is also a biblical hero facing temptation and trials along her journey and succeeds unharmed and steadfast in her faith.