The short story, A Worn Path written by Eudora Welty, focuses and enhances the idea of perseverance through one’s race and age. Eudora Welty uses these topics in most of her pieces but this story in particular expresses it honorably. A Worn Path takes place far out in the country during the middle of the winter. An old African American woman, Phoenix Jackson, has to take on a long journey into the town to get special medication for her grandson. Throughout the journey, Phoenix encounters many obstacles that she has to overcome to help her grandchild. One can see that Phoenix Jackson is a warrior through her profound intellectual abilities, persistent behaviors, and her selflessness. Phoenix Jackson is able to show her intellectual side through her street smarts on her travel into town. While traveling on the long path, Phoenix gets stopped by a hunter with his dog. The man is trying to persuade Phoenix to go back home and not continue on the worn path. While this is happening, the old woman notices that a shiny nickel falls from the hunters’ pocket. Phoenix quickly distracts the young man so she can grab the money and keep moving along. “Then she gave a little cry and clapped her hands and said, ‘Git on away from here, dog! Look! Look at that dog! She laughed as …show more content…
In A Worn Path, Phoenix uses her race and age to manipulate others to get their money. With the hunter, Phoenix tricks him into doing something else so she could steal the nickel that fell from his pocket. Then, she is able to get the attendant to give her more money she intended too. Phoenix also shows how she will stop at nothing to help her loved one and will put herself in potential danger for him. Because of that, it shows how Phoenix is persistent and cares more for her grandson than herself. All in all, Phoenix Jackson continuously proves herself as a warrior throughout the duration of A Worn
This exemplifies how intergenerational trauma has left victims desiring to be loved. Phoenix leaves the St. Vital Center and makes her way across town to her uncle's house. Phoenix decides to walk in the cold for hours until she has "lost feeling in her legs" (Vermette 25), all to impress her uncle. Phoenix’s decision to walk to her uncle’s house instead of asking for help continues to reveal to the reader how Phoenix has adopted a mindset of not showing weakness by asking for help, all while trying to gain admiration from her uncle. Additionally, as soon as she arrives at her uncle's house, she begins to plan ways to make her uncle happy.
Also like Everyday Use, A Worn Path takes place at a time in the 1900s when racism existed. Just like Mama, Phoenix also takes care and protects a child. However, the child she takes care of is her grandson. Many years ago, her grandson swallowed lye. This is a strong substance which is used in making soap.
Alice Walker, born February 9, 1944 in Eatonton Georgia, is an American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are praised for their focus on African American culture, particularly on women (Britannica). Eudora Welty, born April 13, 1909, is an American short-story writer and novelist whose work is mainly focused on the regional etiquettes of people residing in a small Mississippi town that resembles her own birthplace (Britannica). Both Walker and Welty depict the use of animal imagery in their short stories ‘Everyday Use’ and ‘A Worn Path’. In her short story “Everyday Use”, Walker depicts the bonds among three women in rural Georgia. Walker relies on animal imagery to demonstrate important qualities of her characters.
Phoenix encounters several obstacles in order to achieve her goal. The path she walks in represents her life, with the obstacle she faces new one appears and through her perseverance she slowly conquers each one of them. At the end Phoenix buy a paper windmill for her grandson. The paper windmill represents the nature into the energy that her grandson can use his natural abilities since they are both free, to something
In the novel The Pillars of the Earth, many characters exist with malicious, corrupt intentions. Whether it be in the pursuit of self-gain, or the desire to destroy others, these antagonists constantly cause havoc and destruction. The only thing that comes in between these antagonists and the rest of the population is a few unique individuals. Multiple characters in the novel are characterized as the hero archetype, and although each one operates in their own unique way, they all contribute to the betterment of society, while protecting the people around them. The common trait that defines these individuals as hero archetypes is that they all undergo a quest at some point in the story, which involves a separation, transformation, and return.
In Sharon Olds poem, "The Race" she tells the story of how she rushed to the airport to fly home and see her dying father one last time. The poem is filled with suspense as aheraces throught the airport in order to reach the Gate that was departing in a few moments. Olds ' exssesive use of enjambments, metaphors, and personification demonstrates her sense of persistance all through the poem. Moreover she respectfully listens to the young man provide her instructions to catch another flight. As if from zero to one hundred she boosted up and ran to the next Gate.
Yes, the journey is a great risk especially in her condition but Eudora shows how Phoenix’s spirit causes her to persevere in the face of adversity. In the end, Phoenix Jackson reached her destination and received the medicine for her grandchild. What starts out as a long quest filled with dangerous obstacles ends in a meaningful lesson for the readers’. Eudora Welty short story, “A Worn Path,” exemplifies what it means to persevere through any tribulations that stand in the way of your goals.
She grabbed him whimpering; held him under till the struggle ceased and the bubbles rose silver from his fur. (Hood 414) In Mary Hoods “How Far She Went” A grandmother struggles with the burden of experience, loss and a life of hard decisions; where a girl strives to live in a naïve and free spirited illusion. The paths of a grandmother and her granddaughter soon collide when experience and naivety meet on a dirt road in the south. “How Far She Went” illustrates how generational struggles and tragedies can mold people influencing their lives and the way they live.
Pheonix Jackson’s grandson is dead because she shows signs of dementia, she hesitates when asked about how the boy is doing, and she says words that imply the boy isn’t changing. The story “ A Worn Path” follows the difficult trip routinely made by Pheonix on foot to a nearby town for her grandson’s medicine which he needs for his swollen throat. Pheonix shows signs of dementia which would affect her perception of reality and her grandson being alive or dead. In the line, “At first she took it as a man,” referring to her encountering a scarecrow, Pheonix shows that her senses are inadequate enough to believe a scarecrow is a man dancing in a field (762). Pheonix is more reliant on her body remembering the trail than her sense of sight
Because “A Worn Path” is set during Christmas, critics associate it with a religious pilgrimage. (American Writer) “She went on, parting her way from side to side.” (Welty) “This is similar to Moses parting the red sea.” (Isaacs)
Literary Analysis on “A Worn Path” The short story “A Worn Path,” written by Eudora Welty, depicts the journey of an elderly black woman named Phoenix Jackson who walks from her home to the city of Natchez in need of medicine for her sick grandson. Phoenix experiences many obstacles that do not interrupt her trip, but rather make her a stronger woman for overcoming them. In A Worn Path, Welty illustrates her journey through several key symbols: the name Phoenix, the path, and the windmill. Phoenix shares a name with a creature which reflects her indefatigable nature, her constant striving towards her goal, as well as her unflagging optimism and high spirits (Goodman).
While walking up the path, Phoenix has had to overcome obstacles while it seems like death is in the form of chains around her feet. Even so, she continues onward to freedom. The scene continues while Phoenix passes trees and birds and animals, and suddenly she is crawling through a barbed-wire fence. The change in scenery indicates how Phoenix might be somewhat confused, especially because she is old. It also indicates how Phoenix’s journey was not one of peacefulness, rather, it was one of survival.
Some references even suggest Phoenix may have once been a slave; such as the chains the old woman feels on her feet as she climbs the path uphill. Racial inequality is unmistakably clear when the old woman falls in the ditch and is confronted by the white hunter. One would believe the hunter calling Phoenix Granny to be a harmless reference to her age; however, Granny is a term coined by southern whites in the thirties and forties and refers to a single elderly black woman: a granny is an old black woman who takes care of the white
In the story “A Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson was an old African American women. She takes a small journey that can be an allegory of someone's whole life. The journey had hard and easy parts, beauty, danger, and confusion. But her quest was to get the medicine for her sick grandson who laid at home waiting for her return. Phoenix was a delusional yet heroic, caring grandmother who would stop at nothing to get what she needed.
(para 46) Phoenix says “I bound to go to town, mister,” (para 47). Phoenix’s entire journey signifies that love and willpower can get you anywhere in