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Analysis Of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

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In Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path,” she illustrates the trials and tribulations a Christian will face on life 's journey to heaven. She tells a story of an old African American woman traveling across town to get medicine for her grandson that was very sick. Her grandson swallows lye, which is a pun in itself on the word lie and how even as Christians there are still times of struggle.
Phoenix Jackson the main character in the short story is a little old woman that is symbolized as a Christian that struggles on her path. The timing of the story has a significance in the Christian community. “It was December-- a bright frozen day in the early morning,” shows how close Christmas is in the story (239). The story can have been at any time, but Eudora Welty chose to have the story take place close to when Christ was born. The way Phoenix is illustrated reminds the readers of a shepherd or maybe even Jesus himself. Welty writes that “She carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella,” showing not only that she was so old she had to walk with a cane, but the fact that it was made from an umbrella to resemble a shepherd 's staff that Jesus and shepherd’s used to herd sheep and walk (239). Her appearance is like a shepherd, but also her personality in how she was protective and carry by always watching over her grandson. Phoenix wore “a dark striped dress reaching down to her shoe tops, and an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks,” representing how she was covered

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