Blurred Reality In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
Blurred Reality In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, the main protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, experiences a series of obstacles along her journey to get a needed medication for her grandson, being held back by delusions, and the restrictions of nature. The author uses an abundance of symbolism to create an emblematic explanation for the occurrences experienced by Phoenix on her trek to town. While on her way to town, she experiences hallucinations and rough paths, causing her to be temporarily set back. Her past, which is hinted as the past of a slave, creates a safety harness of delusions causing a division between two realities: One that is average and realistic, and the other that is imaginary and almost childlike. In her average reality, Phoenix is an elder lady who can not bend down to tie her shoes and shoelaces ,”...which dragged from her unlaced shoes.” Phoenix hints in this story of her slavery when the hunter ,“lifted his gun and pointed it at Phoenix.” and she just stands …show more content…
In this reality, she has a grandson who is ill from ingesting lye and needs medicine to get better, which we later find out in the end of the story, is her whole purpose of going on this trip. On her way to get the grandsons medicine, Phoenix sits down to take a break and is met with ‘“...a little boy [who] brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it…”. When she reaches to grab the cake from the boy, he disappears as well as the cake. The little boy who is suspected to be her grandson and the cake represent the optimistic times for slaves. When they were finally finished with their work in the fields, they’d go back to their cabins and be with each other. It was their time away. The next morning when the sun would rise, their freedom would disappear once again just like the piece of cake and the little
Intergenerational Trauma In The Break
1083 Words | 5 PagesWhen Phoenix notices her uncle's house is filthy, she decides to clean it up because her uncle likes it "when she does girl things like that" (Vermette 25). Phoenix is portrayed in the text as harsh and commanding, but in reality, all she wants is to be liked, which demonstrates how victims of intergenerational trauma desire to be loved. Phoenix is also seen to be jealous and go to extreme lengths when Emily receives affection instead of her. Phoenix has been pregnant for “seven months” with Clayton’s child (Vermette 320) and now is in prison for raping a girl, Emily, who Clayton was hanging out with. Readers understand that Phoenix has never received a lot of affection when she was younger
Phoenix Jackson Archetypes
1718 Words | 7 PagesThe death and rebirth archetype comes back in to play when Phoenix descends. The death aspect is her dealing with the absence of her grandson, but being reborn ready to face a new life without him having reached acceptance. The journey was not about her grandson but about Phoenix reaching her deeper self. The death of her grandson, changes the interpretation of the story. Even though her grandson is dead, Jackson makes the journey every year to get his medicine in order to honor him and not forget.
Symbolism In A Worn Path By Eudora Welty
292 Words | 2 PagesOne could assume that symbolism is the backbone to all literature. Without symbolism the piece of literature is inadequate, lacking representations of objects, people, and situations. However Eudora Welty’s work “A Worn Path” proves the prominence of symbolism in any prose. The short story about a woman’s ability to face nature, mankind, and one’s own self. The protagonist is an woman named Phoenix Jackson who has an unforgettable nature.
Everyday Use By Eudora Welty Compare And Contrast
485 Words | 2 PagesAlso 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.
Three Artistic Tools Used In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
488 Words | 2 PagesPhoenix 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
Obstacles In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
539 Words | 3 PagesPhoenix Jackson is a woman who will not give up, despite the odds. Which leads to her being successful and reaching her purpose, in the
Intergenerational Trauma In The Break By Katherena Vermette
2075 Words | 9 PagesThis serves as an example of how a lack of familial ties can prevent an individual from overcoming intergenerational trauma. The relationship between Phoenix and her mother Elsie is portrayed as distant and estranged. This is exemplified in a scene where Phoenix is going to prison and Elsie attempts to reach out to her, but she rejects the gesture by moving away and refusing to touch her mother. Phoenix also expressed disdain for her mother's weakness, “she does not want to look at her, does not want to see Elsie groveling in her Elsie way, being weak. She does not want to feel sorry for her, or feel anything for her” (Vermette 323).
Summary Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls
638 Words | 3 PagesIn phoenix, everything looks stable for the time being. They had a huge house with multiple rooms. Her mother used some of the rooms for her artwork and Rex-the dad got a job as an electrician. Rex’s drinking becomes the focal point of the section. For her birthday, Jeannette asked her dad to quit drinking and he stops for a while until one night he broke wild and grabbles with his wife and breaks down.
Prose Analysis Of Ann Petry's The Street
634 Words | 3 PagesProse Analysis Essay In Ann Petry’s The Street, the urban setting is portrayed as harsh and unforgiving to most. Lutie Johnson, however, finds the setting agreeable and rises to challenges posed by the city in order to achieve her goals. Petry portrays this relationship through personification, extended metaphor, and imagery.
Pheonix Jackson's Dementia In A Worn Path
328 Words | 2 PagesPheonix 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
Literary Elements In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
526 Words | 3 PagesShe exemplifies Christ along her journey when she stops under a mistletoe tree; the same type of tree in which the cross was made. The thorns she encounters also relate to Christ’s death on the cross, the crown of thorns he wears on his head. The journey she takes to get her grandson’s medicine, is considered to be an example of self-sacrifice. Phoenix gives others the opportunity to help her and accomplish good things. One example is when the hunter helps her out of the ditch.
A Literary Analysis Of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
678 Words | 3 PagesLiterary 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).
Freedom In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
810 Words | 4 PagesWhile 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.
Racism In A Worn Path
883 Words | 4 PagesSome 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
A Worn Path Phoenix Jackson Character Analysis
738 Words | 3 PagesIn 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.
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