Eudora Welty's Short Story 'A Worn Path'

One 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. She constantly strives towards her goals, with unflagging optimism and high spirits. Welty brilliantly chose vital symbols such as the windmill, the phoenix and the hunter to instill a deeper intuition for her readers. The Ancient Egyptian legend of the Phoenix has a very major role in the story. A Phoenix

The story of Phoenix Jackson and the Narrator are based on the point of view of both the writers. “A Worn Path” is a story of a small, old, African American woman with wrinkles, who wore an apron bleached sugar sacks, hold a cane made from umbrella and shoe laces that are dragging, walking down the winter landscapes and describing everything she notices. While, “The Lone Ranger” is a story of a typical Native American youth, who is recounting his view of his society and struggles with identity, alcohol, and family relationships. The two characters have a few things in common and are opposite from each other.

More often than not, heros can be people who aren’t depicted as supernatural humans, with various powers. The more common heros are those with the trait of bravery, alongside various other traits. In “A Worn Path”, a grandmother by the name of Phoenix Jackson goes on a quest to obtain medicine for her sick grandson. The following traits from Joseph Campbell’s hero chart are what defines Phoenix Jackson as a hero.

Eudora Welty uses many literary elements in her short story, “A Worn Path,” to allow the reader to stay engaged throughout its entirety. Although there are many literary elements present in this story, there are three that Welty focuses intently on. She uses elements such as imagery, symbolism, and motifs to draw the reader’s attention. It is important for an author to write their story in a way that can be understood but also enjoyed. In “A Worn Path”, Welty focuses in on the elements, such as, symbolism, motifs, and imagery and writes a story that has great meaning and can be discovered by the reader when looked at carefully.

As the Navajo people chant, “Oh beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty to the right of me, beauty to the left of me, beauty above me, beauty below me, I am on the Pollen Path. In the house of life I wander, On the pollen path.” (“Wandering the Navajo Pollen Path” 1). This chant is a Navajo Ritual, that is meant to remind the Navajo people that our journeys will have many starting points, stalling points, opportunities to develop, that people will be there to support us in our journey, until we are ready to emerge into the path and continue our journey. As a Navajo woman, who is Carmelita Graymountain and what is her journey like? Many close relatives and friends would say she has faced many hardships on her path. These hardships taught her to become even stronger and resilient than she was before. Furthermore, these

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. She is an interesting character because she can have characteristics that are good and bad. The two characteristics that are related to her the most was she can be delusional but yet a heroic person.

In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Welty discusses the very lengths an individual is willing to go to in the name of love. The protagonist, Phoenix, an elderly black woman, takes a long and treacherous journey from the countryside to the nearest city, all in hopes of collecting medicine for her sick grandson. Welty’s characterization of Phoenix conveys a tone of perseverance; the character battles many negative forces of the wilderness throughout the story, but despite this, Phoenix’s reaction to her surroundings is one of a pleasant tone. In Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Welty uses contrasting diction and a lexicon that conveys layers of both dark and light storytelling, while Phoenix, a woman of great strength and tenacity, despite her age, defies all odds through her

In Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path," an elderly black woman named Phoenix Jackson treks through the hilly backcountry to receive medication for her ill grandson at the clinic in town. Despite facing incapacitating conflicts, Jackson is unrelenting and perseveres the arduous journey for her grandson’s sake, as she has many times before. Jackson's fiercely devoted and determined character is exposed as she faces the struggles of debilitating poverty, advanced age, and the rugged physical environment.

A historical great piece of literary art, “A Worn Path” published in 1941, is a story of an old woman’s journey to town through the forest. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1940’s, a time when racism was a way of life and a trip to town, especially for an old black woman, was often a long journey and thus a trip not often taken. The old woman’s name is Phoenix Jackson and she has quite an adventurous trip through the forest to town. One is made to believe this is just an average walk down the path for this old woman; however the reader is entertained by Phoenix’s mannerisms and realizes there is deeper meaning of the story. This story, though short in length, host an abundance of symbolism, racial issues

Eudora Welty’s “A worn path” is a short story illustrating the determination of an old woman going on a ritual journey for getting a medicine for her grandson and facing each challenge with success. The story shows the protagonist of Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" an elderly woman named Phoenix Jackson. Welty’s description of the old women realizes on her usage of three artistic tools: imagery, foreshowing, and symbolism. The Three artistic tools will show how “A worn path” of an old women journey begins to achieve her goal.

When people talk to you do they ever relate you to something, like an animal, a flower, or a bird? Eudora Welty names the main character in A Worn Path Phoenix Jackson. She is supposedly named after the mythological bird the phoenix (French). A Worn Path is about an old, black lady – Phoenix Jackson - making a journey into town to get medicine for her grandson. Her grandson is very ill and is going to die soon. This is all happening during Christmas time. Most of the story is recounting Phoenix’s journey into town. The story ends before Phoenix Jackson makes her voyage home. A Worn Path never tells you if the grandson dies or lies through his illness. Was Phoenix Jackson really named after the mythological bird the phoenix? There are many signs indicating that Eudora Welty did name Phoenix Jackson after the bird in A Worn Path.

Over time, our perceptions of freedom change. Escaping a cotton field may have been considered freedom in the nineteenth century, yet it could not be done without endurance. While our perceptions of freedom change, it’s likely that our ideas about how people obtain freedom do not change much. In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty describes a woman’s journey along a path to freedom, and she describes the obstacles that the woman encounters along the way. That woman, Phoenix Jackson, is able to overcome these obstacles despite her old age. In “A Worn Path,” Welty uses symbolism, setting, and characterization to reveal that the humans are capable of endurance when faced with obstacles such as death or small bushes.

In the short story, “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty introduces an elderly, African American, woman named Phoenix Jackson, whom for two or three years has made a long quest to town to get medicine for her ill grandson. Initially, Phoenix must overcome many obstacles to reach climax of her journey. Eudora Welty uses these obstacles to demonstrate the theme of her story, which is that Phoenix’s ambition/hope was the leading role in her preserving.

    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.

Introduction: In the story “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty shows the character Phoenix Jackson as living in a time period where racial judgment is out of control. Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose incentive for living is her grandson. She has many obstacles both physically and mentally through her journey.