Literary Elements In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

According to this passage, Eudora Welty uses her childhood experience in her autobiography in order to intensify and the value of these experiences.

The Worn Path, by Eudora Welty is (a/ another) example of a modernistic narrative during the modern era. The short story shows the life of an old women named Phoenix, who goes on a long journey to town to get medicine for her sick grandchild. This story shows great meaninglessness of life because Phoenix is a very old lady who has to take care of her grandchild, when someone should be taking care of her. In turn the story shows much uncertainty and bewilderment because Phoenix forgets why she made her journey to town leaving much questions to whether or not her grandchild is actually alive.

A biblical allusion is a very quick or indirect reference to something in the Bible, such as a particular scripture, character or story. In the three poems, On His Blindness by John Milton, Journey of the Magi by T. S. Eliot, and The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats, biblical allusion is uniquely employed. In this paper, we will be discussing how each poem articulates the allusion in respect to its overall themes; irony, contemporary, and traditional.

In “A Worn Path”, enduring is the word that best describes Phoenix because she undergoes issues with her mind, an arduous journey, and a racist man. First of all, Phoenix perseveres through all of the mental problems that she has. The narrator says, “She did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him. "That would be acceptable," she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air” Phoenix obviously has issues when it comes to her mind. She imagines ridiculous scenarios and believes that they are real. Luckily, these mental problems do not cause her to give up on herself. Additionally, Welty writes,

Welty uses colloquial language in this essay to convey the value and intensity of these particular experiences. This essay is written in the view point of a young Eudora Welty, as she is beginning to explore language and literature. These experiences can be valued by the language used because in line 21, Welty uses improper language by writing "she wished me to have." This adds significant value to the essay overall since it demonstrates that it's intention is not to come off as pretentious. It is written in colloquial language so the ideas expressed can be easily grasped.

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

In Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" the character Phoenix Jackson is an “elderly woman “who shows great courage to travel through the woods to get medicine for her grandson. Jackson’s grandson unintentionally swallowed lye some years ago which burned his throat, and he needs the medicine to heal him. During her journey, Jackson encounters several obstacles that she face that remind me of my grandmother who would do anything to help us. The character journey shows her strength to overcome many physical obstacle by presents of courage, strength, and love.

As a child, many of us dream of the monsters lurking in the dark and fear the monsters that are merely figments of our imaginations. For Eudora Welty, that monster was in the form of Mrs. Calloway, the librarian of the town. Despite her fears, Welty would return to the library and face her monster on a daily basis to check out new reading material. Why would Welty willingly face a woman she feared daily? Because the value she put on reading was greater than any butterflies the “witch,” might give her. In her autobiography One Writer’s Beginnings, Eudora Welty utilizes a very creative kind of diction while she writes to portray the intense thirst she has for reading.

Phoenix is named after the ancient powerful bird that never really dies; therefore, in Worn Path, Phoenix displays the powerful traits required to live a meaningful life. Page 850 states, “The path ran up a hill. ‘Seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far’ she said.” As Phoenix makes her journey, she encounters many obstacles, like this hill. She explains the struggle by stating that it feels like chains are tied to her feet, this can represent the struggle we face in life every day. But like Phoenix, we shouldn’t stop because in the end it will all be worth

In The passage “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty shows that a simple journey can be seen as heroic and courageous through the eyes of others. Phoenix is frequently shown sacrificing herself for her grandsons needs, illustrating her compassion and bravery as a hero. “ Doesn't the gun scare you... No sir, I seen plenty so off closer by.” This quote indicates how much love and compassion she has towards her grandson, she’s willing to risk her life just so her grandson can get the medication he needs. For some people her journey would be seen as a very simple, but for phoenix she’s very old and not able to do the things she used to do. Phoenix is trying to get the medication for her grandson and is willing to take risk to get her grandsons medicine.

A Worn Path is an essay by Eudora Welty describing an old black woman, by the name of Pheonix Jackson, who travels to get her grandson the medicine he needs. The story is less about the goal of getting the medicine and more about the encounters this old woman has with her environment. This environment in question is an active antagonist per say, and an all around obstacle to the woman’s journey that she has to overcome to reach her goal, including hazards such as a barbed wire fence that she had to crawl under. This, combined with her poor vision as she mistakes a scarecrow for a “ghost” until she reaches out and touches its sleeve, and her intense fatigue give more depth to her character as whole and shed light on how strong her convictions

Memoirs help recall a particular time in a person’s life that had a special meaning or a significant impact. Even as a child, Eudora Welty had an insatiable appetite for books. However, the draconian librarian in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi did not create an atmosphere that was conducive to reading. Eudora’s desire to read was so great, she was so hungry for books that this particular time in her childhood left an indelible mark on her. At the same time, she recalls how her mother shared her love of reading and how she was able to achieve her goals with her mother’s support and encouragement. In Eudora Welty’s autobiography “One Writer’s Beginnings,” Welty uses language to convey the intensity and value of these experiences to describe her passion for reading in shaping her future as a writer. She describes Mrs. Calloway as the inconsiderate antagonist, her

Throughout A Worn Path Welty is very good at using detailed descriptions of people, places, and things. Welty starts the story by describing the appearance of the main character, Phoenix Johnson.

In the autobiography, "One writer 's Beginnings", Wetly expresses how books have had an impact on her life since the age of nine. Wetly starts by giving some background information like where she grew up, Jackson, and the librarian from which she checked out books from. Welty 's Mother also had a big impact on her reading, having introduced her to the librarian Mr. Callaway and gave permission to read all but one book. Welty took this opportunity and read as many books as she could, but just as her mother she came to a feeling of insatiability over books coming to an end. The feeling of insatiability helped Wetly realize how important books and reading are; Wetly had been reading books just to read ,but now she

The first time that Phoenix could have abandoned her mission in the short story “A Worn Path” is when she encounters the thorny bushes. Each time the Phoenix removes one part of her dress another part gets caught. She carefully removes her skirt from the bushes because she refuses to let her skirt get ripped. The thorny bush represents Phoenix’s life, once she has overcome one obstacle there seems to be another one in her way. Phoenix meets these obstacles in her life head on and shows a sense of humor.