Racism In A Worn Path

The Worn Path The Worn Path is a story about a journey of a poor and old black grandma who just wants to arrive to town. In the story “The Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, the symbolism of Phoenix’s trip are perseverance and sacrifice that she had in her path to town, and also it represents her life with her constants difficulties visualized with the lone dog, the scarecrow, and the hunter. The perseverance that Phoenix has in order to save her grandson is admirable.

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

The story “A worn path”, author Eudora Welty uses metaphorical phrases to describe the main characters journey to the city. Phoenix Jackson shows determination, endurance, and bravery throughout the story and wouldn’t let anything slow her down. At the beginning of her journey, Eudora Welty shows Phoenix’s determination when the path she walked ran up a hill. “Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far.

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 first obstacle that displays Phoenix’s determination to succeed, was when she came to a hill during her quest to town.

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.

In the short story Welty’s want the reader to be comfortable with Phoenix as a character. Welty describes Phoenix wearing a long dress reaching her shoe top and a long apron of bleached sugar sacks. When Phoenix talks aloud to herself the author wants the reader to imagine an old woman with characteristics of a warm, comical, young spirited woman side of her. The short story also uses images which evoke from the biblical imagery. Phoenix’s uses biblical connection to show the reader how important her story and the

A Worn Path begins in a descriptive analysis of old woman Phoenix Jackson. The surrounding setting, nature sounds and details of Phoenix are described in great detail to portray the struggles an elderly

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).

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)

In “A Worn Path,” it is hypothesized that Phoenix was once a slave, as she mentioned to a hunter when he pulled a gun on her “I seen plenty of those go off, closer by in my day. ”(51) , and is now traveling through

Old Pheonix is unquestionably determined, even against an unforeseeable future to retrieve her grandson's medicine. Yet as she speaks to all the animals and nature and has a delusional vision, the story raises several questions as she walks. When she mistakes the scarecrow for a real person and begins to dance with him, while the scene is humorous, it leads to doubt as to the sanity of the old woman. Old Phoenix even disquietly admits "'I ought to be shut up for good… My senses is gone.

These were some of my favorite readings so far that we had been required to read through. They were very enlightening and provided many great perspectives and stories from white and minority people alike. The three readings I enjoyed the most are Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Color-Blind Racism by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Smells Like Racism by Rita Chaudhry Sethi.

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.

While Phoenix is on her way, her dress unfortunately gets caught in a bush. This complicates what she is going through, especially since she has so much trouble with making sure that her dress does not tear. Additionally, the narrator says, “So she left that tree, and had to go through a barbed-wire fence. There she had to

December the 6th, 1865 marks the end of slavery and white supremacy. A glance at the 21st century America manifests otherwise. Racism is an ongoing issue that contributes largely to class boundaries within significant aspects such as economy, education and society of the United States, making people of color inferior to white people. The key components that construct a country into greatness are economy, education and society. The inequality and injustice present in these interlinked components, bound by social class hierarchy, can lead to desisting the full potential to be a globally respectable nation.