In the short story, “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty follows the journey of an old, frail woman named Phoenix Jackson on a long walk into Natchez, Mississippi where she has to get medicine for her grandson. The trip becomes especially difficult because of her age, and in mid-trip she forgets the reason for the struggle. At the end of the journey she remembered, retrieved the medicine, and decided to buy her grandson a Christmas present with the ten cents she had acquired during the day. Although, there is a deeper meaning that conveys simple life behind the journey, as well as the story, a simply beautiful story with many techniques and devices that employs an intricate and densely complex form. Even though it is not clear to anyone quite what it is, the story …show more content…
It shows the people she encounters, the obstacles, and the confusion she faces during the path, as well it relates to everyday living. It tells the reader that in one’s life they might come across people that will try to hurt and stop him/her. Although, to not be weak, to not give up and do not let the simple minded painful people get him/her such as ” The Hunter”. He who had helped Phoenix out of a ditch that she fell into all the while calling her rude names and as his dog continued to bark at her, did not phase Phoenix. With the racist comments, and how he threatened her by putting his gun in her face so calmly, after he had just helped her. It tells of how people and things can be helpful in life, although can turn out to be something negative and dangerous. It also shows that what people believe is not always true, and that things will not just get handed to people, everyone has to work for it. It demonstrates this with the character, “The Boy,” she encounters him in the woods after she had just sat to rest. He appears with a plate of cake, when she reaches, it was not there, he was never there just a part of her
The story touches on things such as poverty, alcoholism, bullying, abuse, etc. It is an extremely eye-opening, humbling book that shows you that you can change your life around no matter how you were raised. This book is relatable to many people, including children and teenagers who are or may have gone through some of the same things that Jeannette and her siblings did. The theme that most resonated with me while reading the book was alcoholism. It is something that has been a part of my family life for a long time.
The theme of the story is to be careful at all time ,many thing bad things can happen if not careful . Summer was walking alone at night when she should have been with someone she know or trust to walk with her. Summer was stubborn to be walking alone to find her friend at night. By doing that Summer has ended up in a very bad situation. She got kidnapped by a man named Clover has a mental issue.
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
In Eudora Welty’s story, “Why I Live at The P.O”, Welty writes about a girl and her family from the south. This true southern family deals with their ups and down starting from when the little sister name Stella-Rondo came back home after splitting with husband whom once use to date her older sister (the narrator) with a little girl she claims that she adopted. Ever since she came home, things started spiraling down quickly for Sister as Stella-Rondo made everyone in the family turn against her she then had enough and moves away to the P.O. where she works. Although family has a strong bond and meaning, isolation one self is the best solution.
The novel’s protagonist, Janie Crawford, a woman who dreamt of love, was on a journey to establish her voice and shape her own identity. She lived with Nanny, her grandmother, in a community inhabited by black and white people. This community only served as an antagonist to Janie, because she did not fit into the society in any respect. Race played a large factor in Janie being an outcast, because she was black, but had lighter skin than all other black people due to having a Caucasian ancestry.
What the author of the story wants us to stop and think about is how we think of others. Even when everybody talks badly about a person it is still important to get to know them for who they are not what other people say they
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
The book is about a girl named Liesel who is struggling to live a normal life with her foster family in World War ll. But it is very difficult for her to do that in the heart of Germany, and with bombs dropping unexpectedly. But, Liesel overcomes her fear and even helps everyone in a shelter with her. This can be shown with: “The younger kids were soothed by her voice, and everyone else saw visions of the whistler running from the crime scene” (Zusak 381). Liesel used her stolen books to overcome her fear and help others overcome their fear.
Literary Analysis: “A Worn Path” 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.
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).
It talks about loneliness, desperation and confusion that anyone who has no guide to ease them into the world goes through. It also talks greatly about the human mind’s ability to repress the memories that it finds too traumatic to deal with. The plot starts out simple, an unnamed protagonist attending a funeral in his childhood hometown. He then visits the home that he and his sister grew up in, bringing back memories of a little girl named Lettie Hempstock who lived at the end of the lane, in the Hempstocks’ farmhouse, with her mother and grandmother.
It sets up a reader for thier future and what is to come: grief. The story shows how our relationships to others vary from person to person. People are caring and selfish, sympathetic and indifferent, hopeful and completely discouraged. Like any story, the readers gain their own lessons, but still explore the universal themes of loneliness, companionship, love, loss, and death. It shows us that grief can overtake us, as well as looking for an unapproachable
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.
Beyond the Walk to Natchez 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.
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. Thesis: In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty creates a fictional character, Phoenix Jackson who is forceful, wise, and loving. Body Paragraph #1: Forceful Phoenix’s feet act as her compass, testing her strength though the woods.