A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

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Eudora Welty's short story “A Worn Path” is full of symbolism. There are a number of themes represented. It is a simple story of an elderly African American woman in 1940s Mississippi. The protagonist, Phoenix Jackson is walking through a long path in the woods to get some medicine for her grandson in town. She encounters various obstacles. The theme of the story is endurance. The journey from her home to town would not be so difficult for others, but Phoenix is elderly and is rather forgetful. Despite her ailments she is able to make the difficult walk along the path, and does not let any obstacles in her way stop her. Her determination and her will enable Phoenix to accomplish her goal in getting to her destination and receiving the medicine. She represents her name well as it represents rebirth, rising from the flames.
Welty uses nature symbols to help illustrate Phoenix Jackson’s determination. They occur in appropriate parts the story to show how Phoenix fights against nature to get where she needs to go. Although Phoenix has indicated that she has made this trips many times before it seems to not get any easier for her. The first obstacles she runs into is the hill. To climb the hill, Phoenix says it seems like there are …show more content…
Her sense of humor keeps her in high spirits and does not let the obstacles deter her from continuing on. When she is crossing a creek on a log, she shuts her eyes, and marches across without looking. As she opens her eyes to find that she made It across, she tells herself, “I wasn’t as old as I thought” (Welty 2). Another indication of her sense of humor is when she is thinks she spotted a ghost while crossing a field of dead corn. As she reaches out for the dancing ghost, she touches a sleeve, and discovers it is a scarecrow. “I ought to shut up for good….” “Dance old scarecrow while I dancing with you” (Welty

A Worn Path By Eudora Welty Essay

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty is a short story. The story begins with a woman from the south named Phoenix Jackson. On a cold December day, an elderly woman named Phoenix Jackson makes the long walk down a worn path to the city of Natchez. Along the way she runs into many different people, animals, and nature. Some of the things she sees are real and others are things that her eyes are making up. A black dog knocks her down and a young white hunter helps her up. The hunter is rude though and even…

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Analysis Of A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

In “ A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Welty sets the story in the Deep South in December on a bright frozen day in the early morning with a woman named Phoenix Jackson. She is on her way to buy medicine for her grandson, but despite the long journey Jackson encounters many interactions with people and nature. Phoenix Jackson is taking her daily walks to the city town on an odd path. As she is walking she comes across the animals and is harshly speaking to them as if she were confused and lost. As she…

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Symbolism In A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

evident that there is a tremendous amount of natural symbolism in the setting of Eudora Welty’s “A worn path”. The story entails the tremendous journey an old negro woman named Phoenix Jackson has to endure in order to receive medicine for her grandson. Throughout her challenging trip she faces many obstacles but with her perseverance and love for her grandson, she is able to carve her way through the path. In this story Welty “employs many of the devices which can make of the modern short story an intricate…

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Eudora Welty A Worn Path Analysis

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, is a humble story about an old women and her challenging journey to the clinic. Phoenix Jackson is an old woman who lives in the country side of Natchez. She is a woman that obviously loves and cares for her grandson; she loves him so much, that even in her old age she makes that difficult journey to the clinic on a regular basis. The journey has become a routine commute for Phoenix. On this day in December, she walks in frigid temperatures, down a path with thorn…

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Literary Devices In A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty depicts many literary devices that tell the struggles and hardships that African Americans faced while on their journey towards racial equality. The symbolism, setting, and imagery are literary devices in the story that evokes feelings of strength, hope, and perseverance to anyone who reads it. The main character is an elderly, African American woman, named Phoenix Jackson, who is slowly walking down a trial in the pinewood, “Far out in the country there was an old Negro…

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A Worn Path By Eudora Welty Analysis

“A Worn Path” Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is a nationally known narrative about Ms. Phoenix Jackson. Ms. Jackson is in many ways a hero for going such a long distance, through some difficult obstacles for her very sick grandson. Ms. Jackson, an elderly woman with memory issues must overcome obstacles around her on her way into town, including a large hill that ends at the log over the creek, an old cotton and dead maze field, and the final leg of her journey, the ravine in the woods. Ms. Jackson…

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A Worn Path Eudora Welty Analysis

Literature often exemplifies both the simplest and most complicated aspects of human nature. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” tells the story of an old African-American woman, Phoenix Jackson, who routinely makes a long and difficult journey to get medicine for her grandson. “The First Seven Years” by Bernard Malamud is about Feld, a Jewish cobbler who attempts to find an acceptable husband for his daughter, Miriam. Both of these stories illustrate the importance of love to perseverance. These short…

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Eudora Welty

against age and different genders still occurs today, in our so-called evolved society. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” illustrates these hardships in the form of an old African-American woman named Phoenix Jackson who undertakes a difficult journey in order to bring medicine for her dying grandson. Eudora Welty makes no effort in concealing Phoenix Jackson’s extreme age and physical inferiority. Eudora Welty describes Phoenix’s age by stating she has “...numberless branching wrinkles and as though…

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Eudora Welty and Phoenix Essay

Communications II 28 February 2013 A Worn Path by Eudora Welty Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" is a story that emphasizes different symbolisms throughtout character Pheonix Jacksons life and surroundings. As the story begins, our main character, Phoenix Jackson is described as a small, old Black woman of the south. Phoenix can hardly walk and must use a cane made of an old umbrella to aid her along her way. Her skin is described as dry, old and wrinkly, but yet Eudora Welty describes it best "Her skin had…

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Hong Kong Disney Land Essay examples

Jose Rivera Professor Barlow ENC 1102 Jan-30-2013 The “What Ever it Take’s Path” In Eudora Welty “A Worn Path”, an old black lady by the name of Phoenix Jackson steels the reader’s heart. The almost impossible journey on a cold December day through tuff, rough and gloomy Mother Nature roads towards the city of Natchez. Accompanied by a cane made of an umbrella an enormous heart her amazing strength and a week old mind, which prove to be all she ever would need for her long journey. Old Phoenix…

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