No matter where you are, you will be judged by your looks. People will make assumptions about others based on what they observe of that person, just from their appearance. This natural human behaviour is a fundamental truth, and is common all over the world, but it is most prominently displayed in the southern states of America. What people see is what they will assume. But often, there can be a huge difference in a person’s appearance and character. This is exceptionally true in the case of Phoenix Jackson, in Eudora Welty’s ‘A Worn Path’. Looking at Phoenix, one would not be impressed. She is a poor frail old woman, and would be expected to be weak in character and in mind. But, throughout the story, she shows that her frail demeanor doesn’t represent the strong virtues of Phoenix. By demonstrating her mental and physical resiliency, bravery, and compassionate selflessness, we know that her character is strong. …show more content…
Her dark skin was wrinkled with age, her black hair was in the frailest of ringlets, with a copper odor emanating from it. Her clouded eyes were blue with age, making it hard for her to see clearly. From her clothes you could tell that she was poor, with a bleached sugar sack as an apron, a well-used dark striped dress. Her swaying hobble made it look impossible for her to walk 10 meters, nigh a long journey. Her untied shoelaces made her look like she would fall over at any second, and that only thing that was stopping her from losing her balance was the umbrella cane she poked at the ground with. Although she may have a weak exterior, there is a strong woman
In the short story "A Worn Path," the message that Eudora Welty sends to the readers is one of love, endurance, persistence, and perseverance. Old Phoenix Jackson walks a long way to town, through obstacles of every sort, but no obstacle is bad enough to stop her from her main goal. She may be old and almost blind, but she knows what she has to do and won't give up on it. Her grandson has swallowed lye, and she has a holy duty of making her way to town in order to get medicine for him. The wilderness of the path does not scare her off. She stumbles over and over, but she talks herself through every obstacle. Undoubtedly, the theme of perseverance is what Eudora Welty wants to point out to her readers. Just like the name Phoenix suggests
The same can be said with the woman who tied Phoenix’s shoelaces—that she did it out of duty for Christmas season rather than genuine concern for the elderly. Phoenix Jackson must endure racial prejudice as part of her everyday life. It is interesting, though, that the people she encounters don’t treat her with any respect and kindness. From now onwards, it perhaps signifies that America is making progress in racism and discrimination. But not until the civil rights movement did blacks gain all their rights under the law.
Two of these stories specifically, Yellow Woman’s flings with Buffalo and Whirlwind Man, show how her different, and powerful personality results in positive effects for her community as a whole. These stories emphasis how beauty is not necessarily found in physical appearance, but the strength of one’s character. These stories picked by Silko help to convey another message; that a woman’s strong personality adds to her personal beauty and that a powerful personality is not something to be ashamed of, but to embrace, like Yellow Woman does in her
Phoenix Jackson had a vivid description painted for herself by the author. Phoenix was a small and frail elderly Negro woman. She wore a red rag tied upon her head holding up her yet black, curly hair that fell into ringlets. Upon her, she wore a long and dark striped dress with an equally long apron over the top of it. Upon her feet were untied tennis shoes. She always carried her thin and small cane with her, which was actually an umbrella. Her old eyes were blue with age, and her skin had become a pattern of numberless branching wrinkles. By being able to create a vivid picture of Phoenix, the author has allowed a connection between her character and the reader where the reader can now comprehend Pho...
There is Phoenix Jackson she is a grandmother who always travels a long and horrible path that she takes in order to get her grandson medicine for him. Ms. Jackson is an older lady who is traveling in the middle of December “She was a very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows”. (Welty) While traveling in the woods Ms. Jackson gets tangled in a bush where here dress gets tangled but after she finally gets herself free she finally gets to the foot of the hill where she rests. Many of the events that happened in this story is not the normal that we have for today. For instance what older woman would go walking into the cold woods in December by herself and keeps walking until she is completely tired. While she is in the woods Ms. Jackson encounters a black dog that trips her and made her fall into a ditch. When the hunter who was with the dog came he helped her up and told her she needs to go back home instead if going into town. When the hunter helped her a nickel fell out of his pocket, when he left she picked it up and put it in her apron, once the hunter came back he pointed a gun to Ms. Jackson face and she stood there and faced him. When asked was she scared “No. sir I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day and for less than what I done” (Welty). This shows that Ms. Jackson is strong and even though she is older she is not the typical elderly person. After traveling
The protagonist of this short story is Phoenix Jackson. She is portrayed as a lively person because of the vivid color descriptions given by the author. Her complexion is described to have yellow, golden and copper colors. This colors state she is a black woman. The author uses imagery to shows us that Phoenix is
There are many signs of prejudice towards people, what people believe or just think of one another, or problems around the town Maycomb Alabama such as racism towards Tom Robinson. In my essay I’ll be explaining the prejudice towards the characters in the novel and how it affects the character in the novel. I’ll be talking about three different types of prejudice. The first one is believing in something that may or may not be true. The second source of prejudice is judging some by the color of their skin or racism. And the last example of prejudice is judging someone by the first sight or judging a book by its cover in other words. So now I’ll explain the different types of being prejudice.
There are multiple themes in this fictional story. Some themes presented in this story include racism, family, and responsibility. The most prominent theme is the age and perseverance, because the protagonist is predisposed to failure given her age but her tenacity keeps her going. “A Worn Path” tells the story of a courageous elderly African American woman named Phoenix Jackson. Phoenix endangers her life to get a charity medicine for her grandson, who is unable to fully heal because of a lye accident.
We are told of Phoenix?s journey into the woods on a cold December morning. Although we are know that she is traveling through woodland, the author refrains from telling us the reason for this journey. In the midst of Phoenix?s travels, Eudora Welty describes the scene: ?Deep, deep the road went down between the high green-colored banks. Overhead the live-oaks met, and it was as dark as a cave? (Welty 55). The gloomy darkness that the author has created to surround Phoenix in this scene is quite a contrast to the small Negro woman?s positive outlook; Phoenix is a very determined person who is full of life. As Phoenix begins to walk down the dark path, a black dog approaches her from a patch of weeds near a ditch. As he comes toward her, Phoenix is startled and compelled to defend herself: ?she only hit him a little with her cane. Over she went in the ditch, like a little puff of milk-weed? (55). Here, the author contrasts the main character?s strong will with her small, frail phys...
The short story “Petrified Man” by Eudora Welty is about two women—Leota, a beautician, and Mrs. Fletcher, her customer—who spend the entire story gossiping in a beauty parlor. The story is told in a limited third-person point of view, where the psychic distance of the view places the reader right next to Mrs. Fletcher and Leota, hearing and seeing only what someone present in the scene would. Their gossip tells the reader the stories of this piece, that of Mr. and Mrs. Pike and of the Petrified Man. However, this is not the main focus. Welty uses this short story to comment on the appearance obsessed, judgmental, and flighty nature of people, especially southern women. This is done through Mrs. Fletcher’s comments about what Mrs. Pike must
In “Welty’s The Worn Path” Dennis Sykes asserts the similarities between phoenix Jackson and the struggle for black equality after the civil war in the south. Sykes compares Phoenix Jackson to the blind prophet Tiresias in the poem “The Waste Land” by T.S. Elliot. The author also points out insightfully that a parallel exists between phoenix’s journey and the journey of southern blacks after the Civil War. The writer observes phoenix's perseverance as she struggles through the journey. Sykes points out the similarities between phoenix's journey and the journey of black southerners: against scurrying hogs or thorny bush. The author adds that Welty showed phoenix’s struggle through imagery. Sykes asserts that the document or the wall reflects
Phoenix Jackson in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" has been compared to the mythological phoenix because of her birdlike qualities, and it's also been noticed that Phoenix possesses many of the same characteristics as Christ. But, what hasn't been addressed is the fact that Eudora Welty didn't just leave the symbolism to Christ alone. Welty also included many biblical allusions as well. Phoenix Jackson is not only symbolic of the mythological bird that rose from the ashes of its own demise or simply a Christ figure comparable to the Son of God, but she is also a biblical hero facing temptation and trials along her journey and succeeds unharmed and steadfast in her faith.
In “A Worn Path” colors are used to emphasize the depth and breadth of the story, and to reinforce the parallel images of the mythical phoenix and the protagonist Phoenix Jackson. Eudora Welty’s story is rich with references to colors that are both illustrative and perceptive, drawing us in to investigate an additional historical facet of the story.
'A Worn Path' is the tale of the unstoppable love and care of a grandmother for her grandchild. Phoenix Jackson is Eudora Welty's main character and protagonist in A Worn Path.? Phoenix is an old, frail woman who attempts to proceed on a long and treacherous journey through the woods to Natchez. Phoenix strives forward despite frequent obstacles in her way that include her own failing health and her grandchild's slim chance of survival. As she takes this prolonged trek across the woods, many of her characteristics are revealed. Her tenacity, senility, and consideration that she displays throughout her long worn path emphasize her character.
We had sat together on the same benches, and yet I hardly recognized her. High heels, furs in which she seemed lost, brown suede gloves dangling from her fingers. The diamond she wore gave off a bright light. I no longer knew her. She was old and ugly, dressed-up this way…I felt like hitting Sarah, and yet at the same time, I wanted to hold her tightly and chase away this nightmare. (Chedid 33)