In the short story, "A Worn Path" Eudora Welty's plot is not all that clear in the beginning, but progresses as her character carries on against the overwhelming forces against her. In this short story a black elderly woman, Phoenix Jackson, must overcome the odds against her as she valiantly travels through many obstacles in order to contribute to the wellness of her grandson, for whom she is making this trip down "a worn path." It is at this point that all of Welty's readers' hearts open up to this poor, elderly woman as she makes an attempt to carry on her love for her grandson by taking a long journey down a familiar path in order to get medication that seems to help ease his sickness pains. However, there are many forces against Phoenix that Welty includes in her story in order to make Phoenix's adventure end in a victory. Poverty, old age, and her journey through the woods are all of the odds which Phoenix must overcome.
Poverty is a major hardship that most of us will never have to face, but in
Phoenix's case, poverty is present everyday in her and her grandson's life. Since she is
In this state of poverty, Phoenix is not able to enjoy life's luxuries as others do and
Must make do with what she can. As she begins her journey, it becomes clear that she lacks
the money to pay for transportation to and from town; therefore, she starts down her path
carrying a "thin, small cane made from an umbrella" (132). Although Welty never really
emphasizes what this is used for the reader can assume that she uses it because she does
not have the money to buy the actual cane needed to help her walk properly. Another
conflict dealing with poverty arouses when she feels it necessary to steal from a hunter
she encounters in...
... middle of paper ...
...cidents indicate that Phoenix adapts to the dangers that face her,
and allows the plot to then become clear.
Welty catches the reader's attention by how real her short story seems. Even
though many people may never experience Phoenix's problems, the descriptions and
images she uses allows her to create a powerful story in which many feel they can relate
to in some way. Her three major problems, poverty, old age, and some form of a journey,
are all obstacles which all of her readers will one day face as they travel through
their own paths.
Works Cited
Jacobs, Henry E. and Roberts, Edgar V. Literature: An Introduction to Reading
and Writing. 5th ed. new Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998: 131-137.
Oates, Joyce C. "Eudora Welty." Contemporary Literary Criticism. 1973 ed. 361.
Vande Kieft, Ruth M. Eudora Welty. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1987.
“A good liar uses the truth.” This is a technique used by notorious imposters Frederic Bourdin, and Frank Abagnale. Although Bourdin posed as a child for a second chance at adolescence, Abagnale posed as an adult to gain financial means and respect. Bourdin and Abagnale’s success in deception can be primarily attributed to their careful observation of their surroundings, as well as their ability to detect the emotions of those around them.
Eudora Welty presents the short story “A Worn Path” in a remarkable way, revealing a lot of symbolism. It travels around multiple themes throughout the story about an old aged woman walking through a grueling trail to a town to gather medicine for her grandson in Mississippi. This short story takes places in December on a “bright frozen day” where an old Negro woman arises by the name of Phoenix Jackson. I believe she signifies a struggle, but when looking at her a bit deeper, she mostly signifies willpower (Welty, 502). As she goes towards the town on the path, she appears to have walked numerous times before; she has to overcome many problems. What’s important is that with each move she takes it looks to be pretty sluggish, but yet a steady move in the direction of her goal. The story gives an understanding to the determination and confidence of Phoenix Jackson to point out the belief of people in identical lives of endless struggle. In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty reveals the idea that sometimes our lives can be a lot like an obstacles course, which are made up of difficulties that we have to overcome somehow.
In our day and age where our youth are becoming more aware of the history of the country and the people who inhabit it, the culture of Native Americans has become more accessible and sparks an interest in many people young and old. Recent events, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, grab the attention of people, both protesters and supporters, as the Sioux tribe and their allies refuse to stay quiet and fight to protect their land and their water. Many Native people are unashamed of their heritage, proud of their culture and their ancestors. There is pride in being Native, and their connection with their culture may be just as important today as it was in the 1800’s and before, proving that the boarding school’s ultimate goal of complete Native assimilation to western culture has
During my research in the assimilation of Native American Education, it was both interesting and alarming to learn of how the Americans assimilated the Native Americans into their White society. The focus of my paper is on how the assimilation of Native Americans was carried out in relation to their education and culture change. As well as, listing and describing certain types of schools created by the government to attain this. It is necessary to include how a typical day in the life of a Native American was spent; therefore, I have included a brief description of a day. In conclusion, there is a discussion of the reactions to boarding schools and the changing process in Native American culture and education.
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'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.
The modern American society is best defined by its education. The “American dream” is founded on going to school, getting a good job, and becoming successful. Ironically, the actual native peoples of this country are actually the least likely to attain this dream. The largest obstacle they face is lack of proper education. The standard educational practices being used for the instruction of Native American peoples is not effective. There are many pieces to this road-block, and many solutions. This can be rectified by having more culturally aware teachers and parents, and by teaching the general population more about the Native American cultures.
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have a steady job but they just don't have any real wealth. In fact people who
Any communication interaction involves two major components in terms of how people are perceived: verbal, or what words are spoken and nonverbal, the cues such as facial expressions, posture, verbal intonations, and other body gestures. Many people believe it is their words that convey the primary messages but it is really their nonverbal cues. The hypothesis for this research paper was: facial expressions directly impact how a person is perceived. A brief literature search confirmed this hypothesis.
While communicating with another human being, one only has to examine the other’s face in order to comprehend what is being said on a much deeper level. It is said that up to 55 percent of a message’s meaning can be derived from facial expression (Subramani, 2010). These facial manipulations allow thoughts to be expressed in ways that are often difficult to articulate verbally, with the face demonstrating “the thoughts of the mind, and the feelings of the heart” (Singla). Many expressions are said to universal, particularly those showing happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and...
The first advertisement I found was from the AARP, showing a silver-haired woman in a red gown. The tagline on the advertisement said "To most marketers, consumers die the minute they turn 50." This statement pointed out that older people aren’t getting the advertisements they deserve. I found this interesting since it was the exact conclusion I had come to mere moments before. This advertisement could be extrapolated to show the stereotypes that older people don’t need to be advertised to because they are not a profitable population. It could be getting at a commonly held belief that as one ages, they become more and more predictable and less accepting of change. Therefore, they are less likely to buy a new or different product, and thus advertisers should not even try. Presently, the commercials and ads seem to all be pointed at 18 to 25 year olds who only care about sexy people, beer, and sports, an interesting phenomenon which was easily visible in my search.
Poverty, also know as the “silent killer” (Causes of Poverty), exists in every corner of the world. The death rate of poor children is a staggering number; about 9 million die each year. Some view poverty as people not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. This isn’t true poverty; poverty is where people live on $1.25 or less a day. According to Causes of Poverty, 1.4 billion people live like this. Even more shocking than the last statistic is that half of the world’s population lives on $2.50 per day.
J.K. Rowling once said “Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It meets a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts that is something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized by fools,” and this really resonates with me as my family has always struggled with money. It was this state of poverty that has stayed with me my whole life and defined who I am today.