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Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” reveals a story of the journey endured by the protagonist Phoenix Jackson. In this novel, Welty utilizes the president associated with black women, dense symbolism and vivid imagery to convey the theme of unwavering faith and perseverance. Phoenix Jackson is immediately characterized as a stereotypical quote on quote strong black woman. Welty describes her as an “old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag”. These physical details indicates that this story takes place in a time where slavery and segregation are very prevalent. The use of the word “rag” supports this time period as it displays that Jackson belongs to the poorer caste of society. The author also uses Jackson’s physical features to express her age; Phoenix’s “eyes were blue with age”, skin is describes as “numberless branching wrinkles” and compared to a tree. This not only let readers know that Jackson is an old women but also has experienced a lot during her lifetime. This contributes to the theme later in the story as …show more content…
As the main character starts on her journey upon the “worn path”, she meets many challenges along the way. One of the first obstacles are the “ foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals” that lurk in the thicket along the path. These animals represent the different aspects of society that pose a threat to Jackson continuing her excursion or, in a broader mindset, her journey of life. These animals could be societal inequality and inhumane treatment. As Jackson continues her journey, she faces more trouble. Welty describes that “thick tears went over [Phoenix's] eyes” but never states that the tears actually fall. Jackson also expresses that it felt “'like there is chains about [her] feet’”. This supports the theme of perseverance as Phoenix became overwhelmed with emotion and fatigue, but despite the circumstances still managed to hold it
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 name Phoenix Jackson is obviously a huge indication of what she is trying to symbolize.... ... middle of paper ... ... Another instance was guilt, which was shown when the clinic attendant gave Phoenix another nickel; although it was kind, this seems to be her way of compensating for an earlier offensive statement “Are you deaf?” to Phoenix. What she chose to do was not come from being kind, but because it was a sense of duty.
“A Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is a story of an elderly black woman’s journey into town for her grandson’s medicine. Using lots of imagery throughout the story, the narrator tells us that the woman, Phoenix Jackson takes this dangerous journey out of love for her grandson who is in need of medicine. Throughout her journey, she encounters many people who are of great importance to the story.
It’s December when Phoenix starts on her journey to Natchez and it is a journey she has taken many times before. This journey is no journey an elderly and weaken person should have to make by themselves, yet Phoenix does. She does not allow her age or her condition to keep her from it. Deep through the pines, the path takes her, and her first task would be to make it over a hill that seems to take all her energy and strength. “Seems like there is chains around my feet, time I get this far…” (Welty 5), here the reader can tell Phoenix does not have the strength that she really needs to make it up the hill. Yet somewhere she finds the will to keep pushing on and moving forward. This same type of spirit that allows Phoenix to keep pushing forward in society, and not to back down. Showing the younger generation that you have to fight your way through to a brighter day. It is later down the path that Phoenix comes to a creek and the only way to get across, is by walking on a log. Phoenix walks across this log with her eyes close. Once across she opens her eyes and says, “I wasn’t as old as I ...
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty is a short fictional story first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1941. Welty was an American short-story writer and novelist. Welty was a photographer before she started writing so her stories were as detailed as her photographs. Some reccurring themes she used in her literary pieces were social prejudice, isolation, and southern living. This short story includes these common themes she favored throughout her works. 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” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is based on an elderly African-American grandmother named Phoenix Jackson, who goes for a walk to the town of Natchez on a cold December morning to get some medicine for her ailing grandson. This story speaks of the obstacles Phoenix endured along the way and how she overcame them. The theme, central idea or message that the author wishes to convey to his or her readers, in “A Worn Path” is one of determination. Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to Natchez, in order to get medicine for her grandson; she does not let any obstacles get in her way. The theme of determination is shown in many ways throughout this short story.
felt very slow, similar to Phoenix, it goes at the pace she does. As Phoenix paces herself cautiously through the forests and meadows on her way to town, she talks gently and confidently to herself. By doing so, she points out her assurance and determination to herself as she moves in the direction of her objective. The steady pace in the story worries th...
... ailment and she knows that "faith will heal the sick" (James 5:15). Phoenix is so confident in her faith that even while traveling through silent cornfields, crossing streams, and braving a swamp, she makes the journey with her eyes firmly clamped shut. For as it says in Scripture, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).
There was different variety of characters in the story besides Phoenix such as her grandson, the hunter, nurse at the hospital, and as well as the animals. Welty expresses how Phoenix cares and respects the others, during the interaction process with the other characters in the narrative. In the story, Phoenix had treated the animals as her children, when she came cross in the forest and train them with the ability to be strong. In the story, other characters aren’t carried out as most as Phoenix which creates a pattern to the natural world for human to cross slowly. According to Claxton, Welty had created the character to connect nature by expressing Phoenix as a wisdom and knowledgeable person.
“A Worn Path” is a short story by Eudora Welty that talks about an old woman who lives in a time characterized by an out of control and rampant racial prejudice. The old woman is referred to as Phoenix Jackson in the story who a grandmother who lives with a sole motivation of nurturing her ailing grandson back to health. Grandmother Phoenix exhibits a strong love bond towards her grandson and is willing to do implausible and unusual things. Eudora writes her book through the central idea of an old woman showing her love to her grandson by conquering all odds against her. However, the reader does not get a clear picture on Phoenix’s grandson.
The main persona in Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path” is an “old Negro woman” (670), by the name of Phoenix Jackson. The story takes place on a path through the woods which leads to the desired town. In addition, Phoenix Jackson understands her old age, but she is ready to challenge herself on another journey. Like old Phoenix Jackson, the main persona in Alfred L. Tennyson’s poem, “Ulysses” is also old. Tennyson’s poem proclaims the life of a King, who refuses rest.
She refers to the Palm Beach State College's English class response to the 1941 short story "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty. The author thinks that the aspects of reality and symbolism in the protagonist's life allow students to understand the complexities of Black identity in a hierarchal society. The article analyzes the human and nonhuman nature in the short story "A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty. Welty argues that most writing could be regional because the writer writes from the place she or she knows. She shows a complex awareness of the relationships between place and the human and nonhuman communities in her fiction that inhabit these spaces.
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.
Phoenix's precarious journey may seem dangerous, but her determination is what carries her through the obstacles she faces as she makes her way through the woods. Phoenix makes her way across the worn path and discovers many active opponents. She continues forward over barriers that would not even be considered a hindrance for the young. The long hill that she takes tires her, the thornbrush attempts to catch her clothes, the log that Phoenix goes across endangers her balance as she walks across it, and the barbed-wire fence threatens to puncture her skin. All of these impediments that Phoenix endures apparently do not affect her because she is determined that nothing will stop her on her journey. She keeps proceeding onward letting nothing deter her determination. ?The hunter(tm)s attempt to instill fear in Phoenix, a fear she disposed of years ago as she came to terms with her plight in society, fail (Sykes 151). She ?realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the possible harm that can be done to her brittle ...
In Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson went great lengths risking her own life for her grandson, who couldn’t help himself. On her worn path she faced the world with courage. Although she faced difficulty in her early life, her faith remained the same to help those who were dear to her heart. She walk a worn path relentlessly facing obstacles along the way with a mind that is diminishing overtime. Through the problems that she is faced with, she remains humble. She is admirable because considering her old age, weakness and loss of memory, she is determined. Welty’s details of character, symbolism, conflict and theme creates a compelling and fierce Phoenix Jackson. The moral message in this short story is to show the setting and characterizations