Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path” follows the journey of Phoenix Jackson, an old Negro woman who, time and time again, makes the difficult journey through the forest to town. Despite her old age and obvious inabilities, she finds the strength to make the journey through the pinewoods, down through oaks, thorny bushes, and barbed wire. The theme of her “hero’s journey” is found through the author’s use of characterization, symbolism/imagery, and conflict. The author’s use of characterization makes Phoenix’s journey all the more meaningful. Phoenix is old, feeble, and frail. She walks with a cane and has poor eye sight. The author describes, “Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as
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Readers know Phoenix is old and frail. This doesn’t stop her from making the long, difficult trek through the forest to the town of Natchez for medicine for her grandson. Phoenix’s journey doesn’t end when she gets the medicine. She must make the long, difficult trek back. This has become routine to Phoenix. She seems to find strength to make the next one. A critic says, “Phoenix emerges as a symbol of perseverance, stamina, and life in the face of hardship and death. Commentators have noted that her sheer fortitude in making the long journey on foot and alone in winter points to these qualities, as does the significance of her name, Phoenix — a mythological bird symbolizing resurrection” (“Explanation of: 'A Worn Path' by Eudora Welty"). In Greek mythology, the Phoenix is a symbol of rebirth. It is regenerated and born again from the ashes of the past. Towards the end of the story, Phoenix makes it to the doctor’s office and, a nurse asks her about her grandson. Her memory escapes her, and she forgets why she made the long trip. When she remembers, she says, “My little grandson …We is the only two left in the world. He suffer and it don’t seem to put him back at all…I remembers so plain now. I not going to forget him again, no, the whole enduring time. I could tell him from all the others in creation” (Welty 280). Phoenix’s old age proves to be a problem for her. Her old age and experience are her demise; …show more content…
On any hero’s journey, one will encounter a “Road of Trials”, a series of test, tasks, or ordeals the hero must go through. Phoenix’s “Road of Trials” is her trail through the forest. She says, “ ‘Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far,’ she said, in the voice of argument old people keep to use with themselves. ‘Something always take a hold of me on this hill—pleads I should stay’ ” (Welty 275). Through the woods, an old and weary Phoenix marches up pines, down through oaks, thorny bushes, over a creek, and through a barbed wire fence. The little obstacles Phoenix goes through represent the bigger setbacks one will face on any journey. A critic recognizes, In “A Worn Path,” the author utilizes the conventions of the heroic journey to describe the adventures of a woman who is unaware of her own heroism. The simple style that Welty uses for her account of Phoenix Jackson’s odyssey makes the story even more effective and poignant” (Reisman). The conflict Phoenix encounters on her journey make Phoenix stronger than she is described to be. Her approach to these obstacles allow the readers to see her as a strong, determined
Readers know Phoenix is old and frail. This doesn’t stop her from making the long, difficult trek through the forest to the town of Natchez for medicine for her grandson. Phoenix’s journey doesn’t end when she gets the medicine. She must make the long, difficult trek back. This has become routine to Phoenix. She seems to find strength to make the next one. A critic says, “Phoenix emerges as a symbol of perseverance, stamina, and life in the face of hardship and death. Commentators have noted that her sheer fortitude in making the long journey on foot and alone in winter points to these qualities, as does the significance of her name, Phoenix — a mythological bird symbolizing resurrection” (“Explanation of: 'A Worn Path' by Eudora Welty"). In Greek mythology, the Phoenix is a symbol of rebirth. It is regenerated and born again from the ashes of the past. Towards the end of the story, Phoenix makes it to the doctor’s office and, a nurse asks her about her grandson. Her memory escapes her, and she forgets why she made the long trip. When she remembers, she says, “My little grandson …We is the only two left in the world. He suffer and it don’t seem to put him back at all…I remembers so plain now. I not going to forget him again, no, the whole enduring time. I could tell him from all the others in creation” (Welty 280). Phoenix’s old age proves to be a problem for her. Her old age and experience are her demise; …show more content…
On any hero’s journey, one will encounter a “Road of Trials”, a series of test, tasks, or ordeals the hero must go through. Phoenix’s “Road of Trials” is her trail through the forest. She says, “ ‘Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far,’ she said, in the voice of argument old people keep to use with themselves. ‘Something always take a hold of me on this hill—pleads I should stay’ ” (Welty 275). Through the woods, an old and weary Phoenix marches up pines, down through oaks, thorny bushes, over a creek, and through a barbed wire fence. The little obstacles Phoenix goes through represent the bigger setbacks one will face on any journey. A critic recognizes, In “A Worn Path,” the author utilizes the conventions of the heroic journey to describe the adventures of a woman who is unaware of her own heroism. The simple style that Welty uses for her account of Phoenix Jackson’s odyssey makes the story even more effective and poignant” (Reisman). The conflict Phoenix encounters on her journey make Phoenix stronger than she is described to be. Her approach to these obstacles allow the readers to see her as a strong, determined