Modernism In A Worn Path, By Eudora Welty

Literature has been around for many centuries, and each piece is either influenced by something, or has the ability to influence a single person, or an entire society. It is quite obvious to the eyes of a reader that pieces written during the Modern Era of literature reflect the time period of that in the Roaring Twenties, which was a time period in America where the rich were too wealthy, but their hearts were poor and filled with greed. These pieces also reflect the time period of the thirties, which was not even near as prosperous as the twenties, times were hard, and the lifestyle lived then was difficult. Modernism writers used these times in America to influence their writings by drawing attention of the readers to problems that our nation …show more content…
An example showing how a lifestyle could be difficult, in the story “A Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty, the main character Phoenix Jackson must carry out the hardships of being an elderly black woman living within the confines of a segregated region, and she must endure a long journey to retrieve medicine for her ill grandson. Modernist writers touch base with on going issues that were very controversial during this time in history in this story, and in many others. Another example depicting that of somewhat difficult of a lifestyle, is in the poem Chicago by Carl Sandburg. “And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again” (Sandburg 890). This quote here can show how the indecency of the people who lived in the city at the time, and how it was not uncommon for crimes like this to take place on the street at any point in time. In other words living in a place like this would be considered dangerous, and how unsafe it