In the story entitled “A Worn Path, the author, Eudora Welty, develops an “old, negro woman” by the name of Phoenix Jackson. The story starts off as Phoenix Jackson traveling through the pinewoods. Despite her long dress that draped over her unlaced shoes, she looked straight ahead with rage. She was determined.
Throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson perseveres many obstacles. Her first encounter was with a “quivering in a thicket” in which she exclaims, “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons, and wild animals!... Keep out from under these feet, little bobwhites… Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running in my direction. I got a long way.” After this she encounters a hill when she …show more content…
Phoenix Jackson comes upon a resting spot where she sits down, spreads her skirt around her, and folds her hands on her knees. As Phoenix is sitting alone, a boy appears and “brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it.” She reaches out to grab it and the boy disappears. At this point the reader begins to question Phoenix’s sanity. There are some other cases along the way where Phoenix isn’t truly “all there” in the head. She ends up in an old cotton field where there lays a buzzard. She proceeds to yell, “Who you looking at?” as if the buzzard could respond back to her. Another example is her encounter with a scarecrow. At first she thought it was a dancing man, but he did not make a sound. When she made her second guess of a ghost she asks, “who you be the ghost of? For I have heard of narry death close by.” When the “ghost” didn’t answer, she moved closer. She reached out a hand and touched an empty sleeve. She then realized this was a scarecrow and says, “Dance old scarecrow, while I dance with you.” In the end when Phoenix receives her medicine from the nurse, the nurse says, “All right. The doctor said as long as you came to get it, you could have it. But it’s an obstinate case.” The reader can infer that Phoenix Jackson’s grandson is most likely dead from the diction and connotation of the word “obstinate.” Phoenix makes her journey the same time every year like clock-work. This goes
Throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson perseveres many obstacles. Her first encounter was with a “quivering in a thicket” in which she exclaims, “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons, and wild animals!... Keep out from under these feet, little bobwhites… Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running in my direction. I got a long way.” After this she encounters a hill when she …show more content…
Phoenix Jackson comes upon a resting spot where she sits down, spreads her skirt around her, and folds her hands on her knees. As Phoenix is sitting alone, a boy appears and “brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it.” She reaches out to grab it and the boy disappears. At this point the reader begins to question Phoenix’s sanity. There are some other cases along the way where Phoenix isn’t truly “all there” in the head. She ends up in an old cotton field where there lays a buzzard. She proceeds to yell, “Who you looking at?” as if the buzzard could respond back to her. Another example is her encounter with a scarecrow. At first she thought it was a dancing man, but he did not make a sound. When she made her second guess of a ghost she asks, “who you be the ghost of? For I have heard of narry death close by.” When the “ghost” didn’t answer, she moved closer. She reached out a hand and touched an empty sleeve. She then realized this was a scarecrow and says, “Dance old scarecrow, while I dance with you.” In the end when Phoenix receives her medicine from the nurse, the nurse says, “All right. The doctor said as long as you came to get it, you could have it. But it’s an obstinate case.” The reader can infer that Phoenix Jackson’s grandson is most likely dead from the diction and connotation of the word “obstinate.” Phoenix makes her journey the same time every year like clock-work. This goes