A Worn Path Essay

Seeds of an Allegory; A Cane, a Hunter, and a Worn Path Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is written about an old black woman named Phoenix Jackson who travels a long worn path to town where she can get medicine for her ill grandson. Many components of the story demonstrate a deeper meaning of the story. The symbols in the story could have been anywhere from Phoenix’s name to the ground she walked on, but some were more important to the underlying meaning of the allegory. Through the symbolic…

In “A Worn Path,” Phoenix Jackson is the main character of this short story. Eudora Welty describes Phoenix Jackson as an old woman who goes on a long journey through the woods. Throughout her journey, Phoenix Jackson starts to experience emotions such as hardship and joy. Many people have argued about Phoenix Jackson’s journey being connected through religious, historical, or racial criticism. Furthermore, I will carefully analyze her conscious and unconscious mind through the Psychoanalytical…

The Biographical Approach to understanding Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” Seventy seven years ago, America was at war with European countries, fighting in the appalling and depressing World War II. Segregation in the south was slowly disappearing, and with the men at war, women became the fuelers of America’s thriving economy. Eudora Welty, a white, independent, and middle aged woman has the voice people want to hear during the harsh times. Swanson stated that “In addition to her many short…

Through the course of the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson had several moments or opportunities along her way to abandon her mission. Phoenix’s first moment or opportunity was when her skirt was entangled with a thorn bush and she could not let her dress get torn. According to the quote of Welty (1940), " Her eyes opened, their widest, and she started down gently. But before she got to the bottom of the hill a bush caught her dress. Her fingers were busy and intent,…

Symbolism in A Worn Path In the short story, A Worn Path by Eudora Welty there are many symbols. The story takes place in the American South during the mid-twentieth century. The main character of this story is an elderly African American women named Phoenix Jackson, who is on her way to get medicine for her grandson who is sick. She ends up taking an extremely worn path to get to the clinic and on her way through the path she encounters a hunter. The hunter raises his gun and aims it at the…

“A Worn Path” is a fictional short story written by Eudora Welty during the early twentieth century and it likely occurs during this time period. This story takes place geographically in the South. “A Worn Path” is not simply a story about an old woman making a difficult journey for medicine to help her grandson, it’s about taking pride in yourself and having purpose in your life. This story shows that with pride and purpose many seemingly difficult obstacles can be overcome. It’s through this…

is always inspiring and influential to hear that someone preserved. The story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, is a fantastic example. An old woman named Phoenix Jackson makes her way along a treacherous path. She travels through this path with one goal in mind, that goal being to help her grandson get medicine for his sickness. This path was not easy for her and she came across many hardships. The theme of “A Worn Path” is regardless of the challenges a person is faced with perseverance and…

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…

If the story, A Worn Path, would have continued, it would tell about her travel back home. Before the story ended, Phoenix Jackson was heading home to give her grandson his medicine. To continue the story, when Phoenix Jackson got back home, she sets the windmill, that she had got at the store with the ten cents that she had acquired on her journey to retrieve he medicine, down on a little table that was sitting beside her grandson, who hadn’t moved from the position that she had last seen him.…

An Alternate View In his article, “Life and Death in Eudora Welty’s ‘A Worn Path,’” Roland Bartel pleads for readers to view “A Worn Path” as more than a story of the hardships an elderly African American woman faces. Bartel believes there is more to the story than what appears on the surface. He indulges the idea that Phoenix Jackson’s grandson is not sick, but dead, and that she makes the journey to keep her mind at ease. This view that Bartel possesses creates a whole other side to the…