The Two Paths

Analysis on the story“A Worn Path” Eudora Welty in her short story, “A Worn Path” talks about an old lady living in a time period when racism is widely practiced and out of control. Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother to an ill grandson and her only purpose of living is to provide medicine to her grandson. Her strength of love towards her grandson is unconditional, which makes her do insane things just to make him survive. The main purpose of this short story is to say that our love to our people…

but plenty through the arms and shoulders, a body made for loping after needs”(3). As she is physically built to travel the Ozarks searching for her father, Ree is still burdened with the care of a mom who is “medicated and lost to the present” and two rambunctious little brothers. Her father, Jessup, “...a broken faced furtive man given to uttering quick pleading promises that made it easier for him to walk out the door and be gone…”(4) left his family poverty-stricken and surrounded by clans…

Not all heroes are that way however. Some heroes seem to be the opposite of heroic as well such as Bilbo Bagons from “The Hobbit” or Daniel Crawford from “Asylum”. Out of all the heroes one seems to stand out the most. Phoenix Jackson from “A Worn Path” is an elderly woman who travels a far distance alone to get medicine for her grandson. “What makes her a hero?” someone might ask. Phoenix Jackson is a hero because she follows the hero’s quest storyline and much of her personality is that of…

An anonymous writer once said, “Is there anything more wonderful than a grandmother’s love for her grandchildren? It is just pure love nothing but pure love". In Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path”, Phoenix Jackson embodies a loving grandmother that would do anything for her sick grandson. While the difficulty of her unexplained journey her body and her mind never pleads her to stop. Phoenix’s perseverance is demonstrated by the meek fact that she keeps walking. She encounters many…

Phoenix is the main character, and protagonist of Eudora Welty’s short story “A Worn Path”, Written in 1941. Throughout the story, we follow Phoenix on a long journey that she is taking through the woods, for which we are at first given no origin point or destination. On her journey, we see Phoenix display a memory both with incredible ability, and with faults of old age. We also see her encounter and overcome many obstacles set by both her environment, and her poor eyesight, a symptom of old…

Eudora Welty writes “A Worn Path” to tell a story of perseverance and love. Welty’s southern heritage is displayed throughout the story, where she uses an elderly lady named Phoenix Jackson. Phoenix was to take a path whereby the end was unknown to the readers. Phoenix’s grandson swallowed lye a few years ago, and this caused his throat to be damaged permanently. She often takes this long journey to get her grandson’s medicine although she is far in age. Many readers may believe she was mentally…

much ado about Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path.” Many essays and critical analysis Authors wrote about the story. Even Welty responded to the countless letters she received about whether Phoenix’s grandson is alive or dead. Included is Mr. James R. Saunders article “A Worn Path”: The Eternal Quest of Welty’s Phoenix Jackson. In his essay he includes others critiques, proves Phoenix Jackson is loving, and determined. In his essay Neil Issacs comparing “A Worn Path” to the biblical account of the…

In many of her short stories, the main characters are socially subjugated individuals who break their traditional society-assigned roles. For example in “A worn path” the main character Phoenix, an old black woman who goes on a long journey to obtain medicine for her grandson. Throughout her quest, she encounters characters that embody racism, for example, she meets a white hunter whom she asks for help in order…

Overcoming obstacles In the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty the protagonist Phoenix must overcome many diverse types of obstacles in order to acquire the medicine that she needs for her grandson. She must triumph over physical, emotional, and mental obstacles on her lengthy journey into town. These varying obstacles all hindered her progress, but in the end she was able to prevail over them due to her perseverance, determination and love for her family. The main cause of her…

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,…