A Worn Path: Struggle for Racial Equality
In "A Worn Path", a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a "worn path" through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics have speculated that this short story represents the love a grandmother shows for her grandson. Others say this story represents life and death, where Phoenix represents an immortal figure. Dennis J. Sykes disagrees with the other critics by saying, "A parallel exists between the journey described and the plight of the Southern blacks after the Civil War" (Sykes). Ultimately, Eudora Welty demonstrates how blacks have been persecuted in a white world.
The title, "A Worn Path," is not only the actual path Phoenix travels throughout the story, but it also stands for the road blacks have walked on in order to reach freedom. Slaves had to walk many paths in order to escape their owners and the paths led to the freedom away from their plantations. Many slaves escaped plantations by walking all day and all night in wretched
conditions just so they could achieve freedom. The title is the first of many subtle symbols
Eudora Welty uses to demonstrate the hardships blacks have been through to reach equality.
Welty uses her main character, Phoenix, to portray colored people who represent the fight for freedom. When Phoenix is described in the beginning, she is wearing a “red rag” and a “dark striped” dress (Welty 212). The red rag represents...
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...ation. As Phoenix continues down her path, she runs into many hindrances that must be overcome. Sykes believes“Phoenix [considers racial] conflicts are just stones in the road, obstacles in the path” (np). Eudora Welty writes this story to tell of the maltreatment of blacks and to bring this issue into the light. She uses subtle and obvious symbols to prove how blacks have been treated throughout life and how many have just considered the obstacles in their path of life just like pebbles they need to pass on the road.
Works Cited
Sykes, Dennis J. “Welty’s The Worn Path.” Explicator 56.3 (1998, Spring): 151-153. Literature
Resource Center. Gale. Farragut High School. 4 Sept. 2008 http://go.gale.group.com
Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Eds. Thomas
R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Thomas Wadsworth, 2006. 212-219.
In the short story "A Worn Path," the message that Eudora Welty sends to the readers is one of love, endurance, persistence, and perseverance. Old Phoenix Jackson walks a long way to town, through obstacles of every sort, but no obstacle is bad enough to stop her from her main goal. She may be old and almost blind, but she knows what she has to do and won't give up on it. Her grandson has swallowed lye, and she has a holy duty of making her way to town in order to get medicine for him. The wilderness of the path does not scare her off. She stumbles over and over, but she talks herself through every obstacle. Undoubtedly, the theme of perseverance is what Eudora Welty wants to point out to her readers. Just like the name Phoenix suggests
The name Phoenix Jackson is obviously a huge indication of what she is trying to symbolize.... ... middle of paper ... ... Another instance was guilt, which was shown when the clinic attendant gave Phoenix another nickel; although it was kind, this seems to be her way of compensating for an earlier offensive statement “Are you deaf?” to Phoenix. What she chose to do was not come from being kind, but because it was a sense of duty.
22). The imagery of the clock gives a visual image of Phoenix unsteady walk and partial reasons why she carries a cane. After reading the first two paragraphs of A Worn Path one might wonder why is an elderly woman in such conditions out in the cold. Not until further along in the story does the author go into depth of the character’s reasoning for traveling out in the cold. In spite of Phoenix’s condition and old age you see her determination in paragraph three. In paragraph three she demands any obstacles or troubles that may try to come along her path to move out of her way because she has a long ways to go. The story goes into description of the pathway the woman is following; along the way she may have had little hope or faith until, “Down in the hollow was the mourning dove-it was not to late for him.” (Weltz, 1941, p. 22). Doves have many significant symbols and in paragraph four the dove symbolized hope for Phoenix. This symbol may have encouraged the woman that she still has time. We also learn in this paragraph that the reason Phoenix is traveling this pathway is to help someone she cares
The protagonist of this short story is Phoenix Jackson. She is portrayed as a lively person because of the vivid color descriptions given by the author. Her complexion is described to have yellow, golden and copper colors. This colors state she is a black woman. The author uses imagery to shows us that Phoenix is
...f questions and she answers all of them respectfully and honestly. Phoenix cleverly distracts the man, with the two dogs that are fighting and he goes off to scare the big black one away by shooting at it. It is when he comes back and points his gun at her, that Phoenix shows no fear if it. When she is asked if she is afraid of it, her reply is, “No sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done” (Welty 58). Her unusual courage shows just how far racism stretches. Normally a human being would show fear when staring a gun down, but with years of white people making slaves out of them; black people had learn to face persecution head on. Therefore, Phoenix faced her trial head on, and the white hunter left with a little more respect for her than before. Which in the society she lived in respect was a gift and to be cherished.
One example of the theme of determination in this short story is all the obstacles that Phoenix Jackson encountered. Because Phoenix is so determined to get the medicine for her grandson, she goes through every obstacle with spirit. The following quote depicts many of the obstacles Phoenix encounters on her way:
"A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty is a heartbreaking story about the heroic trip of an old African American woman, Phoenix. The readers won't find out right away the plot of the story or why Phoenix won't give up her exhausting trip to town-the conflict of this story-especially on a very cold day. The title, "A Worn Path," indicates that Phoenix has obviously walked down this path many times before-also the fact that she can cross a creek with her eyes closed confirms the title's message.
Phoenix Jackson, is the fabulous literary name assigned to the protagonist in “A Worn Path”, by Eudora Welty. Her use of Phoenix as the primary character’s name was symbolic and likely had a dual meaning. To start, as defined by Collins Dictionary, when someone is described as a phoenix, it means they repeatedly return after seemingly “disappearing or being destroyed” (Collins Dictionary, n.d.). Second, the British definition of phoenix in the Collins Dictionary, refers to “a person or thing of surpassing beauty or quality” (Collins Dictionary, n.d.). Therefore, both definitions accurately encapsulate the character’s inner beauty and dogged determination.
... on foot and that alone is hard as it is. Eudora Welty shows her theme that with an adequate amount of determination and confidence we can tackle any problem or obstacle that is thrown our way and go the extra mile to reach our objective that we had set. Of course being restrained by time and age, Phoenix still fights and steps forward to a goal which is very significant to her heart; she doesn’t allow any barrier get in her way. Phoenix Jackson being the main character of “A Worn Path” is clear
Phoenix Jackson in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" has been compared to the mythological phoenix because of her birdlike qualities, and it's also been noticed that Phoenix possesses many of the same characteristics as Christ. But, what hasn't been addressed is the fact that Eudora Welty didn't just leave the symbolism to Christ alone. Welty also included many biblical allusions as well. Phoenix Jackson is not only symbolic of the mythological bird that rose from the ashes of its own demise or simply a Christ figure comparable to the Son of God, but she is also a biblical hero facing temptation and trials along her journey and succeeds unharmed and steadfast in her faith.
Love is by far the most powerful force known to man, and has been fueling hope since the beginning of time. To those who have never been in love, the actions caused by it make little to no sense, and may seem completely irrational. However, these same actions make perfect sense to someone motivated by love. Eudora Welty, an author and photographer born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, wrote mainly about the attitudes of people growing up in Mississippi (Brittanica). Her short story “A Worn Path” is no exception to this story type, and portrays the previously mentioned truths about love through the character Phoenix Jackson. Though she may seem crazy and often fails to remember her grandson, Phoenix Jackson is motivated to complete her long journey solely by her love for him.
There are also mental obstacles that obstruct Phoenix’s journey. She has to triumph over her weariness because of her old age and her mental fatigue. As she is walking her mind plays tricks on her, such as the time when she is in the field and mistakes the scarecrow for a dark mysterious figure that she is frightened of. Another time is when she talks to herself and the animals in the woods. She tells them not to get in her way because she has a long trip ahead of her. The love that one person gives to another is never truly appreciated until the recipient realizes what that person has actually done. The grandson may be too ill or even too young to realize what his grandmother is doing for his safety.
Welty tells the story with “some dreams and harassments and a small triumph or two, some jolts to [Phoenix’s] pride, some flights of fancy to console her, one or two encounters to scare her, a moment that gave her cause to be ashamed, a moment to dance and preen…” (quoted in Moberly, 109). The early harassments evoke symbols of slavery such as coming through the “dark pine shadows” in slave garb, “dark striped dress…an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks…all neat and tidy” (Roberts, 95). The “chains about my feet” and the uphill climb is descriptive of literally being a slave in chains. Being caught in the “pretty green bush” (Rogers, 96) that turns out to be a thorn bush is a figurative hard worn path to equal rights, with unseen snags and pitfalls. “Purple stalks” (Rogers, 96) and the buzzard and through the “old cotton” (Rogers, 96) represents the mourning of the African American people,...
Phoenix's precarious journey may seem dangerous, but her determination is what carries her through the obstacles she faces as she makes her way through the woods. Phoenix makes her way across the worn path and discovers many active opponents. She continues forward over barriers that would not even be considered a hindrance for the young. The long hill that she takes tires her, the thornbrush attempts to catch her clothes, the log that Phoenix goes across endangers her balance as she walks across it, and the barbed-wire fence threatens to puncture her skin. All of these impediments that Phoenix endures apparently do not affect her because she is determined that nothing will stop her on her journey. She keeps proceeding onward letting nothing deter her determination. ?The hunter(tm)s attempt to instill fear in Phoenix, a fear she disposed of years ago as she came to terms with her plight in society, fail (Sykes 151). She ?realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the possible harm that can be done to her brittle ...
In Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson went great lengths risking her own life for her grandson, who couldn’t help himself. On her worn path she faced the world with courage. Although she faced difficulty in her early life, her faith remained the same to help those who were dear to her heart. She walk a worn path relentlessly facing obstacles along the way with a mind that is diminishing overtime. Through the problems that she is faced with, she remains humble. She is admirable because considering her old age, weakness and loss of memory, she is determined. Welty’s details of character, symbolism, conflict and theme creates a compelling and fierce Phoenix Jackson. The moral message in this short story is to show the setting and characterizations