A Worn Path By Eudora Welty Analysis

How far would you go for someone? What if it was your grandson? Both Eudora Welty and O. Henry are very interesting authors in their ways of how the readers interpret their stories, particularly their themes. Phoenix Jackson in Welty's’ “A Worn Path” shows true perseverance throughout her story, while the young man in “A Furnished Room” shows perseverance but an obsessive kind, ultimately leading to his downfall. These two stories emphasize particular but different themes. Mrs. Jackson and the young man endured so many different events throughout their lifetimes, whether it be a simple trip to a doctor's office to get medicine for a boy she did not know was even alive or in the young man’s case, a woman he may not ever find, displaying the

The theme of determination and perseverance are shown in both stories. To begin with, both main characters are seem to be heckled. Phoenix Jackson in “A Worn Path” is even held at gunpoint. The story mentions, “.... and then he laughed and lifted his gun and pointed it at Phoenix.… “No, sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done,” she said, holding utterly still.” (474). However, to be heckled like she was, considering what African Americans had to endure, is astonishing. African Americans did not deserve hardly anything of what they got, yet they pulled through miraculously. Phoenix made an annual trip to the doctor’s office for her grandson who had an incurable throat disease with no clue if he would survive or not. She seems quiet in her determination; she speaks rarely and, if so, in a soft voice. Nevertheless, she is relentless in her pursuit of this medicine, sustaining

For example, one could say, in “A Worn Path”, that the setting depicts a certain theme of contrasting regions. In this story there are two regions: one of the outside world and a more urban area, where the professional action takes place. In the country region, there seems that Phoenix actually had a voice. As the story says, “Out of my way, all you foxes...I got a long way.” (470). In this portion of the story, Phoenix seems the dominant character, and the narrator is solely focused on her. Not to mention, when these obstacles come her way, she finds a way to hold her ground. However, when she was put into the urban world, she is rather desolate and quiet, and it seems that she had lost her voice. Phoenix is, at times, helpless in the way she acts and speaks. In “The Furnished Room”, there seems to be hopelessness in this young man’s eyes as soon as we meet him, contrasting completely from “A Worn Path”. Yes, this young man has determination to find this woman, but the constant chase after this girl has him completely desperate, unlike Mrs. Jackson. As the story mentions, he goes through countless “months of ceaseless interrogation and the inevitable negative.” (210). Not to mention, in this story there are two regions; one in the room, and one outside of it. Inside the room, there is relentless pursuit, where this young man continues to be in search of this woman, crying, “ She has been in this room…. that she