"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly woman named Phoenix Jackson. She is not only an elder, but brittle and lonely as well. For a good portion of the story, Phoenix is making a journey into town to find medicine for her sick grandson. Although she encounters many hardships on the way, she never gives up because she is on a mission to help the one she loves.
I believe the conflict in the story is an internal one. I think it is the conflict between the old woman's will power and Mother Nature. She encounters many obstacles that would influence most people to give up but she has motivation to get her task done. These encounters include a bush catching onto her dress, a scarecrow frightening her and discouragement from a white man. She also had to climb hills, cross streams and crawl under barbed wire fences which is certainly not considered an easy task for an elderly woman.. If I was forced to deal with these obstacles I know that I would most likely have turned around but her will power was too strong to let Mother Nature win.
I believe that the climax is on page 91 when Phoenix arrives at the town. "All right. The doctor said as long as you came to get it, you could have it." At this point I felt a huge sigh of relief because the conflict had officially been solved. Phoenix made a journey to get medicine that was necessary for her grandson and she finally got it! It is as though all of her hard work paid off in the end and as the reader I can feel the emotions of the elder woman.
Although I feel as though there are many literary elements throughout this short story such as characterization and theme, I also feel as though symbolism is very important as well. First of all, I believe that the name Phoenix in itself is symbolic for the type of person the old woman truly is. A Phoenix is a mythological creature who dies in fire and rises from ashes only to be stronger. It is as though all of these hardships only make the old woman more determined to complete her journey successfully.
...ave begged for her son and grandchildren life instead of trying save her life. The type of literary element shown here is conflict. The type of conflict that is shown is man versus man because the grandmother is constantly trying to convince someone in doing something else. It also shows conflict because the grandmother was begging for her life, but at the end that did not work because she ended up getting killed either way.
The struggle of man versus man occurs throughout the whole story. The book starts out that Lauren is in her community behind a huge protective wall. The wall is there to protect her and her community from the rest of the world. When people start jumping over the fence to steal things from their community, guards are setup to prevent things from being stolen. This is a struggle between many versus man because the people that jump over the wall will do anything to get what they need, and this means they will kill for it. Outside the wall, people are killing one another and robbing them just to stay alive. It is a fight for survival and the strongest survive. The s...
It’s December when Phoenix starts on her journey to Natchez and it is a journey she has taken many times before. This journey is no journey an elderly and weaken person should have to make by themselves, yet Phoenix does. She does not allow her age or her condition to keep her from it. Deep through the pines, the path takes her, and her first task would be to make it over a hill that seems to take all her energy and strength. “Seems like there is chains around my feet, time I get this far…” (Welty 5), here the reader can tell Phoenix does not have the strength that she really needs to make it up the hill. Yet somewhere she finds the will to keep pushing on and moving forward. This same type of spirit that allows Phoenix to keep pushing forward in society, and not to back down. Showing the younger generation that you have to fight your way through to a brighter day. It is later down the path that Phoenix comes to a creek and the only way to get across, is by walking on a log. Phoenix walks across this log with her eyes close. Once across she opens her eyes and says, “I wasn’t as old as I ...
Welty presents Phoenix, throughout the story, as a determined woman who is persuaded by compassion and encouraged by humor to defeat the hindrances so that she can help her chronically ill grandson. This story gives a wonderful lesson for all people who feel like the afflictions of life are too immense to overcome, and also provides advices for how to persevere when realizing goals that may seem impossible. Consequently, the ways Welty uses symbolism to make clear of how difficult Phoenix’s mission is, but the way she depicts her character shows how humor and compassion help a person make it through tough situations.
...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.
The conflict as a whole is the individual dream of each member verses the actual responsibility each member should contribute. The obvious on is that Walter wants to own a business. He wants to help his family, as an individual, to change the environment. His son sleeps in the front room of the house because there are already three rooms taken up. However, Walter's sister is trying to do the same this, but invest money in education where she can become a doctor.
Her trip is full of obstacles, from bushes of thorns that get caught in her dress, to her crossing of a creek. These elements complicate the conflict and increase the readers' curiosity about the plot. Phoenix can't trust her eyes, choosing instead to walk along with her eyes closed and sense her way with the help of her cane. While needed rest forces her to stop for a while, she has a vision of a little boy handing her a slice of marble cake. So many questions arise in the minds of the readers. Who was the little boy? Is she halluci...
Strength is the only reason Phoenix accomplished her journey and Phoenix's love for her only living relative is her greatest strength of all. Although the old Negro woman suffers from many handicaps, she starts her journey mentally prepared for the obstacles awaiting her. Phoenix uses her inner strengths and prevails over every barrier. She relies on her trustworthy feet to make up for her impaired vision. Her wit makes up for her frail body. Her determination makes up for her aged memory. But most of all, her love for her grandson her keeps her going. Clearly, the frail, forgetful, and loving old woman can overcome anything.
As you can see, there are a lot of major internal conflicts. However, there are many more not so important conflicts that weren’t listed! Ranging from racism to loneliness, the characters in this novel have gone through a lot, physically and mentally. As the novel progresses all the characters seem to go from a negative, depressed mental state to a positive and loving one. Jefferson dies with courage because Grant was able to crack Jefferson and help him, which also ended up helping himself. Miss Emma and Tante Lou are now at peace thanks to Grant’s affect on Jefferson. The only reason the novel ended with everybody in a positive state of mind is due the decisions and actions made because of the internal conflict. In conclusion, internal conflicts are very important to the story causing conflicts and plot twists to interest the reader and pull the novel together.
woman she once knew. Both women only see the figure they imagine to be as the setting shows us this, in the end making them believe there is freedom through perseverance but ends in only despair.
By doing this, the child would save her parent’s from years of heartache and regret but would ultimately lead to the end of her own existence. Although if she chooses not to tell her parent’s the whole family will face inevitable sadness, hatred and despair. One example of conflict shows the thought process and the strain the child is experiencing, “I want to go up to them and say Stop…but I don’t do it. I want to live.” (Olds). This is a strong example of internal conflict, which is described as “the psychological struggle within the mind of a literary or dramatic character, the resolution of which creates the plot 's suspense” ("Internal Conflict"). The poet chose to use internal conflict to show and emphasize the emotional distress and emotional fight she is experiencing with deciding her parent’s and her own
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.
In “A Worn Path” colors are used to emphasize the depth and breadth of the story, and to reinforce the parallel images of the mythical phoenix and the protagonist Phoenix Jackson. Eudora Welty’s story is rich with references to colors that are both illustrative and perceptive, drawing us in to investigate an additional historical facet of the story.
Determine all of the story's conflicts. Determine the major conflict and state this in terms of protagonist versus antagonist.
The conflict correlates with the central idea because this is the society’s way of legally getting rid of someone that is trying to protest what they have always known. When Mrs. Adams says, “Some places have already quit lotteries.” Old Man Warner comes back and says, “Nothing but trouble in that...pack of young fools.” Later on, Old Man Warner tells us that he has been in the lottery seventy-seven times. (32) This example demonstrates how if you follow tradition, the society will not be violent toward you. Old Man Warner clearly respects the tradition and therefore has not been harmed by it, even though he has been apart of it many times. Another example of society vs character is at the end of the story when Mrs. Hutchinson is about to be chosen, a girl whispers “I hope it’s not Nancy.” Old Man Warner replies to this by saying, “It’s not the way it used to be.” (34) Old Man Warner’s response shows how he is aware of the manipulation taking place. Also, at the very end of the story, Mrs. Hutchinson has the piece of paper with the black dot in her hand but has yet to show it to the crowd. Mr. Summers says “It’s Tessie… Show us her paper, Bill.” (35) This example shows us that Mr. Summers already knew who was going to be picked and that it was the society vs. character, who is Mrs. Hutchinson. Another way the conflict is demonstrated throughout the story is how Mrs.Hutchinson clearly the only one trying to rebel against