Obstacles In A Worn Path

Obstacles arrive in everyday life, and if one decides to push through them to get to where they want to be, it shows how brave they are, because they never gave up. Bravery is shown in the story, A Worn Path, by the main character Phoenix Jackson. Phoenix Jackson in an elderly black woman, who is frail and small. In this story we are taken along her journey through the countryside to Natchez, which is a small town in Mississippi. But, this is no ordinary journey, because Phoenix is faced with a lot of obstacles along the way. Most of these obstacles are dangerous and risky, and because of Phoenix's age and physical condition, she should not be attempting them. But, she never gives up on her journey because she is determined to make it to town.

No matter what obstacles Phoenix faces in order to get to her destination, she never shows fear, or gives up, which shows how brave and persistent she is.

Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to the town Natchez, because that is where the doctor's office is, and her grandson needs medicine because he swallowed Iye and his throat is swollen from it. As she beings her journey, she has to go through woods, which is the path she has to take to get to Natchez. She encounters wild animals such as foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, and coons. She says, "Don't let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way" (DiYanni, 92). She does not show any fear towards the animals, instead she just does not want them to get in the way or hold her up because she has a long path ahead of her. The animals were the first obstacle she encountered, and she handled it bravely. She did not turn around and go home or leave the woods to go a different way. She remained on her path, and kept it moving, because she is on a mission, and that mission was to get her grandson better and she will not let anything get in her way.

The wilderness was also an obstacle for her, there were many hills as to which Phoenix says, "seem like there is chains about my feet" (DiYanni, 92).

She says this because it is difficult for her to walk up the hills because she has a cane, and she is elderly. When she reached the bottom of the hill a bush caught her dress, to which she says, "thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir" (DiYanni, 92). After she got her dress free from the bush, she continued her trail and came across a log that was laid across a creek, and in order to continue her journey, she would have to climb over that log. "Although she will not give up, Phoenix acknowledges the very real challenges she faces as an elderly person" (Dilgen). She closes her eyes and makes it across the log safely and says, "I wasn't as old as I thought" (DiYanni, 92). Even though she is not the most agile person, she had guts to cross over the log that was over a creek. After that, she came across a barbed wire-fence, "There she had to creep and crawl, spreading her knees and stretching her fingers like a baby trying to climb the steps" (DiYanni, 92). Phoenix managed to climb hills, got her dress caught in a thorn bush, had to climb over a log, and had to crawl through a barbed-wire fence, and despite all of that, she kept steady persistence which takes a lot of courage because most people would have given up at that

point.

While she is on her way, a black dog comes by and knocks her off her path. She says to herself, "that black dog come up out of the weeds to stall you off" (DiYanni, 93), and even though she was startled, she was not scared of the dog. A hunter then approaches her and helps her up, then asks Phoenix where she is going. She tells him she is heading to town, as to which he replies, "Why, that's too far" (DiYanni, 94) and then finishes with, "Now you go home, Granny!" (DiYanni, 94). After he shoos the dogs away, he points a gun in her face and she stood straight and faced him. He asked if the gun scares her, and she replies, "No, Sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done" (DiYanni, 94). The hunter replies, "You must be a hundred years old, and scared of nothing. But you take my advice and stay home, and nothing will happen to you" (DiYanni, 94). Phoenix replies with, "I bound to go on my way, mister" (DiYanni, 95). She was unfazed in the face of danger and did not flinch once when the gun was in her face, nor did she look back at him when she kept walking.

When she arrives in Natchez, she has to rely on her memory as to where she needs to go, because she cannot read.

The nurse says that Phoenix makes this trip often, "She doesn't come here for herself, she has a little grandson. She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork" (DiYanni, 95). This shows how courageous she is because she goes through all those obstacles that she went through, on a daily. That could also be why she is so brave getting through those obstacles, because she has faced them before, and she could have been scared at first, but got over her fears, which shows bravery. When she talks to the nurse, she forgets why she had to go to the doctor's office, most likely due to her old age. She tells the nurse, "I'm an old woman without an education. It was my memory fail me" (DiYanni, 96). When she then remembers why she made the trip, she gets her grandson's medicine, and then uses the 2 nickels in her pocket to buy him a windmill. "I going to the store and buy my child a little windmill they sells, made out of paper. He going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world" (DiYanni, 96).The windmill symbolizes who moves us on our journey, in which Phoenix's case is her grandson and the love she has for him, hence why she went through so many obstacles to make sure he got his

medicine.

Phoenix's age was also another obstacle for her on this journey. She is elderly, "her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles" (DiYanni, 91), she has a cane, she is frail, and her sightless eyes, "were blue with age" (DiYanni, 91). By the description they give of her, she does not seem to be in good shape to be walking such a long distance. "Mainly because of her age, the simple walk from her remote home into Natchez is a difficult enough journey to take on epic proportions" (Heller). She also shows signs of being senile and delusional. At one point she sees a scarecrow, which she mistakes for a man. When she realizes it is a scarecrow she says, "My senses is gone. I too old. I the oldest people I ever know" (DiYanni, 93). Also, in the end when she reaches Natchez, she forgets the reason why she had to make the trip in the first place. But, even though she is old and not in the best shape, she does not let it slow her down or stop her, because she is an example of where determination and bravery can take you.

The journey and obstacles that Phoenix went through says more about her character than just being brave. Because of her bravery and courage, she is a hero without even realizing it, because to her she is doing what she has to do so that her grandson gets better, even though she has to go through rough situations in order to do so. Even when she was at the store, she was still thinking of him and bought him a windmill, which shows how her character is not only brave, but also strong and selfless. "Phoenix realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the possible harm that can be done to her brittle frame" (Sykes). Throughout the story she also talks to herself for when she is going through these difficult obstacles. That also shows how strong she is because she is reminding herself to not let anything stop her now, and she is giving herself encouragement. Her name is also a symbol for a Phoenix, which is a bird that she shares similar qualities to, "A phoenix is commonly known to be a mythical bird that has the ability to rise again. It is possible that Welty is suggesting that despite the adversity Phoenix faces as she makes her way into town she too will rise again" (McManus). The words to describe her skin were, "golden," and "yellow" (DiYanni, 91). There is also a lot of references to time and age throughout the story as well.

In conclusion, no matter what obstacles Phoenix faces in order to get to her destination, she never shows fear, or gives up, which shows how brave and persistent she is. She is brave mentally and physically because she dealt with climbing logs, and crawling through barbed-wire fences, to being in a stressful situation where a hunter had a gun pointed at her face. Phoenix was ready to suffer all the hardships of the path, because she was motivated by love. Not once did Phoenix show fear or give up, and that shows just how brave she was. She faced a lot of danger to make this trip to town, which shows that she is not only brave, but a bold and daring woman. She has made this trip plenty of times, which makes it a "worn path," and every time she makes this trip, she puts her life in danger, which takes a lot of courage. When something is worth having in life, it takes baby steps and a lot of determination. This was shown by Phoenix Jackson and her journey to town, with determination in her every step.