Symbolism In A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

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Shpyrka 1
Mark Shpyrka
Professor Howe
ENGWR 301
28th March 2014
A Worn Path
Eudora Welty presents the short story “A Worn Path” in a remarkable way, revealing a lot of symbolism. It travels around multiple themes throughout the story about an old aged woman walking through a grueling trail to a town to gather medicine for her grandson in Mississippi. This short story takes places in December on a “bright frozen day” where an old Negro woman arises by the name of Phoenix Jackson. I believe she signifies a struggle, but when looking at her a bit deeper, she mostly signifies willpower (Welty, 502). As she goes towards the town on the path, she appears to have walked numerous times before; she has to overcome many problems. What’s important is that with each move she takes it looks to be pretty sluggish, but yet a steady move in the direction of her goal. The story gives an understanding to the determination and confidence of Phoenix Jackson to point out the belief of people in identical lives of endless struggle. In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty reveals the idea that sometimes our lives can be a lot like an obstacles course, which are made up of difficulties that we have to overcome somehow.
Welty did a great job narrating the story in a very direct way showing the endurance that Phoenix Jackson encounters as she is faced with many obstacles. The style and tone in the story
Shpyrka 2 felt very slow, similar to Phoenix, it goes at the pace she does. As Phoenix paces herself cautiously through the forests and meadows on her way to town, she talks gently and confidently to herself. By doing so, she points out her assurance and determination to herself as she moves in the direction of her objective. The steady pace in the story worries th...

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... 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
Shpyrka 4 example of each and every person today who have paths of their own to follow with their own difficulties to overcome.

Shpyrka 5
Works Cited
Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed
Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th compact ed.
Boston: Wadsworth Cengage learning. 2013. 502-508. Print.

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