Worn Path Criticism

Many people spend their whole lives searching for happiness and a sense of purpose. Some find it, others go round and round indulging in countless other ventures that only lead to failed attempts at finding it. For example, some might indulge in materialistic things to try to portray a false image of themselves. And others might indulge in social media or a career, and for others it might be more detrimental like alcohol or drugs. Nonetheless, these attempts to find value and meaning in one’s life only end up throwing one off course from achieving it. Eudora Welty in both “A Worn Path” and “Artists on Criticism of Their Art: Is Phoenix Jackson’s Grandson Really Dead?” attempts to encourage the reader to live their life's purpose through an

Welty utilizes Phoenix’s character to explain that people go round and round trying to figure out what their purpose is on this earth when really their purpose is found in their relationships and the love and compassion they have for others. Phoenix’s purpose in the story was to get medicine for her grandson, who was counting on her. His life gave her purpose and vice versa. The moral of the story is that all the materialistic things people crave and all the “false appearances” people have symbolizes death, but relationships symbolizes life and Phoenix had a life and a purpose because she expressed love and compassion in serving her son (Welty 221).

The short story and response by Welty as highlighted in this paper captures Welty’s view about the main idea of her story. According to Welty in “Artists on Criticism of Their Art: Is Phoenix Jackson’s Grandson Really Dead?”, her story was majorly about the journey of Phoenix in serving her son, which gave her fulfilment in life, and not about whether Phoenix’s grandson was alive or not. In agreement with Welty, finding one’s purpose and fulfilment in life is not based on a person’s material attainment but the ability to serve the people you