Eudora Welty’s A Worn Path is a story about an elderly African American woman named Phoenix Jackson who embarks on a journey to the city. In the city, Phoenix needs to obtain medicine for her son whose throat has been damaged drinking lye several years ago. During Jackson’s travel, she encounters several obstacles, some dangerous and some mild. Written in 1941, this story describes what sort of life people like Phoenix Jackson lived in 1940’s America . Slavery in America was abolished in 1865 after the Southern States had surrendered to the Northern States in the Civil War.
“A Worn Path” Essay Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" is a story about an old black woman who must hunt medicine for her sick nephew. Phoenix Jackson, the protagonist, must travel from the pinewoods where she lives and attempt to fight through the blizzarding cold to reach the hospital at the closest neighboring city of Natchez where she intends to find help. In this story, Welty exemplifies the concept that people can, and do overcome the trials and tribulations of life with the lasting hope and strength provided by loved ones. Here, it is the jeopardizing health issue of her nephew and ultimately her love for him that keeps her going. Welty illustrates this concept with her use of symbolism, dialogue, and conflict of the characters.
In many cultures and mythologies, a phoenix is a long-living bird that closely relates to the sun. It represents the sun dying every night but is always restored life/reborn the next morning. Hints of Phoenix Jackson’s age are suggested throughout the story. Phoenix’s eyes are said to be “blue with age” (Welty). Also, the author describes Phoenix’s skin as having “a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead…” (Welty).
According to the Aztec religion it took the gods: Tezcatlipoca (jaguar), Nanauatl (sun), Ehecatl (wind), Quetzalcoatl, (feathered serpent) five tries to create the world because of fights that they were having. The earth was destroyed once by a jaguar (Tezcatlipoca), once by the wind (Ehecatl) and twice by a flood. The ancient Aztec religion was highly focused on keeping nature in balance. One false step could lead to natural disaster. In the sky was a constant battle between light and darkness, the weak sun could stop moving.
In 1931, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil, receiving legendary blues skills in return. He went on to record only twenty-nine songs before being murdered on August 16, 1938. In 1992, however, Johnson suddenly reappears on the Spokane Indian Reservation and meets Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the misfit storyteller of the Spokane Tribe. When Johnson passes his enchanted instrument to Thomas--lead singer of the rock-and-roll band Coyote Springs--a magical odyssey begins that will take the band from reservation bars to small-town taverns, from the cement trails of Seattle to the concrete canyons of Manhattan. Sherman Alexie imaginatively mixes narrative, newspaper excerpts, songs, journal entries, visions, radio interviews, and dreams to explore the effects of Christianity on Native Americans in the late twentieth century.
The most significant change was in its composition. The change was 100% copper to 88% copper and 12% nickel - giving the coin a whitish appearance. This penny, known as the “Flying Eagle cent” was much smaller than the previous one - cent coins. In 1859, The “Flying Eagle” image was replaced by a profile of an Indian princess with a full headdress; the flipside remained the same - “one - cent” surrounded by a wreath. In 1864, after the Civil War, the composition of the Indian penny changed again - 95% copper and 5% zinc and tin.
In stories, usually, we think of our traditional hero as a young and strong undefeatable man. In Eudra Welty’s short story “A Worn Path”, it is obviously not the case. Pheonix Jackson, an old shortsighted poor woman may not look as our traditional hero but she goes through a series of events where she displays all the qualities of one. At the start of her journey, we can easily perceive Phoenix’s steadfastness through the woods up a hill. The old lady, despite her age and difficulty to walk, is determined to get to town to get medicine for her sick grandson.
Page 1 Title: A Worn Path Author: Eudora Wetly Setting: The setting of this story begins in 1941 in Southwestern Mississippi countryside in the fields and ends in the town of Natchez medical center. It was very early in the morning on a bright and frozen day in the month of December on Christmas day. Phoenix Jackson is a small and very old lady who started her day walking in the wilderness on her way towards town to pick up medicine for her grandson. She’s has been going back and forth trying to get medicine to sooth her grandson’s sore throat. Plot: The exposition of the story is about Phoenix Jackson an elder negro women with her courage and determination to go against all the odds against her that gives the impact in the story, The rising action of this story begins shortly after Phoenix Jackson went deeper and deeper down the road between high green colored banks.
Kim Adams Professor Jones English Comp II 20 September 2012 IT’S NOT THE DESTINATION, IT’S THE JOURNEY In Eudora Welty’s story “A Worn Path” about an elderly black woman making a long journey, I realized this journey she is making is the biggest and, perhaps most important, journey of her life. In this story Phoenix Jackson takes a worn path to the city every year to get medicine for her sick grandson. Throughout her journey she comes across many obstacles; animals in the wild, a harassing hunter, untied shoelaces, and snippety nurses. In spite of all these obstacles she carries on and trudges through her journey to get to her destination. (Welty, 1941) We would all be wise to take a lesson from Phoenix on carrying on through the tough
Welty is known to have cherished and be fond of mythological creatures, and is where she gets the name of the protagonist, Phoenix. In fact, the “Phoenix” is said to be a mythological firebird that lives 500 years and then dies, but rises again from its own ashes. This old woman represents the “Phoenix,” which shows that the protagonist keeps on living on in her old age and seems to have reborn from slavery, “seems like there is chains about my feet” (96). The way Welty describes the woods to have “dark pine shadows” (95), often being “deep and still” (95) and some even looking like “dead trees” (96) is the complete opposite of Phoenix’s character. Although she may not be wealthy, she is very “neat and tidy” (95).