The old lady, despite her age and difficulty to walk, is determined to get to town to get medicine for her sick grandson. She uses her “ thin and small cane made from an umbrella” to get around. The narrator clearly explains the condition of the “deep and still” woods and how they prevent her from advancing: “ Something always take a hold of me on this hill – pleads I should stay.” Thorny bushes would grasp her dress, trapping her. But her steadfastness continued on as she dangerously crossed the log across the creek where she could have easily fallen regarding her physical state. “I wasn’t as old as I thought.” She would say.
After overcoming this first obstacle and on her trip down the hill, "a bush caught her dress" (Welty, “Path” 2). She says that the thorns are "doing your appointed work" and that they "Never want to let folks pass- no sir" (Welty, “Path” 2). This is a personal loss because it is her favorite dress that has been tore by what she thought was a pretty little green bush. However, after struggling against them, Phoenix "trembling all over" stands "free" (Welty, “Path” 2). Phoenix was held up by the thorn bush and she sacrifices her own body from the pain she endures, but that won’t stop her from keep on moving.
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.
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.
She lives in a small community who travels through the fields and wilderness to get medicine for her sick grandchild. It is a cold December day and when the Earths ground is slippery and unknown; she still finds the determination and will power to travel the distance from the love she feels within. A phoenix is a strong-willed bird, which often represents ‘a rise from the ashes’ or rebirth, and also symbolizes inner strength and a long life. The main character, Phoenix, shows these characteristics as she makes her journey. Although she is old and fragile, she never gives up.
“A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty is a heartbreaking story about the heroic trip of an old African American woman, Phoenix. The readers won’t find out right away the plot of the story or why Phoenix won’t give up her exhausting trip to town—the conflict of this story—especially on a very cold day. The title, “A Worn Path,” indicates that Phoenix has obviously walked down this path many times before—also the fact that she can cross a creek with her eyes closed confirms the title’s message. story is structured upon a journey motif that incorporates a rich texture of symbolic meaning. After struggling up a hill, extricating herself from a thorn bush, and crossing a log over a creek, Phoenix Jackson, the aged and infirm protagonist of Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path," sits down on the banks of the creek for a rest: Up above her was a tree in a pearly cloud of mistletoe.
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). All of these examples tie back with the long lifespan of a phoenix. Jackson’s whole mission in this story is to receive and deliver medicine for her grandson. “She makes these trips as regular as clockwork” (Welty). Just like the mythological phoenix rising every day, Phoenix Jackson consistently rises up to the challenge of taking a long journey to aid her grandson.
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
“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.
The prose extract takes about how the persona has gone back to her childhood backyard, which is rusty and aged, and her hours swinging on the clothes line and climbing trees. The persona takes about how she is not a child anymore and that sense of freedom has long left her as responsibilities and age seep into her. As the persona reminisces, there is a definite tone of regret and loss as she describes the backyard. One very powerful metaphor present, is the last line of the extract “unlikely the washing line could support me this time…too many things tying me to the ground”. This line is both literal and metaphoric.