A Worn Path
Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. The main character in the story, Phoenix Jackson, is an old black woman who seeks out to find medicine for her sick nephew. This story contains a motif, which is the continuous walking of Phoenix Jackson throughout her journey. She lives in the pinewoods and faces the challenging experience of walking through the snowy, frozen earth to get to the hospital in the city of Natchez. Phoenix Jackson is a very caring person, and is in love with life. Although she is very old, it seems that she has many years ahead of her. Eudora Welty brings realism into the story describing the realities of being old. It is Christmas, and Phoenix Jackson has to head out to the city to obtain the medicine for her nephew. A long time ago, her nephew swallowed lye that burned his throat, and the medicine is the only thing that relieves his pain. The woods are filled with pine trees that cast dark shadows throughout the terrain. The darkness that surrounds Phoenix is the total opposite of her. She is a poor woman, but is very neat and tidy. She appreciates the small things in life and respects what she has. Although she is old, she has extremel
After a brief conversation with the man, she quickly noticed a nickel that fell out of the man's pocket: "Then she slowly straightened up, she stood erect, and the nickel was in her apron pocket" (109). All of the things included in the forest represent natural symbolism that is directly related to the realism of Phoenix Jackson. She then snaps out of her trance and sees only her hand waiving in the air. Suddenly, a black dog crept out of a ditch and approached Phoenix with its drooling tongue. This old woman represents the phoenix, which lives on in her old age. A Worn Path emphasizes natural symbolism, and Phoenix Jackson seems to be part of the nature that surrounds her. The water in the spring represents longevity, and Phoenix drank it as a sign of her long life. She then came upon a spring, and starts to drink from the well. The name "Phoenix" is the name of an ancient Egyptian bird that regenerates itself after 500 years and lives on for another 500 years. y dark hair, wears a red bandana, and has much "life" within her: "Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the bark". She is a very lively person, and is willing to go through this obstacle course of vicissitudes of the cold earth: "Under the red rag her hair came down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still black, and with an odor like copper" (106). Don't let none of those come running my direction. The buzzard represents death, but the old women made her way through the furrow and left "death". Phoenix still has many years to live and must complete her journey.
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