A Life's Journey

             "A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty, is a story about an old, and small Negro woman, Phoenix Jackson, on a long journey from deep in the country and into town. The woman's march is encouraged by the need to obtain medicine for her ill grandson. As she makes her way through the forest to get into town, she comes along many obstacles. Each obstacle that Phoenix passes represents an obstacle that she has encountered throughout her life and conveys not only how hard the trip is for Phoenix Jackson but also how life was in the South. Phoenix Jackson witnesses the Southern black's transformation from slave to citizen.
             The Pinewood trees tower over Phoenix and she walks in the shadows and starts her journey through the forest. The forest is a symbol of how insignificant Phoenix is in the world; "she was very old and small and she walked in the dark pine shadows." She has always been in the "shadows" of others her whole life, and has been looked down on because of her racial status. Phoenix comes across many animals on her journey, and Phoenix's determination is noticeable, as she pleads with a higher being to "keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don't let none of those come running in my direction. I got a long way." As she walks through the forest, her dress gets caught on a thorn bush and prevents her from walking. Phoenix has endured an endless struggle, if not against scurrying hogs, then against the thorny bush that "never want to let folks pass." The thorn bush is a symbol of how she was held back from everything, because she is a black woman. The thorn bush pulled and snagged at her, just like the hostile world.
             As Phoenix climbs up the tiresome hill that the path maneuvers, she remarks that it "seems like there is chains on my feet, time I get this far." This is an upsetting reference to the bound slaves that Phoenix can recall from her long life, yet she continues. Phoenix comes ac...

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A Life's Journey. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:42, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/7027.html