Eudora Welty once said, "I am a writer who came from a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within." Published in February of 1941 in The Atlantic Monthly, the short story "A Worn Path" written by Eudora Welty is about an elderly woman who encounters many obstacles in her life. This short story has acclaimed prizes all over America as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Eudora Wetly was born in 1909 in Jackson, Mississippi. During the 1930's she traveled throughout Mississippi writing newspaper copies and taking photographs. The job she obtained in Work Projects Administration enabled her to observe much different rural life's in her native state. In this paper, I will discuss the use of symbolism, the setting of the story, and the use of the third-person point of view in the story "A Worn Path" and how these elements helped the presentation of the theme.
             "A Worn Path" is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. At the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to the main character, Phoenix Jackson. Phoenix is described as a small, old Negro woman "Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods Her name was Phoenix Jackson" (Welty 223). The term "Phoenix" is a mythological bird that dies and is reborn out of its own ashes. This is a very symbolic name for the grandmother as this strongly emphasizes her determination. The legend of the Phoenix is about a fabled sacred bird of ancient Egyptians. The bird is said to come out of Arabia every 500 years to Heliopolis, where it burned itself on the altar and rose again from its ashes, young and beautiful. Phoenix, the woman in the story, represents the myth of the bird because she is described as being elderly and close to the end of her life. She also symbolizes charity. Phoenix can hardly walk and u...