In the short story, "A Worn Path," Phoenix is an old lady that is constantly tending to the needs of her sick grandson. Phoenix is an old African American lady and she is not taken too seriously throughout the story. She has very little money and people often offer her charity. Through the story there are various points that imply that she is forgetful, a little bit crazy, and that her grandson is no longer alive. There are times that it seems she is living a dream. Her determination to make it to the store to get her grandson medication, give the story its meaning. Old age, memory loss, and illness worked against her with the quest through the woods.
             Old age worked against her as she walked through the woods. In the beginning of the story Phoenix was sitting and taking a break, when a little boy came out of the bushes and gave her a piece of cake. The story states that a dream came to mind and she reached her hand in the air but she nobody came to give her the cake. Phoenix said, "That would be acceptable." This could definitely be another incident where the old lady had been dreaming of her grandson helping her and he never showed up because he is no longer alive. This situation is a big hint that she was way to old to be walking through the woods.
             At Phoenix's old age it is not very uncommon to be delusional. More towards the end of the story when Phoenix Jackson finally made it into town, she had told the nurse that she had forgot why she had came to town. This is highly unlikely due to the long distance she had to travel in order to get there. This implied that Phoenix was slowly losing her memory. The nurse asked if the old lady had come for her grandson's medicine, and when she gave her the medicine she wrote it down in the books as a charity. The nurse then pertained to a little bit of small talk to see how the child was doing. "Throat never heals, does it?" Said the nurse, speakin...