Eudora Welty has written many famous and respected short stories. She was born in Jackson, Mississippi, which has influenced many of her stories. She often shows a southern experience in her writing, most likely due to her southern upbringing. She has stories in many collections such as A Curtain of Green (1841) and The Optimist's Daughter (1972). Welty writes with much humor and explicit detail. She never leaves any of the details out and has a knack for dialogue. Her characters, she says, are often people she has seen through her daily life. Welty will spot a person and conjure a story about where they are going, or what they are doing. This is the case for her short story, "A Worn Path." Welty said in an interview that she was sitting under a tree and saw an old Negro woman walking by. Eudora Welty projects a theme of life and its struggles through her famous short story, "A Worn Path." Phoenix Jackson, the protagonist of the story, takes a journey twice a year. She travels to the city of Natchez to receive charity medicine for her sick grandson. Her trip to the city is not easy since it is winter, and she faces many obstacles along the way. This story, at a glance, seems simple, but it becomes complex when the symbolism is analyzed. Although the critics share different views, a common theme remains; life death and immortality.
             The title of the work, "A Worn Path," plays an important role in the symbolism of the story. It becomes obvious in the first few paragraphs that this tale holds to the traditional idea of road literature (Isaacs 333). Phoenix's journey to the city parallels the journey of life. The whole meaning of "A Worn Path" will rely on immediate recognition of the equation- the worn path equals the path of life (333). The title matches the theme in that life is a journey towards death and that one must die for new life to prevail (335). The life and end of the story often match Christian ideas. "The path alon...