Realism in Eudora Welty's A Worn Path Essay

The mythological story "A Worn Path” is of tales and figures, the most considerable, being the legend of the phoenix. There are numerous symbols and allusions brought about in the story relating to the legend of the phoenix. The phoenix is a bird that comes from Egyptian mythology. The best analogy of the phoenix is a magnificent bird. The phoenix has astonishing powers. It has the knack to materialize and vanish in the blink of an eye. The myth states the phoenix travels to the sun. The sun gives the phoenix it powers. The heat incinerates the bird. The bird is reborn from the ashes. From her name along with appearance to her action and the symbolism throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson is the manifestation of the phoenix (bird).

In the short story, Phoenix, an old Negro woman almost in her late years, takes her last journey through the woods like she had done for the past years, since her grandson got really sick by swallowing lye. In this journey Phoenix phases difficulties. Her old age made her hallucinate about her getting a marble cake given by a young child. Her difficulties to walk and her poor eye sight made her striped dress get stuck in the branches. Even though she went through all of these obstacles she was determined to go get her grandson’s medicine. Once she got closer to her destination she came across this White Hunter, who points his gun at her. Phoenix gets scared because she thought he saw her get a nickel which had fallen out his pocket, while she distracted him. Then she continued her journey until she saw her destination. When she got there she asked a white lady that was carrying gifts, to tie her shoe laces because she was entering this big building. Once she tied her shoe laces Phoenix continued, until she

Sometimes the most miniscule objects in a story can symbolize for something greater. Anything, from a character’s name to a single piece of money can symbolize something much bigger than what it really seems. Eudora Welty uses this kind of symbolism in her story “The Worn Path. The story uses symbolism not only to show Phoenix Jackson’s determination, but also to highlight how the social and political differences are used against her.

11. The human nature that is seen when Phoenix encounters the scarecrow is happiness. She is glad that is a scarecrow and begins to dance with it. It seems like it is demonstrating life and Phoenix is happy that she is still alive at her old age. The scarecrow also scares away crows that usually symbolize death, so the scarecrow is scaring death away and Phoenix is happy because she is old and she might die soon. Nobody wants to

Eudora Welty's 'A Worn Path' is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. As the story begins, we are introduced to our main character, Phoenix Jackson; she is described as a small, old Negro woman. I believe that the name Eudora Welty gives our main character is very symbolic. 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 women in the story, represents the myth of the bird because she is described as being elderly and near the end of her life. Phoenix can hardly walk and uses a cane

“’Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!… Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way’” (116).

In A Worn Path by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson has many powerful, and noteworthy allusions. Phoenix Jackson fills in as a suggestion to a flying creature, the Phoenix. This fanciful animal ascents from his own cinders after death. Upon its resurrection, the Phoenix turns out to be significantly more grounded than it was in its past life. Like this flying creature, Phoenix Jackson faces numerous hardships in her trip for her grandson's drug, however picks up quality in defeating obstructions. Although Phoenix is halted by a white man who tries to prevent her from entering town, she kept still with "a furious and different radiation". Phoenix, subsequent to being criticized and offended, finds internal certainty and assurance to press forward. Much the same as the legendary animal, Phoenix Jackson transcends her difficulties in life and abandons her hardships previously. Eudora Welty makes this implication to delineate the ostensibly old and hallucinating Phoenix as a character of quality. In addition, Phoenix’s excursion is an allusion to Odysseus’s. The adventure isn't precisely an Odysseus voyage, but instead a

In “A Worn Path”, a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a “worn path” through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics have speculated that this short story represents the love a grandmother shows for her grandson. Others say this story represents life and death, where Phoenix represents an immortal figure. Dennis J. Sykes disagrees with the other critics by saying,

One of the first challenges that Phoenix encounters along her journey is the wild animals of the woods. Phoenix does not want anything, even “mother nature” preventing her from accomplishing her mission. As Phoenix Jackson begins her journey, she talks to herself and warns:

Although Phoenix Jackson is old, tired, dirty, and poor, nothing can stand in her way. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Phoenix jumps off the page as a vibrant protagonist full of surprises as she embarks on a long, arduous journey to

The author uses her characters, both human and animal, to exhibit the obstacles blacks must face in everyday life. Dennis J. Sykes agrees in his article, “A Critical Analysis of the Worn Path” that “Phoenix Jackson’s … encounters with other characters illustrates the theme of impending black equality and amalgamation in the south after Civil War” (np). The characters,

        Along with struggling against her old age Phoenix Jackson had many elements of nature holding her back from helping her grandson. She had to travel very far to reach the hospital for his medicine. On her way she encountered many elements of wildlife, of which she scared out of her path. Her dress was constantly caught in the brush and was in danger of being ruined as she passed a barbed wire fence. This also took place during Christmas time when it more than likely was extremely cold out side. But Phoenix's desire to help her grandson, and save his life, while also preserving some life of her own, helped her strive in completing this trip.

In the beginning of the short story, Phoenix Jackson is introduced as an elderly woman making her way in the woods talking to herself and saying no one is going to stop her from making her journey. First, she gets stuck in a thorn bush, but gets out of it. Then she has to cross a creek on a log, but because of her age, something bad could happen, so she closed her eyes and crossed. She sat near a tree to rest, and began to daydream of a little boy giving her a slice of marble cake, which she gladly accepts, but when she tried to take it, she was just waving her hand in the air. She sees a Scarecrow, who she mistakenly takes it as a man, and then a ghost, and starts to dance with it. She keeps walking, when a black dog came at her a little and knocked her over, and fell into a ditch. A white man sees her and helps her up, but when phoenix sees a

Phoenix is a good-natured person. She often makes light of her old age, laughingly declaring that she “‘she ought to be shut up for good’” since she is “‘too old’” (438). She joyfully dances with the scarecrow after realizing that it was not a ghost.

In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty creates a fictional character in Phoenix Jackson that shows determination, faith, and cunning indomitable human spirit. “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons, and wild animals! … Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites … Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way.” (Welty) With those words, Phoenix started her long, difficult journey to get medicine for her grandson. Along the way, she faces a series of obstacles to achieve her goal. Through these obstacles, Eudora Welty displays Phoenix’s personality through the setting and symbolism.