Preview

Analysis Of A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
214 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of A Worn Path By Eudora Welty
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly woman by the name of Phoenix Jackson. Eudora Welty has a way of cutting to the chase, but is also clear that she loves her characters. Phoenix is a memorable character because she is full of love. One can admire her perseverance and her willingness to sacrifice for someone she loves. Welty shows us, rather than telling us. As we read along, it is almost like we are walking with Phoenix down the path. In spite of being an elderly woman, Phoenix Jackson does not use loneliness and racism as an excuse.
Phoenix does not let anything get in her way as she embarks on her journey in the woods. ‘Old Phoenix said, “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild

Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path
    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

    It was December, around Christmas time, in the 1940s. Children were running and playing in the snow. It was during the time at the end of the Civil War. After reading Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path,” and understanding the story we must consider an old Negro woman name Phoenix Jackson, a worn rough path in Natchez that she traveled, and the prejudices she had to endure to get medication for her sick grandson.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    A Worn Path - 6
    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A Worn Path - 6

    Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" is a story rich in mythological tales and figures, the most prominent being the legend of the phoenix. There are several symbols and references made during the course of the story to the legend of the phoenix. The phoenix, or bennu, comes from Egyptian mythology. As with most myths, there are variations on the myth, but the most common representation of the phoenix is a large scarlet and gold bird. The phoenix has been credited with amazing powers: the ability to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye and to heal, for example. Perhaps the most incredible power is the determination of the phoenix to travel to Heliopolis, the sun city, towards the end of its life. It is in Heliopolis that the phoenix's incredible life cycle starts over. It makes a nest and catches fire from the sun, bursting into flame. From the ashes, it is reborn, leaving its nest until the next time it returns - 1000 years later. From her name and appearance to her behavior and the symbolism running throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson is the embodiment of the phoenix.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Worn Path Questions
    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A Worn Path Questions

    The point Welty is making about human nature through Phoenix’s encounter with the scarecrow is…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    A Worn Path
    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A Worn Path

    Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. The main character in the story, Phoenix Jackson, is an old black woman who seeks out to find medicine for her sick nephew. This story contains a motif, which is the continuous walking of Phoenix Jackson throughout her journey. She lives in the pinewoods and faces the challenging experience of walking through the snowy, frozen earth to get to the hospital in the city of Natchez. Phoenix Jackson is a very caring person, and is in love with life. Although she is very old, it seems that she has many years ahead of her. Eudora Welty brings realism into the story describing the realities of being old.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Worn Path Phoenix Jackson Character Analysis
    • 76 Words
    • 1 Page

    A Worn Path Phoenix Jackson Character Analysis

    The well-known quality of phoenix is the bird’s ability to rise from the ashes. In Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path”, Phoenix Jackson, an elderly African-American woman from the 1940’s, is no different. Phoenix Jackson is traveling from her country home to the city so she can gather some medicine for her sick grandson. The reader learns things about Phoenix Jackson while she is on her path. Phoenix Jackson demonstrates her compassion, her bravery, and her determination.…

    • 76 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Questions For A Worn Path By Eudora Welty
    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page

    Questions For A Worn Path By Eudora Welty

    Eudora Welty’s short story “ A Worn Path”, is a short story of an elderly African American woman who travels through this journey that challenges her endorses of not giving up. Writing the story, the author decided to make what the elderly woman was experiences was reality, along with her wild fantasy.This paper will attempt to answer the following questions; Why does the author make the choice on leaving out the grandson, until at the end of story, How does the author relate realtics issues within the story , and what does the obstacles that were in the story represent. Analyzing these questions one will also be able to understand how Welty uses the teachings of race and class, and reality to force the reader not only think about what…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Reader's Response in a Worn Path
    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Reader's Response in a Worn Path

    I had chosen a short story entitled ‘A Worn Path’ by Eudora Welty. A Worn Path was about an old Negro woman’s ritual journey from the Old Natchez Trace to a town. The main theme from this short story is the hardship of life faced by Phoenix Jackson. From starting of the novel until the end, the Old Phoenix had faced many challenges in life. First, we could see the Old Phoenix had a long journey from her place to the town just for to take the medicine for her grandson. She had to walk by herself with her old and weak body and carried a thin, small cane for support her to walk. She needed to cross the forest, ran up a hill through pines and walked down the hill through oaks. Next, the other example she had a hardship in life when she met a hunter with his dog during the journey. She had been ridiculed by the man because of different races. She was a Negro woman which a black people while the hunter was a white people. From the story, we could see the white hunter helped her out of a ditch but patronized her and trivialized her journey: “I know you old coloured people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see Santa Claus!” He also taunts her by pointing his loaded gun at her and asking, “Doesn’t the gun scare you?” Through these exchanges, it shows how some whites regarded blacks. He also calls the Old Phoenix “Granny,” a term common for older African-American women. Often whites would call older blacks “Aunt,” “Granny,” or “Uncle” as a way of denying them their dignity and individuality. Besides, the attendant talked to her rudely by asking her: “Are you deaf?” This is because due to the different races but the Old Phoenix faced it neutrally. The black people will face a hardship of life in the white world.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Eudora Welty A Worn Path Analysis
    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Eudora Welty A Worn Path Analysis

    Eudora Welty's short story A Worn Path is an interesting work, full of symbolism. It explores a number of themes through the simple story of an elderly black woman in 1940s Mississippi, walking along an arduous path to town to collect medicine for her grandson. Along the way she encounters various obstacles and interactions with others.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Worn Path
    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Worn Path

    Motherhood is expressed in an unusual manner in “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty. Phoenix is described in detail as an old, very poor African American woman who talks out loud to herself and has an estranged imagination while she starts out on a long journey through the woods to town. She was so poor that the author says “She carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her” (1). She appears very delusional and or may have dementia because she does all type of weird things and her language is of someone who’s illiterate and in reading this story it makes you wonder why someone has not Baker Acted her already. For example, she talks to the animals as if they were actually engaged in a conversation with them when she says “Out of my way, all of you foxes, owls, beetles, rabbits, coons and wild animals! … Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites … Keep the big wild hogs out of my path” … (1). Hearing her talk like this alone would make you think that you yourself are crazy or either well on the way to being crazy. I mean who in their right mind would engage in conversing with animals in such a manner. Everything she says is either not a complete sentence or makes no sense whatsoever. For example it’s definitely expressed when she says “Seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far” (1). Now the proper grammar would have been “It seems like chains are shackled to my feet by the time I get this far”…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Eudora Welty a Worn Path
    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Eudora Welty a Worn Path

    Perseverance is a valuable trait in life, especially in this day and age. It is important to achieve your goals, your dreams and everything else that is worth striving for obstacles such as, racial prejudice wanting equality and condescending towards the poor that make perseverance even more necessary. In Eudora Welty’s short story “A Worn Path” an old women named Phoenix Jackson takes a long trip to get medicine for her grandson who is ill from his throat. She perseveres in this story; Welty also used imagery to show the battles she went through.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    A Worn Path
    • 4735 Words
    • 19 Pages

    A Worn Path

    Bartel, Roland. “Life and Death in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”, in Studies in Short…

    • 4735 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Worn Path
    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Worn Path

    Eudora Welty brings the story, “A Worn Path”, to life through the use of the character Phoenix Jackson and symbols. This story detail’s an elderly Negro woman’s journey to town, on a mission of love. Phoenix Jackson, an elderly Negro women is frail, old, and had many handicaps, she lived during trying times, because of her race, and faced many challenges while growing up.…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Short Story and Worn Path
    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Short Story and Worn Path

    Phoenix encountered many obstacles during her journey to town and one of them was getting through the thorn bush. As she was walking down the path her dress had got caught…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Basic steps in writing a literature pap
    • 3180 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Basic steps in writing a literature pap

    On plot: In “A Worn Path,” Phoenix Jackson’s walk through the fields and woods becomes a heroic quest as she overcomes a series of obstacles bravely, determined to reach her goal and obtain medicine for her sick grandson.…

    • 3180 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    A Worn Path
    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Worn Path

    The complexity of Eudora Welty’s plot in “A Worn Path” is not clear. The main character is Phoenix Jackson, an old, frail woman walking through the town of Natchez in December. It consists of the brave attempts of a courageous, valiant woman to carry on against overwhelming forces. Her determination despite the great odds against her gives the story its impact. The powers ranged against her are old age, poverty, environment, and illness.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics