Symbolism to the Journey
Symbolism to the Journey
ENG 125 Introduction to Literature
Michelle Pinkard
January 30, 2012
Whether we are reading a poem or a short story, there is a story to be found within. The writer is able to capture readers with their use of rhythm, characterization, or a fairy tale setting, among many other things throughout their writing. It is imagination that allows us, the readers of these stories and poems, to be able to fill in the blanks or mentally visualize what the writer wants us to see through use of descriptive words or symbolism. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, and the short story “Used To Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys I noticed a common theme. No matter what lonely journey we find ourselves on, we determine how the journey ends. The lonely journey that each of these literary pieces tells about is presented differently in each writing. In “The Road Not Taken”, Frost used “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” which told me that there was a forthcoming journey; he also used “and sorry I could not travel both” as a way to share that he had to make this decision of which path to take. Frost also used the word “I” many times, which allowed me to imagine him alone. In “A Worn Path”, Welty used the word “she” throughout the piece which gave me the image of this woman walking alone. The character spoke to animals “’Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles’” and so forth. When the writer posed this conversation in the story, it gave me the feeling of loneliness. This woman was so lonely, she spoke to animals. The path that she was walking “ran up hill”. The idea that this path she was on was up a hill provided symbolism of a hard life. To me, walking up a hill would be hard work to get to the destination. Since the description of this woman had been of an aged woman, “her eyes blue with age” and her numberless branching wrinkles, it was a pity to find this woman walking alone up
ENG 125 Introduction to Literature
Michelle Pinkard
January 30, 2012
Whether we are reading a poem or a short story, there is a story to be found within. The writer is able to capture readers with their use of rhythm, characterization, or a fairy tale setting, among many other things throughout their writing. It is imagination that allows us, the readers of these stories and poems, to be able to fill in the blanks or mentally visualize what the writer wants us to see through use of descriptive words or symbolism. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, and the short story “Used To Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys I noticed a common theme. No matter what lonely journey we find ourselves on, we determine how the journey ends. The lonely journey that each of these literary pieces tells about is presented differently in each writing. In “The Road Not Taken”, Frost used “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” which told me that there was a forthcoming journey; he also used “and sorry I could not travel both” as a way to share that he had to make this decision of which path to take. Frost also used the word “I” many times, which allowed me to imagine him alone. In “A Worn Path”, Welty used the word “she” throughout the piece which gave me the image of this woman walking alone. The character spoke to animals “’Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles’” and so forth. When the writer posed this conversation in the story, it gave me the feeling of loneliness. This woman was so lonely, she spoke to animals. The path that she was walking “ran up hill”. The idea that this path she was on was up a hill provided symbolism of a hard life. To me, walking up a hill would be hard work to get to the destination. Since the description of this woman had been of an aged woman, “her eyes blue with age” and her numberless branching wrinkles, it was a pity to find this woman walking alone up
References: Abel, E. (1979). Women and schizophrenia: the fiction of jean rhys. Contemporary Literature, 20(2), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1207964 Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (https://content.ashford.edu/books) Frost, R. (1916). The road not taken. Mountain interval. New York: Holt. Rhys, J. (1976). I used to live here once. Sleep it off, lady. London: Penguin Books. Savoie, J. (2004). A poet 's quarrel: jamesian pragmatism and frost 's "the road not taken". The New England Quarterly, 77(1), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1559684 Suanders, J. (1992). "a worn path": the eternal quest of welty 's phoenix jackson. The Southern Literary Journal, 25(1), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20078057 Welty, E. (1969). A worn path. A curtain of green and other stories. New York: Doubleday. (Original work published 1941)