In “A Worn Path” the character Phoenix Jackson is a great hero. Through the entire story she has faced conflict after conflict, and through it all she shows dedication and determination. She continues to move ahead through her environment even though she fights with her mind and everything she encounters. She is a grandmother who cares for her sick grandson so much that she will do anything for him. Her character is dedicated, brave and most of all cunning.
Her dedication is shown throughout the whole story. In the story, she goes and braves through the forest in the winter. To make it to the doctor’s office for her grandson’s medicine, she has to walk from one town to another. All the while, she has to deal with her mind playing tricks on her. She at first thought that the scarecrow was a ghost, who was coming for her. Still, she carried on. While continuing her journey, she comes across a barbed wire
I think that many people would have given up if some of the things in this story happened to them. The very idea that an elderly woman would do so much for her family is very remarkable, in reality or fiction. I think that Phoenix Jackson is a woman clinging to what is left of her family by any cost. She is able to overcome her seeming senility and move forward for a worthy cause. She seems to have been through a lot and is not afraid of death or pain. Even in her old age she refuses to let anything stop her or take her away from what she cares for most.
Phoenix Jackson’s cunning is shown in the story as well. Not many recognize it as they read it but it is there. She displays her cunning in small ways. She shows her cunning when she talks to the hunter. She remains still and calm while talking to the hunter of her fearlessness. The whole time she is telling him this; his gun is steadily pointed in her face. Impressed, the hunter removes his gun
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