... you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush."" (Welty, 687) Phoenix didn't want to rip her dress because she was going into town and she wanted to look nice and neat. She slowly untangled her dress from the thorn ... , I going to town.' 'Why, that's too far! ... Now you go on home, Granny!'" (Welty, 688) He even throws in a racist comment after Phoenix insists that she must go to town. " 'I know you old colored people! Wouldn't miss going to town to see Santa Claus!'" (Welty, 689) The ... hunter then ...

• Word Count: 1236
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... have forgotten her journey's purpose, in her heart the unyielding love for her grandson directs her feet to the medical building. The reader first discovers Phoenix's digressing mental health when she starts to talk out loud saying, "Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits......Keep ... of reality the only thing real to her has been her indomitable love for her only family, her grandson. Another incident arises after Phoenix crosses the creek to reveal in depth Phoenix's challenge with senility, when she imagines a little boy brings her a piece of marble-cake. She says...

• Word Count: 602
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... the creek on a log with her eyes closed. This might be extremely reckless but at the same time it is also courageous. We know that Phoenix is fearless at gunpoint. Phoenix's most courageous moment is when she steals a nickel from an armed man who also has two vicious dogs with him. All these actions do seem somewhat reckless but, then again, ... admirable character trait is her devotion to her ailing grandson. Towards the end of this story we learn that Phoenix makes this long journey through the forest regularly for her grandson who needs the medicine that Phoenix obtains in the city....

• Word Count: 580
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... the world that surrounds them. The interpretive nature of "A Worn Path" adds to the mystery and story telling of the tale. While the main character, Phoenix Jackson, is a very likeable character she has many faults, her lack of education, old age, and unattractiveness. Grandma Jackson's noble pursuit of medicine for ... did it all for her grandson. Eudora Welty may have been using a symbol from another classic book as this criticism states "Welty has created through Phoenix a modern Don Quixote. Her grandson's sparring with the windmills will be his quest for freedom, for equality in this...

• Word Count: 1135
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... taken before, and now the time has come where she must travel it again. 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 the author gives the main character is given for a reason. The legend of ... the Phoenix is about a mythical sacred bird of the 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 it's young and beautiful. The phoenix was a fabulous mythical Arabian bird, said to be as large ...

• Word Count: 460
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... the hospital and is willing to start again the journey just to reach her primary goal, which is to heal her grandchild. Just as granny did, Phoenix took control once again and continued on herself. These ladies, although they are the epitome of female independence, they would not have been able to ... react to her environment. While granny is trying to prepare for the inevitable, Cornelia is doing the thankless job of taking care of her mother. Phoenix at the same time is helped out by number of different people that wouldn't ordinary stop and help and elderly black woman. The first to ...

• Word Count: 1093
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... contrast with the hunter. When she gets to the creek, she is scared, but ready to face the difficulty of it: "Now comes the trial", she says. Phoenix knows the territory well, and she is used to this kind of trial. She will not let this obstacle stop her whole journey; she gathers her courage and " ... scarecrow, she relaxes her nerves so well that she begins talking to the scarecrow as if she was talking to herself, and she says it "with laughter". Finally, Phoenix has an encounter with a hunter with his dog. He helps her out of the ditch she fell in because of one of his dogs. She again...

• Word Count: 721
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... "A Worn Path" In the journey of life, there are many difficulties that have to be overcome. To overcome these problems, determination and bravery are required. Phoenix Jackson is an elderly Negro woman who wears a "red rag on her hair" (Welty 150). She wears a long, striped dress and a long apron made out ... and intent, but her skirts were full and long, so that before she could pull them free in one place they were caught in another" (Welty 151). Phoenix's next encounter on the trail is the barbed-wire fence, which she must pass. At the fence, "she had to creep and crawl, spreading he...

• Word Count: 1066
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of bright colors. It is made up of red, yellow, gold, and black. The narrator uses similar colors of describing Phoenix Jackson. She is being described like a Phoenix: "A golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illuminated by a yellow burning under the dark. ... I ever know""(308). Her trip is so hard because she is a old women. She is a really old women which feels like she lives forever like a Phoenix. Through out the story she goes through so many obstacles, but never gives up. She goes through thorn bushes, barbed wire, up hills, down hills, and ... ditch. T...

• Word Count: 652
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to her pocket. Later in the story she acts in a similar fashion with the nurse in order to procure another nickel. Upon entering the doctor's office Phoenix "saw nailed upon the wall the document that had been stamped with a gold seal and framed in a gold frame, which matched the dream that hung ... gaze upon the framed document, ignoring the attendant's and nurse's rude comments and inquires. It was not until the nurse asked if her grandson was dead that Phoenix spoke, she made up the excuse that "I sat and forgot why I had made my long trip" (Welty 287). Many critics seem to believe tha...

• Word Count: 1006
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... on her way to town. The hunter reached into his pocket for something and without noticing a nickel fell out of the pocket. When the hunter was not looking Phoenix reached down and picked up the nickel and put in into her apron pocket. She felt like she was stealing. The hunter and his dog chased away the ... was not scared and said that if he had a dime he would give it to her. Him saying that made Phoenix feel better about the nickel she put into her pocket that the hunter dropped. When Phoenix made it to town she seen red and green electric lights strung and crisscrossed everywhere. Sh...

• Word Count: 761
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... 't come here for herself - she has a little grandson. She makes these trips as regular as clockwork," (344) said the nurse at the hospital. Selflessly, Phoenix musters up enough energy every time to come through for her grandson because she loves him so much and does not want to see him suffer. She feels it ... is her duty to take care of him and is dedicated to doing whatever she possibly can for him. Old Phoenix also exhibits her dedication to her grandson when she uses the only small change she has to buy a Christmas gift for him. She says, "I going ... In addition, she is undoubtedly...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... around every corner and around every bend in the road. Some of these symbols include the title itself, "A Worn Path," the rustling in the bushes, Phoenix Jackson's dress catching in the bush, and the scarecrow and the black dog. All of these symbols represent death in one way or another. The first ... to get her, so she says "Out of my way all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!" (87). The path Phoenix takes is the path of her life. She knows death lurks behind every shadow and can take on any form or shape. The rustling in the bushes represents ... and inter...

• Word Count: 663
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... by city to get medicine for her ailing grandson. On the way this ninety-year-old woman faces many obstacles, both natural and man-made. Phoenix draws upon her perseverance and willingness to sacrifice herself to help her throughout her journey, but it is the undying love for her grandson that ... truly guides and drives her to her final goal. Phoenix Jackson has a seemingly inexhaustible amount of determination. From the moment that she sets out on her trek, she must fight all the challenges that ... the other side. Next she comes across a barbwire fence, and once again without showing...

• Word Count: 966
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... which the audience finds out in the end to purchase medicine for her sick grandson. The elderly woman, Phoenix Jackson is a poor fragile African American woman who suffers from hallucinations and poverty. Phoenix is very determined to complete her journey, though many obstacles exist. The reason for her journey, to receive ... medicine for her sick grandson, has a chronic throat condition caused by drinking lye. Despite her age and fragility, Phoenix is very stubborn which gives her the ability to overcome nearly impossible odds, through her determination, which is fueled by the love for...

• Word Count: 689
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... woman's trip to town on a mission of unselfish love, to get medicine for her grandson. Whether the worn path in this story is representative of Phoenix's life, or simply life in general, it is filled with symbols for the obstacles and evils found in any one person's journey through a lifetime. ... , which the nurse comments on: "She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork- (110). Other symbols soon become evident to the reader. When Phoenix climbs the hill, she remarks to herself that it "seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far- (106). This hill ... Next, s...

• Word Count: 727
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... particular literary tradition. She is a major character that does minor things. She represents a grandmother who is willing to do anything for her grandchild. Phoenix shows immense bravery throughout the story many times. She was pointed at with a gun and she took on other obstacles that an elderly person wouldn't. ... little from side to side in her steps, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of the pendulum in a grandfather clock" (86). The author makes Phoenix seem illiterate by not completing her sentences or sounding as if she doesn't know what she's talking about. As this quo...

• Word Count: 701
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . In her time, race was a very deciding factor on social hierarchy, and this is clearly indicated in, "A Worn Path."" On her way to town, Phoenix says while climbing up the tiresome hill that runs through the path, "Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far."" This is ... clearly an indication of a reference to bound slaves that old Phoenix can remember from her younger years. She also notes, "Something always take a hold of me on this hill "pleads I should stay."" This statement seems ... to attain equality in a very unequal world during this period of unrest followi...

• Word Count: 1034
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the main theme in her story. "A Worn Path" is referring to the long and hard path taken by the African-American woman during the entirety of the story. Phoenix Jackson was an older lady whose features were well described in the second paragraph of the story; "Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern ... with an illness that is not revealed to us. The only way for her grandson to fight the illness was to take medicine that Phoenix had to travel a long way to get. Since Phoenix only took enough medicine to last for a little while she had to make the journey every few weeks. Thi...

• Word Count: 718
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... As Helen Keller once said, "Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." Being wise comes with experience and age. Phoenix Jackson, as a woman who possesses both qualities, teaches us life lessons to hold onto and experience for ourselves, as we journey down our own "worn ... endure in her lifetime, lives up to her name by using her inner strength and wisdom throughout her journey to reach her destination. The name Phoenix fits the description of our protagonist, representing strength and rebirth. The name itself refers to the Egyptian myth symbolizing the Death...

• Word Count: 974
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... little quicker than she would normally be maintaining. She needs to return home before the sun goes down with the medicine for her little grandson. Phoenix knows the trail very well and walks with confidence, not even looking at where her feet are landing. Along the way she stops to warn the ... log resembling a child marching, while holding the small cane straight out, as if to point the direction as other children follow her. This image of Phoenix is one a person would most likely associate with children. As she crosses the creek, she sits down to rest and finds herself hallucinating....

• Word Count: 679
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... I made my long trip" (870). And yet her sense of direction on the path comes automatically. Indeed the "path" is "worn" as a result of Phoenix's repeated trips to the town for her grandson's well being, and driven by her love for him, she will most likely make the travel the "worn path" ... there, her senses drifted away. A dream visited her, and she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down" (867). This experience suggests that Phoenix was perhaps "reaching" up to God, ready to retire from life. There also exists a hidden meaning to the title of this story. Perhaps the "worn ... pat...

• Word Count: 668
• Approx Pages: 3

... that one has to stare adversity in the face, and instead of frowning, smile and press on. In Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path", the main character, Phoenix Jackson, is subject to a tedious, troublesome journey that she has to embark upon every year. The rough journey, alone, is an obstacle for anyone, but ... facing; yet, through a determined mind and a persevering body, she is able to accomplish what she set out to do. Firstly, Welty explicitly states that Phoenix is a very old woman- "Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles .but a gold...

• Word Count: 927
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... a person's journey there will be things that will make a person fearful, but it is best just to keep on going and push those fears aside. Then Phoenix is confronted with her next obstacle in the form of a bush grabbing at her dress. She at first says that she was fooled by the bush thinking that ... temptations that life may offer might look good or seem like a good idea, but as soon as you get close enough to them they make troubles. Phoenix seems to get into one place in the bush thinks that she is finally out, but just gets stuck again in the bush. Life seems to do ... true in life, ...

• Word Count: 647
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Jury of Her Peers," are both short stories rife with symbolism. Welty's story is about the journey of an old African American woman named Phoenix Jackson, who endures many obstacles walking through the woods to the town of Natchez to get her grandson medication. Glaspell's much longer story is about ... much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?" (174). In contrast, the name of the protagonist in "A Worn Path," Phoenix Jackson, refers to the phoenix in Egyptian mythology. It was a bird that is said to have lived five hundred years, and then died in fire and was re- ... found behind t...

• Word Count: 1059
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School