A Worn Path In the short story "A Worn Path" the main character's name is Phoenix, which alludes to "the mythical bird that consumed itself in fire after five hundred years and rose renewed from its ashes." Which relates to the main motif, death. Phoenix, the main character, is a very old woman who has a dying grandson who she goes many times to get medicine in town for him ... best of it by helping out her grandson and she refers to her struggle by showing some of the symbols that make us think of life and death and age are: "Seem like there is chains about my feet" make it clear that Phoeni...

• Word Count: 637
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... her golden undertone. One person even goes as far as to say that Phoenix looked "at least one hundred years old". With assertions like the aforementioned, Welty paints a portrait of Phoenix, as the short story Ponder 2 opens, that is so vivid, it is as if the reader could reach out and touch ... her, enabling the reader to visualize the scenes as they occur. Several times throughout the story, Phoenix becomes a victim to her own age. For instance, during her journey, a black dog comes upon ... she Ponder 3 is as she mistakes a scarecrow for a ghost: "You scarecrow. I ought to be shut u...

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