The ending of the story is indeterminate and you do not know how long grandma Jackson can continue making her trip to town or if her grandson is actually able to survive and lead a long life.
Grandma Phoenix deals with many different forms of conflict throughout the story. She struggles to make her way to town for her grandson sacrificing and risking her own self. Mrs. Jackson deals with man versus man conflict when the hunter pointed his gun at her and intimidated her with his dog. Phoenix contends with nature as she struggles to free herself from a thorn bush, and she does not want to rip her dress. She talks to the bush stating "Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush" However, she manages to free herself from the thorn bush. She also has to deal with a stray dog that gets in her patch and prevents her from moving forward. Grandma Phoenix contends with society when she sees the shiny nickel fall out of the hunter's bag, when the hunter becomes preoccupied with the strange dog she reaches down and grabs the nickel even though she knows she is stealing in front of god. The reason she steals becomes evident as at the end of the story she decides to buy her grandson a paper windmill as a present, even though she stole she still 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 new world that has been opened up for him". (The Explicator pg. 152) Grandma Phoenix has to deal with herself and her own old age while making her trek to the city for her grandson's medicine. The description of Phoenix Jackson at the beginning of this story gives the reader a glimpse of how difficult this trip is going to be for an elderly woman.