A Worn Path Synthesis Essay

Brad Pitt once said,” Family is a risky venture, because the greater the love, the greater the loss, that's the trade-off. But I’ll take it all.” Family can be the cause of great love or great loss, both are present in Phoenix’s “Worn Path”.A “Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty in 1941, a story which still remains iconic to this day, and is rich in literary elements. These literary elements are used to show an elderly woman’s struggles with her newfound crippling reality. Elements such as motifs, symbolism, and imagery are used throughout the story. She does this to put in perspective this newfound reality of the death of Phoenix's grandson, which brings her to the point of hysteria and denial. This tells a tale of love, hope,

To learn more about the author, she was born in 1909 in Jackson, Mississippi. She is the daughter of Christian Webb and Chestina Andrews.For her education, she attended Mississippi State College for Women, and then went on to attend the University of Wisconsin where she obtained her bachelor's degree. After her college years, she went on to work as a Junior Publicity Agent for the Works Progress Administration. An article from the Eudora Welty Foundation states,”During these years, she took many photographs, and in 1936 and 1937 they were exhibited in New York; but they were not published as she had wished. Her first publication was instead a short story, “Death of a Traveling Salesman.” In 1936, the editor of Manuscript literary magazine called it “one of the best stories we have ever read.”(Suzzane Marrs, Biography). She began her writing in the early 1930’s. She has written many pieces of literature such as “The Optimist's Daughter”, “Losing Battles”, and “Golden Apples”. Most of her pieces began with a simple thought from her head and were soon after relayed onto the paper. Eudora states in “On Writing by Eudora

She uses imagery, symbolism, and motifs to further explain and give readers a story that has been popular, for great reason, for over eighty years. One present motif is the constant repetition of references to Christian imagery. Phoenix is a self-sacrificing figure, she puts herself behind anything or anyone else. She endures a hard task just for the sake of her grandson’s unimproved health, which may or may not have been out of pure denial. This theme is repeated multiple times throughout the short story, making it a motif, which is present to put emphasis on the fact that Phoenix does not think selfishly. Phoenix is considered to be selfless, on her journey she is not sure of the goal but she knows it needs to be done. Even through her forgetfulness, she still pushes through for the sake of her grandson, and his declining health. She travels through the dangerous Mississippi countryside through thorns and a variety of animals without giving it a second thought. This is, in fact, the most recurring motif in the short story. There are many different literary devices present in this short story, another is