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Eudora Welty "A Worn Path" literary analysis
Eudora Welty "A Worn Path" literary analysis
A worn path summary essay
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Everyday Use by Alice Walker and Eudora Welty in A Worn Path are two short stories that share many similarities. One similarity between the two stories that caught my attention was protection and love. Both women take care of a child that went through an incident. In the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, Mama is a poor African American woman who is considered to be very strong and manly.
Imagery is one of the most vital details in a good story, and it is key that an author properly uses this tactic. Eudora Welty effectively uses imagery in the timeless “A Worn Path” to enhance the meaning of this story. The use of imagery can be seen in the description of the main protagonist Phoenix Jackson and can also be seen in the journey to her destination. To begin with, imagery is present in Phoenix Jackson’s descriptive appearance.
The first, more obvious journey is quite literal, seen in allusions to various locations in the south: highway 49, miles and miles of beaches, Gulfport piers, and a boat leading to Ship Island (Trethewey, lines 5,9,12,17). This journey is feasible and can be accomplished easily. The movement through Mississippi demonstrates Trethewey’s vast knowledge and experience with the south. Her introduction to the different
Alice Walker, born February 9, 1944 in Eatonton Georgia, is an American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are praised for their focus on African American culture, particularly on women (Britannica). Eudora Welty, born April 13, 1909, is an American short-story writer and novelist whose work is mainly focused on the regional etiquettes of people residing in a small Mississippi town that resembles her own birthplace (Britannica). Both Walker and Welty depict the use of animal imagery in their short stories ‘Everyday Use’ and ‘A Worn Path’. In her short story “Everyday Use”, Walker depicts the bonds among three women in rural Georgia. Walker relies on animal imagery to demonstrate important qualities of her characters.
In “A Worn Path”, enduring is the word that best describes Phoenix because she undergoes issues with her mind, an arduous journey, and a racist man. First of all, Phoenix perseveres through all of the mental problems that she has. The narrator says, “She did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him. " That would be acceptable," she said.
Eudora Welty’s “A worn path” is a short story illustrating the determination of an old woman going on a ritual journey for getting a medicine for her grandson and facing each challenge with success. The story shows the protagonist of Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" an elderly woman named Phoenix Jackson. Welty’s description of the old women realizes on her usage of three artistic tools: imagery, foreshowing, and symbolism. The Three artistic tools will show how “A worn path” of an old women journey begins to achieve her goal. Imagery is one of the artistic tools used in “A Wan Path”.
Welty ReWrite As a child, many of us dream of the monsters lurking in the dark and fear the monsters that are merely figments of our imaginations. For Eudora Welty, that monster was in the form of Mrs. Calloway, the librarian of the town. Despite her fears, Welty would return to the library and face her monster on a daily basis to check out new reading material. Why would Welty willingly face a woman she feared daily? Because the value she put on reading was greater than any butterflies the “witch,” might give her.
Blurred Reality In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, the main protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, experiences a series of obstacles along her journey to get a needed medication for her grandson, being held back by delusions, and the restrictions of nature. The author uses an abundance of symbolism to create an emblematic explanation for the occurrences experienced by Phoenix on her trek to town. While on her way to town, she experiences hallucinations and rough paths, causing her to be temporarily set back. Her past, which is hinted as the past of a slave, creates a safety harness of delusions causing a division between two realities: One that is average and realistic, and the other that is imaginary and almost childlike.
Literary Analysis: “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty uses many literary elements in her short story, “A Worn Path,” to allow the reader to stay engaged throughout its entirety. Although there are many literary elements present in this story, there are three that Welty focuses intently on. She uses elements such as imagery, symbolism, and motifs to draw the reader’s attention. It is important for an author to write their story in a way that can be understood but also enjoyed. In “A Worn Path”, Welty focuses in on the elements, such as, symbolism, motifs, and imagery and writes a story that has great meaning and can be discovered by the reader when looked at carefully.
In the short story, “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty introduces an elderly, African American, woman named Phoenix Jackson, whom for two or three years has made a long quest to town to get medicine for her ill grandson. Initially, Phoenix must overcome many obstacles to reach climax of her journey. Eudora Welty uses these obstacles to demonstrate the theme of her story, which is that Phoenix’s ambition/hope was the leading role in her preserving. The first obstacle that displays Phoenix’s determination to succeed, was when she came to a hill during her quest to town.
While living in America, a land of freedom, it didn't change the fact that the whites are more superior. The story “A Worn Path” starts in the 1940s, where blacks are treated differently as if they are not on the same level of whites. It was shown in the story explaining Phenix’s difficult journey to town. Although blacks are treated differently, phenix kept moving forward even when she had difficulty because phenix was determined to go to town and get the medicine for her grandson.
Over time, our perceptions of freedom change. Escaping a cotton field may have been considered freedom in the nineteenth century, yet it could not be done without endurance. While our perceptions of freedom change, it’s likely that our ideas about how people obtain freedom do not change much. In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty describes a woman’s journey along a path to freedom, and she describes the obstacles that the woman encounters along the way. That woman, Phoenix Jackson, is able to overcome these obstacles despite her old age.
Trodden black created imagery for me as negative, fake, bad, regarding how I see the color of black as expressed in this poem. Frost develops these aspects based on depicting the idea of the factors that can hold you back, or create judgement without experiencing. Furthermore, the same activity of one path being the one with less use creates the same sort of judgement towards appearance or what you may have heard. This is expressed as, “The one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” (The Road Not Taken; Frost ). How this powerful theme is linked with the storyline of “Of Mice and Men” creates a broad understanding of George sticking with Lennie after even the toughest of times.
Loving Others Love can significantly impact people’s actions, helping them persevere through hardships to continue communicating with their loved ones. In “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson makes regular trips to the town of Natchez to get medicine for her beloved grandson who swallowed lye. During one of her trips, she encounters many obstacles, including her cataracts and age, a thorny bush, a log laid across a creek, and a racist hunter, though she is able to reach the town regardless of all of them. Once she is there, she purchases the medicine, and with money that she steals and begs for, she also buys a paper windmill for her grandson. Phoenix uses love as a reason to persevere in uncomfortable situations for her grandson,
Beyond the Walk to Natchez A historical great piece of literary art, “A Worn Path” published in 1941, is a story of an old woman’s journey to town through the forest. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1940’s, a time when racism was a way of life and a trip to town, especially for an old black woman, was often a long journey and thus a trip not often taken. The old woman’s name is Phoenix Jackson and she has quite an adventurous trip through the forest to town. One is made to believe this is just an average walk down the path for this old woman; however the reader is entertained by Phoenix’s mannerisms and realizes there is deeper meaning of the story.
