“A Worn Path’s Meaning” Eudora Welty, in her short story, “A Worn Path” paints the perfect picture of the life of an older African American woman in the twentieth century. The story is about an old black woman, Phoenix, who journeys the countryside into town to pick up medicine for her sick grandson. At the time, black people were not treated as equal to everyone else so that made traveling very difficult for Phoenix as well as her old age. Phoenix faces many difficult obstacles throughout her journey to town, but perseveres because she possesses so much determination and will. Welty uses symbolism, to show determination sense of humor, and compassion to show readers who Phoenix is and where she has come from. Welty portrays Phoenix’s life by using nature symbols to show readers about how hard Phoenix’s life is and how far she has come. These symbols occur periodically throughout the story to show that even though she faces struggles nothing will keep her from reaching her goal. A big symbol that Welty uses is the hill. Phoenix says “Seems like there are always chains about my feet, time I get this far” (Welty 222). This quotation describes how difficult …show more content…
Phoenix is compassionate about her grandson and she does everything in her power to help him, even if it meant to make the treacherous journey into town. Love can make people do crazy things for the people they care about and if it were not for love Phoenix may not have been able to make the journey. Phoenix’s memory is not too sharp, but she realizes why she made the journey by saying “My grandson. It was my memory had left me. There I sat and forgot why I made the long trip” (Welty 227). Even though her memory had failed her, once she came to and remembered it was about her grandson all along. Her grandson was the main priority and the absolute reason why Phoenix made the trip down the worn path because she has compassion for her sick