Phoenix In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

In Greek mythology, phoenixes were birds that died in flames and were born again from the ashes. The constant cycle that phoenixes lived in indicated that the birds were strong and everlasting which highlighted the ideas of rebirth and resilience. Author Eudora Welty employs these common associations that people have with phoenixes in her short story “A Worn Path” to portray the main character. Christened ‘Phoenix’ Jackson, the elderly protagonist makes a routine trip to a doctor’s office to retrieve medicine for her ill grandson and the reader joins her on her ‘worn path’ to see every obstacle that she confronts along the way. Despite the odds, hoary Phoenix Jackson makes it all the way to the clinic; she is hardy and persistent even in her old age.

Jackson is definitely “an old Negro woman” (Welty). As the reader might expect from an elderly woman, Phoenix has difficulty walking and seems frail as she totters along in the thicket. However, the seemingly weak protagonist is far more than the primary encounter might suggest. As she comes across obstacles, the true depth of Phoenix’s hidden strength is revealed. One of the first encumbrances Phoenix meets is small, wild animals that threaten her balance. Phoenix responds to these animals by saying, “Out of my way…Don’t… Come running my direction. I got a long way” (Welty). She asserts herself and her motivation to the small creatures, demanding that the do not get “under (her) feet” because that would hinder her journey (Welty). Phoenix seems to easily overcome the problem that the woodland creatures pose for her which is a product of her mental strength. Welty utilizes the natural wildlife and vegetation found in Mississippi multiple times to present obstructions for Phoenix (which she overcomes due to extreme willpower and motivation every single