Stermination And Love In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

I believe that in Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path,” she successfully employs her main character, Phoenix Jackson, to represent the powerful force of determination, sacrifice, and love. Welty, the Mississippian author, uses a tone of admiration in portraying Phoenix, a grandmother who showcases the depths of her will and devotion to her sick grandson. Welty begins to represent determination by depicting Phoenix. In the beginning of the story, Welty describes Phoenix by saying that, “She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in her steps, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of a pendulum in a grand-father clock.” She also describes how Phoenix walks in the frigid cold day in December with a cane which is made from an umbrella, which also hints at her

When the nurse explains to the attendant that Phoenix, “doesn’t come for herself- she has a little grandson.” This is when the reader discovers Phoenix’s motivation for traveling to the city in the first place. As no other family members are ever mentioned, Welty hints that the two only have each other. I believe that Welty represented how much the tired and old grandmother loved her sick grandson. Despite the tedious journey, she continuously travels to retrieve his medicine. By the end of the story, Phoenix has acquired a total of ten cents; five from the hunter and five from the attendant. She says that she is,”going to the store and buy my child a little windmill they sells, made out of paper. He going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world.” Even after Phoenix’s tiring journey to retrieve her grandson’s medicine, she decides to take one step further to buy him a toy. She could have perhaps used the money on herself, but instead, she uses it for her grandson. This truly showcases how much Phoenix loves and cares for her