What Is An Allusion In A Worn Path

In “A Worn Path”, by Eudora Welty, the story follows an old woman from the deep south in her attempt to help her grandson even though she faces many troubles along the way. A formerly enslaved woman, by the name of Phoenix, sets out to get medication for her sick grandson. During her travels through the forest, she is faced with a multitude of challenges. Her old age makes it difficult for her to climb up an incline, cross a log, and properly understand her surroundings. She is even knocked over by a large dog but is eventually helped by a young hunter. After the encounter with the man, she continues to the town, Natchez, to retrieve the medicine. Once she is in the clinic, she unfortunately forgets what she has come for until she is reminded

Donlan states, “The Phoenix - also known by the terms bennu and Roc - is a large bird that retains immortality by restoring itself every five hundred years by setting fire to its nest and immolating itself by fanning the fire with its wing. From the ashes a new Phoenix arises” (Donlan 549). Both are described in a manner that expresses immortality. Phoenix’s old age and repeating cycle of going to the town are like that of the bird’s journey as well. Old Phoenix is described physically in a similar way to the bird, “a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the dark” (Welty 1). Donlan describes the mythological bird as “scarlet and gold plumage” (Donlan

In this story, the journey that Old Phoenix makes to the town of Natchez is symbolism for her life. The many struggles she has faced along the way but prevails reflect that of what events she has lived through. Claxton argues, “Phoenix’s ‘chains’ on her journey are her race, age, and poverty, but they prove to be barriers she can overcome” (Claxton 79). In the beginning, Phoenix is left to the elements with no choice but to endure what might happen, much like that of being enslaved. Later in the story she meets the hunter that feels the need to express his superiority over her which symbolizes that even after the abolishment of slavery, she was never fully accepted by society. Finally, in the clinic, Phoenix is referred to as “a charity case” because of her lack of education and background (Welty 3). The many parallels between the two journeys help to better understand who Phoenix is as a person and how she became that