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Eudora Welty‘s, “A Worn Path
A worn path literary analysis meaning
Eudora Welty‘s, “A Worn Path
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Eudora Welty‘s, “A Worn Path
A worn path literary analysis meaning
Eudora Welty‘s, “A Worn Path
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
One could assume that symbolism is the backbone to all literature. Without symbolism the piece of literature is inadequate, lacking representations of objects, people, and situations. However Eudora Welty’s work “A Worn Path” proves the prominence of symbolism in any prose. The short story about a woman’s ability to face nature, mankind, and one’s own self. The protagonist is an woman named Phoenix Jackson who has an unforgettable nature.
Also like Everyday Use, A Worn Path takes place at a time in the 1900s when racism existed. Just like Mama, Phoenix also takes care and protects a child. However, the child she takes care of is her grandson. Many years ago, her grandson swallowed lye. This is a strong substance which is used in making soap.
Finally, Granger says “Phoenix. There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we’re doing the same thing, over and over, but we’ve got one damn thing the phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did.
This exemplifies how intergenerational trauma has left victims desiring to be loved. Phoenix leaves the St. Vital Center and makes her way across town to her uncle's house. Phoenix decides to walk in the cold for hours until she has "lost feeling in her legs" (Vermette 25), all to impress her uncle. Phoenix’s decision to walk to her uncle’s house instead of asking for help continues to reveal to the reader how Phoenix has adopted a mindset of not showing weakness by asking for help, all while trying to gain admiration from her uncle. Additionally, as soon as she arrives at her uncle's house, she begins to plan ways to make her uncle happy.
This autobiography recalls Eudora Welty’s early experiences of reading in her childhood. She wrote about, how books had a great impact on her becoming a writer. The prevalent theme throughout her autobiography is her family history, as it's explained through various anecdotes, and through the intensity of her experiences. This autobiography obtains many flashbacks to her childhood, and the mood, she wanted to portray.
Phoenix encounters several obstacles in order to achieve her goal. The path she walks in represents her life, with the obstacle she faces new one appears and through her perseverance she slowly conquers each one of them. At the end Phoenix buy a paper windmill for her grandson. The paper windmill represents the nature into the energy that her grandson can use his natural abilities since they are both free, to something
She exemplifies Christ along her journey when she stops under a mistletoe tree; the same type of tree in which the cross was made. The thorns she encounters also relate to Christ’s death on the cross, the crown of thorns he wears on his head. The journey she takes to get her grandson’s medicine, is considered to be an example of self-sacrifice. Phoenix gives others the opportunity to help her and accomplish good things. One example is when the hunter helps her out of the ditch.
Given her grandson’s injuries that hope is as fragile as the paper windmill. This reminds us that hope is fragile, and is contingent on historical and civil efforts beyond Phoenix and her grandson. Phoenix Jackson perseveres to achieve a purposeful goal. Phoenix Jackson stayed true to her faith in times of desperation. Against the obstacles, she was willing to reach her destination to provide her grandson with the medicine he is in need of.
Yes, the journey is a great risk especially in her condition but Eudora shows how Phoenix’s spirit causes her to persevere in the face of adversity. In the end, Phoenix Jackson reached her destination and received the medicine for her grandchild. What starts out as a long quest filled with dangerous obstacles ends in a meaningful lesson for the readers’. Eudora Welty short story, “A Worn Path,” exemplifies what it means to persevere through any tribulations that stand in the way of your goals.
Human nature is the general traits and characteristics shared by all humans. Human nature drives the feeling of unconditional love, doing things unconditionally for those you love. This representation of human nature is shown clearly throughout the stories, The First Seven Years, by Bernard Malamud, and A Worn Path, by Eudora Welty. The authors of these two short stories show the human nature of how love influences people to perform unconditional actions out of love for the ones they care for most. In The First Seven Years, the author, Bernard Malamud, tells the story of a poor shoemaker, Feld, who makes his life goal for his daughter to get the education he was unable to.
While walking up the path, Phoenix has had to overcome obstacles while it seems like death is in the form of chains around her feet. Even so, she continues onward to freedom. The scene continues while Phoenix passes trees and birds and animals, and suddenly she is crawling through a barbed-wire fence. The change in scenery indicates how Phoenix might be somewhat confused, especially because she is old. It also indicates how Phoenix’s journey was not one of peacefulness, rather, it was one of survival.
To pass a barbed-wire fence, Phoenix must “creep and crawl... stretching her fingers like a baby trying to climb the steps”(par 16). When the small thorny bush gets in Phoenix’s way she stays persistent. Even though she is worn out and tired she does not slow down. The hunter came back with his dog “ Well, I scared him off that time, he said, and then he laughed and lifted his gun and pointed it at Phoenix.
Phoenix is doing this out of her selfless and kind heart for her loved ones. If she never cared and was selfish then she would never be making these difficult journeys and wasting her time for someone
“Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.” The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls has very important life lessons that will teach you to laugh at your tragedies sometimes. The most important lessons are that struggle makes you unique, you either sink or swim, and sometimes crisis makes you realize your potential. In the memoir, you will learn these and accept them.
Transitional states of maturity can be challenged or championed by unexpected discoveries which can be confronting or provocative. This is explored through Alice Walker’s 1973 prose fiction, “The Flowers”, as the protagonist’s view on the world is transformed due to the personal zemblanic discovery made. The short story explores the themes of loss of innocence and death in order to address cultural indifference and the prejudice experienced by certain groups within society, which in turn causes individuals to be effected negatively. Walker hopes to evoke sense of political and social reflection in her audience, hoping that intimate discoveries of past inequity by her readers will ensure cultural equity maintains future momentum.