A worn path short story summary. Eudora Welty's 'A Worn Path': Summary and Analysis 2022-10-28
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"A Worn Path" is a short story by Eudora Welty that was first published in 1941. The story tells the tale of an elderly African American woman named Phoenix Jackson who travels along a worn path in the woods to retrieve medicine for her sick grandson.
The story begins with a description of the path itself, which is described as "worn" and "threadbare." Despite the roughness of the path, Phoenix Jackson perseveres and trudges along it, determined to reach her destination. Along the way, she encounters a white man who asks her what she is doing. Phoenix Jackson explains that she is going to the store to get some medicine for her sick grandson. The man offers to give her the money to buy the medicine, but Phoenix Jackson insists on paying for it herself.
As she continues on her journey, Phoenix Jackson encounters several obstacles, including thorns and briars that scratch her legs and a log blocking her way. Despite these challenges, she remains determined to reach her destination and help her grandson.
Finally, Phoenix Jackson reaches the store and manages to purchase the medicine with the small amount of change she has managed to save. As she makes her way back home, she is again confronted by the white man, who asks her if she was able to get the medicine. Phoenix Jackson thanks the man and tells him that she was able to get the medicine, which she knows will help her grandson recover.
In the end, "A Worn Path" is a heartwarming tale of love, determination, and the lengths that one will go to in order to help those they care about. It is a poignant reminder of the enduring strength of the human spirit and the power of love to conquer all obstacles.
A Worn Path: Study Guide
Furthermore, part of that is the old Natchez trace, a road worn deep into the Mississippi landscape by centuries of travelers returning northeast after boating down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. She manages to take it when he is distracted by his dog, and slips it into her apron pocket. Most of all, it teaches us to never give up hope. She ends up giving her a nickel. The verb choice here personifies the bush; more than making it human, it also indicates intent. Your only guide, too, is your sureness about your subject, about what this subject is.
He treats her like a child, assuming that she is going into Natchez to see Santa Claus, and points his gun at her to see if it will frighten her. Yet Phoenix is immediately, and once again, accosted by a condescending figure of white authority. In the story, she used the character of an old black woman who follows a worn path during Christmas season. The story is rich in symbolism and themes. Although she distracts the hunter and takes the nickel, she feels guilty for doing so, describing it as stealing and remarking that God is watching her. Yet Phoenix possesses a wry sense of humor and, like Christ, accepts her obstacles as part of life. She also asks how the grandson is doing, but Phoenix stares off into space and does not reply for a while.
She was educated at the Mississippi State College for Women now called Mississippi University for Women , the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Columbia Business School. Meanwhile the hunter blusters and boasts of his skill and power. Eudora Welty died of pneumonia in Jackson, Mississippi, at the age of 92, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson. When the hunter accidentally drops a nickel, she spots it quickly. She admits that she forgot why she made her long journey. During the 1930s, Welty worked as a photographer for the Works Progress Administration, a job that sent her all over the state of Mississippi photographing people from all economic and social classes.
See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. She takes the coin without hesitation, if carefully. She does not lose her cool and is clear-eyed about her situation. It is very difficult to determine which woman is telling the truth and to determine if King Solomon is actually a bad person or a good person. Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose motivation for living seems to be to nurture her grandson back to health. The story received the second place O.
Phoenix thanks the nurse and the attendant offers her a few pennies. A thorny bush catches her dress, but she finds the strength to pull herself free and keep up her momentum. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Though a dreamer, she is also a determined realist, tending to her obstacles one at a time, and never deviating from her path. She does not lose her cool and is clear-eyed about her situation. When she reaches the bottom of the hill, she is forced to make her way over a creek by inching across a fallen log.
Phoenix is similarly on a quest, and, perhaps surprisingly, the quest she is undertaking may not be the search for a medicine for her grandson but for her grandson himself. Phoenix has enough dignity to both name the terms of the amount, and to accept the charity without self-denigration. Finally, Phoenix snaps back to attention and says his throat still closes up and he has trouble swallowing. She passes a woman on the sidewalk and asks her to tie her shoelaces. I could also say that I did not make him in in order to let him play a trick on Phoenix.
A nurse, though, recognizes Phoenix and tells her to sit and wait. Phoenix enters a building and goes up to a woman seated at a desk, who assumes that Phoenix is another charity case. It teaches the power of selfless love, and also that there are people in the world who make sacrifices for those that they care about. A white hunter appears and he helps her up, before going after the dog with his gun and his own dog. For instance, by making the white man aim his gun at the protagonist, Welty may indicate that many African-Americans also faced abuse or hostility due to their skin color, including Phoenix Welty.
Eudora Welty's 'A Worn Path': Summary and Analysis
The document is a diploma. She also did graduate work at Columbia University School of Business. The nurse calls her Aunt Phoenix. One of the largest social ranking points brought up within the story is that of white people, notably males, considering themselves better than the blacks. Is God watching the hunter as he threatens and lies, too? It is the only plant that remains evergreen in the harsh winter. Her sympathy for the people she saw suffering both from the Great Depression and from continuing racial oppression is manifest in her photographs. The medicine she fetches for him, that the doctor donates to her out of charity, makes it so her grandson can breathe and swallow.
