A Worn Path

Eudora Welty's A Worn Path depicts the arduous journey of an old black woman named Phoenix Jackson. Phoenix is old and feeble. Despite her advanced years, failing senses, and physical infirmity (she needs a cane to walk), Phoenix travels from her rural home to the city of Natchez. Though we do not discover the purpose of her trip until the end of the short story, Phoenix's journey is one of resolute determination. She risks falls, wild animals, and scratchy thorns as she makes her way through the woods. In the end, Phoenix will endure and obtain the goal of her trip � medicine for her sick grandson � but along the way we discover much about a woman's travails in Phoenix's life and culture.

Phoenix musters courage, determination and all the physical skills left to her in advancing age to pluck her way through the mountains and rough terrain on her way to town. She encounters thorns, a log across water, and other forces she must fend off, including a mangy dog. She falls trying to ward off the dog and lies helpless until a hunter and his dog discover her. When he asks what she is doing, Phoenix responds "'Lying on my back like a June bug waiting to be turned over, mister,' she said, reaching up her hand" (Welty 2). This demonstrates that women are often in a helpless position in a male-dominated society and depend upon men to give them a leg up, in this case literally.

A Worn Path also shows how hard working and courageous women of Phoeni

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Category: Literature - A