A Worn Path Eudora Welty Essay

A New Criticism of Welty’s “A Worn Path”
Atul Aggarwal
Madison Ridgeland Academy 
Abstract
Published in 1941, “A Worn Path” was written in a time of great moral decline as WWII, the Holocaust, and civil rights for African-Americans were all major issues. After being inspired by an old African-American lady she saw walking on the Natchez Trace, Eudora Welty wrote “A Worn Path” to remind the world of human life’s true meaning. The story follows Phoenix Jackson and her journey to Natchez to obtain throat-soothing medicine for her grandson, and the story ultimately represents the struggle African-Americans faced in their quest to obtain civil rights. To convey the racial struggles of the mid 1900’s, Welty uses Phoenix’s brittle physical
As Phoenix sits down to rest on her journey through the Natchez Trace, she imagines a little boy bringing her a piece of marble cake and says, “That would be acceptable.” (Welty, 1941, 741). According to literary analysist D.J. Sykes, Phoenix’s vision of black and white cake represents the idea of integration in the South (nd, 152). However, on pg. 744 of “A Worn Path,” Welty describes Phoenix reaching for the cake, only to grasp thin air (1941). The inability to grasp the cake is Welty recognizing that the integration of races still has a long way ahead. Phoenix’s ability to keep moving forward on her journey out of love for her grandson depict both Welty and African Americans’ desire for peace between races. The second symbol Welty uses is a college degree Phoenix sees hung on the wall in the nurse’s office (Skyes, nd, 152). On pg. 744 of “A Worn Path”, Welty describes Phoenix as awestruck by the gold lining of the degree, and Phoenix says the degree “matched the dream that was hung up in her head” (Welty, 1941). Phoenix’s optimistic look toward the future shows she has let the love for her grandson and her people transcend any racist comment she hears and any dismissiveness she is shown. As Sykes notes, Phoenix’s awe at the degree represents her looking forward to the day African-Americans will be able to go to
During a time when the world was losing its morality, Phoenix Jackson’s love for her grandson comes in to give us all a fresh reminder about how we should see and treat others. The time period of the story coupled with the brittle physical characteristics of Phoenix allow the reader to see the physical hardships African-Americans faced in their journey for civil rights, and Phoenix’s interactions with the Natchez townspeople allow the reader to see the social obstacles African-Americans faced in their journey for civil rights. Welty’s imagery and symbolism show how Phoenix faces these physical and social obstacles with strength and determination all while remaining hopeful for the future of her people and her grandson. While all these literary devices do not normally fit together, Welty constructs “A Worn Path” in a way where the reader is forced to consider human life’s true meaning: to love and to be loved.
References
A worn path. (1997). In K. Wilson (Ed.), short stories for students (Vol. 2, pp. 312-328). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com
Moss, J., & Wilson, G. (1997). “A worn path”. In Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them (Vol. 3, pp. 418- 424). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com
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