Analyzing “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty - 1
Analyzing “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty
In the story “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty shows an old woman living in a time period where racial prejudice is very high and out of control. Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose motivation for living seems to be to nurture her grandson back to health. The strength of love may make people do or say unusual and implausible things. The central idea of this story is that love can empower someone to overcome many life threatening obstacles. This idea is shown when an old woman conquers all odds against her to show her everlasting love for her grandson. Throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson has to overcome many types of obstacles that hinder her in her devotion to help her grandson.
To begin with, one of the main hindrances that stand in her way is the physical aspect of her age, as well as the journey. Phoenix Jackson is very weak and feeble because of her old age so that makes her long journey very hard. Another physical obstacle is that she has to weave and duck under a barbwire fence. She is old and cannot handle such tasks at her age. The third hindrance she must defeat is that she must cross over a log that lays over a creek. This requires concentration, skill, and patience. Even people whom are twice as young as Phoenix have trouble doing such things. There is no other emotional force, other than the love she has, that would be strong enough to give this old lady the strength to do what she did. She realizes if she were to die, then so would her grandson. Furthermore, there are also mental obstacles that Phoenix faced in her journey. She has to triumph over her weariness because of her old age and her mental fatigue. As she is walking, her mind plays tricks such as; the time when she is in the field and mistakes the scarecrow for a dark mysterious figure. Another time is when she talks to herself and the animals in the woods. She tells them not to get in her way because she has a long trip ahead of
In the story “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty shows an old woman living in a time period where racial prejudice is very high and out of control. Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose motivation for living seems to be to nurture her grandson back to health. The strength of love may make people do or say unusual and implausible things. The central idea of this story is that love can empower someone to overcome many life threatening obstacles. This idea is shown when an old woman conquers all odds against her to show her everlasting love for her grandson. Throughout the story, Phoenix Jackson has to overcome many types of obstacles that hinder her in her devotion to help her grandson.
To begin with, one of the main hindrances that stand in her way is the physical aspect of her age, as well as the journey. Phoenix Jackson is very weak and feeble because of her old age so that makes her long journey very hard. Another physical obstacle is that she has to weave and duck under a barbwire fence. She is old and cannot handle such tasks at her age. The third hindrance she must defeat is that she must cross over a log that lays over a creek. This requires concentration, skill, and patience. Even people whom are twice as young as Phoenix have trouble doing such things. There is no other emotional force, other than the love she has, that would be strong enough to give this old lady the strength to do what she did. She realizes if she were to die, then so would her grandson. Furthermore, there are also mental obstacles that Phoenix faced in her journey. She has to triumph over her weariness because of her old age and her mental fatigue. As she is walking, her mind plays tricks such as; the time when she is in the field and mistakes the scarecrow for a dark mysterious figure. Another time is when she talks to herself and the animals in the woods. She tells them not to get in her way because she has a long trip ahead of