Worn Path Critical Essay
Worn Path
There is a short story called “A Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty that shows how far the body can be pushed, what the spirit must endure and the limits of our minds. It gives a very descriptive opening that helps paint a detailed mental image of the main character Phoenix Jackson. We find that given situations no matter how impossible they seem people can overcome great odds for people they care about.
There are many conflicts in this story for Phoenix from internal to external that she must face. In the second paragraph we are given a very good description so we understand what she is like physically. “ Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own numberless branching wrinkles and as though a little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath,…”(pg 259 para2) You then find out a little about her mental state. She would say “ Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!…Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites… Keep the big wild hogs out of my path” (pg 259 para4). From these first few paragraphs you get the basic information that Phoenix Jackson is an older woman who likes to talk to nature or that there might be something different about her. Here we see how she has a conflict with nature.
You can’t help but feel sorry for Phoenix knowing that she is older and probably is in more danger being out in nature. The things that you might laugh at if it were somebody else, but with her you almost want to help her. For instance when she gets caught up in the bush she starts talking to the bush and then the thorns themselves. Yet again we are shown how she has troubles with reality. After she had crossed the log she had stopped for a rest. “ she did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a little plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him.” Pg 260 Para...
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