Essay about Immortal Ideas In A Worn Path - 2029 Words

Upon a first reading of Eudora Welty’s, â€Å"A Worn Path†, it appears to be a simple story about an old woman going into town to procure medicine for her sick grandson, who has swallowed lye (Welty 3). After further readings and doing research, the deep meaning and depth of the story becomes apparent. The worn path is much more than a routine route regularly traversed into town and back to home. The protagonist Phoenix Jackson has many more layers than the way she is perceived as an apparent no account drifter, charity case, whose only reason to head into town is to see Santa Clause (Welty 2). There is significant meaning behind the interactions with people, places, and objects that Phoenix crosses paths with on her journey into town.†¦show more content†¦Welty uses imagery to link Phoenix to a bird (Welty 2). Her cane makes a sound â€Å"like the chirping of a solitary little bird (Welty 1)†. She stole a coin the same way she would have â€Å"li fted an egg from under a sitting hen (Welty 3). Her grandson, the future Phoenix, â€Å"Peeps out from his little patch quilt, holding his mouth out like a little bird† (Welty 6). Phillips describes Phoenix Jackson as not being aware of having â€Å"a mythic dimension† and the journey itself as having â€Å"archetypal depth† (419). The title â€Å"A worn Path† and not â€Å"The Worn Path† puts the meaning on a way of life as opposed to the directional way (Keys 354). The path in the story Is overgrown, which contradicts a trampled worn path like the one the title implies. Although on the surface Phoenix is just running errands out of â€Å"the deep-grained habit of love† (Welty), it is her experiences on the path that she and the future generations will learn to most from (Harris 492). After she dies, all of the knowledge and wisdom Phoenix has acquired will be reborn in the future generation of black America through her grandson. The name Phoenix symbolizes not only the knowledge and wisdom being reborn in the next generation but also the end and beginning of every journey Phoenix takes. After Phoenix accomplishes the task of getting the medicine from the doctor’s office, Welty says, â€Å"Her slow step began on the stairs, going down† symbolizing the start or rebirth of aShow MoreRelated Worn Path Essay685 Words   |  3 PagesWorn Path Knowing secret information can be a very enlightening thing. Knowing information that someone else does not helps make the reader feel more powerful. Such is the case when the reader knows of the mythical Phoenix and then reads â€Å"A Worn Path.† Eudora Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path,† the story of an elderly grandmother’s journey to the doctor’s office for medication for her grandson, explores allusions to mythology, including the character Phoenix and her journey. â€Å"In an Egyptian taleRead MoreA Worn Path: Struggle For Racial Equality Essay1522 Words   |  7 PagesA Worn Path: Struggle for Racial Equality In A Worn Path, a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a worn path through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics haveRead MoreA Worn Path: Struggle for Racial Equality1550 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"A Worn Path†: Struggle for Racial Equality In â€Å"A Worn Path†, a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a â€Å"worn path† through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics haveRead MoreA Worn Path By Eudora Welty1707 Words   |  7 PagesMichelle Andrews Dr. Goss ENGLISH 1102 9 February 2016 A Worn Path In the Eudora Welty’s ‘‘A Worn Path’’, there is a distinct description of characters that live in the era of segregation and the great depression. Because Welty is a native of the south, this story is based from the experiences during her life. Her struggles are relived in the characters of not just â€Å"A Worn Path† but also a lot of her other stories. She uses hidden messages in her stories and includes deep meaning in the simplestRead More Penelopes Recognition of Odysseus as a Beggar Essay example1549 Words   |  7 PagesPenelopes recognition of Odysseus as a beggar. Upon hearing of the travels of the beggar, Penelope is very interested to question him as to whether he has ever crossed paths with her husband Odysseus. The story that Odysseus tells her is for the most part untrue. However, he does give specific details as to what clothes he had worn, so that Penelope would believe that the story was truthful. The beggar then goes on to tell her that Odysseus is coming back to Ithaka in the very near future. It isRead MoreThe Battle Of Thermopylae During Western Civilization History1457 Words   |  6 Pagessoldiers on the fields at the pass of Thermopylae. Thermopylae was quickly becoming the massacre of the Medes. Xerxes then sent his next wave of men forward, he called them the â€Å"immortals†, but in reality they were called companions. The pass of Thermopylae confined the Persians because of their numbers, every death of an â€Å"immortal†, another one took their place in line. Spartans using their military tactic of r etreating actually helped them. When the Spartans fell back, the Persians followed, thenRead MoreThe Hero s Journeys Of Gilgamesh And J.k. Rowling1590 Words   |  7 Pagesare similar due to their use of the hero’s journey. INTRODUCTION The earliest version of The Epic of Gilgamesh dates back to 2000 B.C., long before J.K. Rowling ever thought up the idea of Harry Potter and his adventures. Despite the expansive amount of time between these two heroic epics, they follow the same path of the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is sometimes referred to as the monomyth because it unifies all heroes through their development. The hero’s journey has evolved with literatureRead MoreEudora Welty a Worn Path12166 Words   |  49 PagesA Worn Path by Eudora Welty Copyright Notice  ©1998−2002;  ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design ® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.  ©2007 eNotes.com LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storageRead MoreEudora Welty a Worn Path12173 Words   |  49 PagesA Worn Path by Eudora Welty Copyright Notice  ©1998−2002;  ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design ® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.  ©2007 eNotes.com LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storageRead MoreDantes Inferno Essay1949 Words   |  8 PagesIn The Inferno - Dante#8217;s Immortal Drama of a Journey Through Hell, Dante allows the reader to experience his every move. His mastery of language, his sensitivity to the sights and sounds of nature, and his infinite store of knowledge allow him to capture and draw the reader into the realm of the terrestrial hell. In Canto 6, the Gluttons; Canto 13, the Violent Against Themselves; and Canto 23, the Hypocrites; Dante excels in his detailed por trayal of the supernatural world of hell. In each