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Life is often described as a path. Our journey through this world, with its unexpected obstacles and stumbling blocks, is easily compared to one woman's trip to town on a mission of unselfish love, to get medicine for her grandson. Whether the worn path in this story is representative of Phoenix's life, or simply life in general, it is filled with symbols for the obstacles and evils found in any one person's journey through a lifetime.
It isn't difficult to find several examples of symbolism in "A Worn Path." The author, Eudora Welty, uses many, and most of them are nature symbols. The first one that becomes apparent to the reader is the main character's name, "Phoenix Jackson" (105). A phoenix is a mythical bird that rises from the ashes of its own destruction to begin anew. If Phoenix Jackson is seen as a representative of her race after the civil war, it is easy to find a connection. Just as a phoenix will rise from the ashes, so too did the African American people, emerging from their long years of oppression. Or the significance of Phoenix's name could be taken as symbolic of her own resilience. Her devotion to her grandson and her determination to care for him are there to see in her arduous journey, which the nurse comments on "She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork" (110).
Other symbols soon become evident to the reader. When Phoenix climbs the hill, she remarks to herself that it "seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far" (106). This hill is symbolic of the hard life Phoenix has traveled in order to get what she wants. Soon after, the old woman comes across a thorn bush, which caught her dress. Phoenix says to the bush, "Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks passno sir" (106). The fact that Phoenix feels that "it was not possible to allow the dress to tear" shows her unwillingness to compromise her beliefs when faced with an obstacle in life (106). Nearly everything on Phoenix's journey is symbolic of the trials in life, from the log on the creek, which Phoenix calls "the trial," to the snakes that she has encountered on previous treks to Natchez (106). "A pleasure I don't see no two-headed snake coming around that tree, where it come once" (107). Snakes, of course, are one of the most widely used symbols for evil, deception, and danger. All of these are found in any given life.
As for the question that some may have about whether or not the grandson lives, the answer can be found in Welty's frequent references to death and supernatural spirits. Phoenix notes that "down in the hollow was the mourning dove…it was not too late for him"(106). Is she referring to the dove and the time of day, or is the true meaning applied inwardly? Is Phoenix telling herself that it is not too late to grieve for her dead grandson?
Phoenix's vision, that of a little boy who brings her "a little plate with a slice of marble cake on it," may very well be the image of her grandson (107). Next, she notices "big dead trees, like black men with one arm…standing in the purple stalks of the withered cotton field" (107). And immediately after that, Phoenix spots a buzzard watching her. Next, she passes through "a field of dead corn," and mistakes a scarecrow for a ghost (107). "Ghost…who be you the ghost of? For I have heard of nary a death nearby" (107).
Her constant connections between her surroundings and death suggest that Phoenix is denying to herself the reality of her grandson's death, and understandably so. "We is the only two left in the world" (110). If she were to let go of her grandson's memory, Phoenix would be left without the reassurance of a family to come home to, to share her life with. For the old woman, it is better to have life, however uncertain, than to concede to the absolute certainty of death.
Overall, this entire story is symbolic of how we live our lives. The path traveled by Phoenix represents the path that each individual takes through his or her lifetime. And each person is guided, as Phoenix is, by the habits of love.
Works Cited
Welty, Eudora. "A Worn Path." An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Sylvan Barnet et al. 11th ed. New York Longman, 17. 1-1
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