A Worn Path Analysis Essay, Research Paper

The Journey of Life

After reading the short narrative & # 8220 ; A Worn Path & # 8221 ; , by Eudora Welty, the readers & # 8217 ; perceptual experiences about the events in the narrative are changed by the symbolism environing the supporter and the struggles present. Through these, Welty created a really interesting narrative. & # 8220 ; A Worn Path & # 8221 ; is about a lonely ; elderly colored adult female and her journey to town on a mission of love. Phoenix Jackson, is old and has many disabilities, but despite these ruins she manages to contend off nature in her conflict to acquire into town. The ground she is so despairing to do it to and from town is to pick up medical specialty for her ill grandson. However, the narrative is expanded by the usage of symbolism and the struggles that enable the narrative to be seen as more than a journey to and from town. Along the manner she encounters physical challenges, obstructions and danger. Although the hurdlings are high, the name Phoenix fits this aged lady really good ; the name implies a fabulous animal that dies in fire, but rises from the ashes merely to be stronger. Phoenix shows qualities of her name by weathering the elements of nature so that her grandson can acquire the medical specialty he needs to acquire good.

Throughout the narrative Phoenix is faced with many obstructions, but if they could be grouped into classs, they would be placed into four chief struggles: her old age, her wellness, her grandson & # 8217 ; s wellness and her province of poorness. After reading the transition, & # 8220 ; Her eyes were bluish with age. Her tegument had a form all its ain of countless ramification furrows and as though a whole small tree stood in the center of her brow & # 8221 ; ( 53 ) , it is obvious she is a really old adult female. What is a lady at that age making walking several stat mis, irrespective of what she & # 8217 ; s traveling after? Possibly she was excessively diffident or had excessively much pride to inquire for service of that nature. But, hopefully in today & # 8217 ; s society, person of that age gets the proper regard required for him or her. They deserve it.

Obviously the senses of an person at her age are neglecting as clip goes on. The narrative says, & # 8220 ; She carried a thin, little cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen Earth in forepart of her & # 8221 ; ( 53 ) . The fact that she kept tapping the Earth in forepart of her could merely intend one thing & # 8211 ; she was visually impaired. She was non wholly blind because & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; she had seen with her ain eyes a flashing nickel fall out of the adult male & # 8217 ; s pocket on to the land & # 8221 ; ( 56 ) , but she had to hold been well impaired to hold kept tapping her cane in the mode in which she was.

Toward the terminal of the narrative the reader eventually finds out that Phoenix is on her manner to town to acquire medical specialty for her sick grandson. The lone pertinent information we were given about the cause of the unwellness is that he & # 8220 ; [ s ] wallowed lye & # 8221 ; ( 58 ) . Phoenix told the nurse that & # 8220 ; Every little while his pharynx Begin to shut up once more, and he non able to get down. He non acquire his breath. He non able to assist himself. So the clip come around, and I go on another trip for the soothing-medicine & # 8221 ; ( 58 ) . The struggle here is that every clip the grandson gets worse, Phoenix has to do another improbably long journey, particularly for a lady her age.

The concluding struggle remainders in the fact that she was hapless. The nurse asked Phoenix, & # 8220 ; Could I gi

ve you a few pennies out of my bag? ” Phoenix replied really stiffly, “Five pennies is a nickel” ( 59 ) . With this comment, Phoenix shows how difficult money is to come by for her. She is non ashamed to inquire for excess pocket alteration, so she could purchase her grandson a windmill made out of paper. Had she non been hapless, she could hold taken a cab to the metropolis or had the medical specialty delivered.

In my sentiment, Ms. Welty uses the symbolism in this narrative non merely to demo how difficult the trip to town is for Phoenix, but besides to demo how life was in the South. The worn way that Phoenix had to walk on to acquire into town could be associated by the readers as the paths inkinesss had to walk to acquire excessively much more than a town, but freedom. This association should non be confused with the fact that Phoenix is non walking this way to put herself free, but for her grandson, who needs the medical specialty she is going for. Phoenix & # 8221 ; had to travel through a barbed-wire fencing & # 8221 ; were & # 8220 ; she had to crawl and creep, distributing her articulatio genuss and stretching her fingers like a babe seeking to mount the stairss & # 8221 ; ( 54 ) . These words are depicting how difficult life can be. At times life seems really easy and others feel as if we are crawling and creep, and seeking non to acquire hurt along the manner. Another illustration of life & # 8217 ; s loads in the narrative is when Phoenix is going up a hill, & # 8220 ; [ s ] eems like there is ironss about my pess, clip I get this far & # 8221 ; ( 54 ) . The weight of our day-to-day determinations and actions can do life & # 8217 ; s burdens seem much heavier, merely like mounting uphill. Despite the battles or the hurting, we keep walking in our lives much like Phoenix did on her worn way. The old illustrations are merely a few of the ways the writer has chosen to show symbolism in the narrative. It is astonishing how much the similarities between people & # 8217 ; s mundane lives and the narrative, are expressed through the symbolism.

This literary analysis is non right by any agencies but it & # 8217 ; s non incorrect either, harmonizing to the writer. Eudora Welty wrote this narrative to capture the imaginativeness of the readers, so hence whatever the reader believes is by no agencies incorrectly. In this narrative the writer provides the reader with many inquiries that are unreciprocated. This is done to let the reader & # 8217 ; s imaginativeness to inquire and to come up with their version of what happened in the narrative. The writer does this by non replying certain inquiries. For illustration ; Is her grandson dead? Do the bumps in the route typify the challenges we are faced with in our lives? Etc. Therefore she does non rob the reader of his or her imaginativeness.

Obviously our category liked this narrative really much because we spent a long clip discoursing it in-depth. We liked the manner the writer involved us in the narrative. She did this by giving us the chance to do some determinations. Mrs. Welty created a piece that is both merriment and interesting with her originative symbolism and unreciprocated inquiries.

At one point in the narrative the writer speaks of Phoenix traveling through a labyrinth of maize and there was no way. Our lives are much like this. Peoples wonder along non ever on a specific way, and merely like Phoenix they need to halt and retrieve where they were headed. The scene, all the bumps in the route, the ditches we fall into, a lacerate frock, is what makes life deserving life. As in our lives, the journey is what life is all about.