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Doing What it Takes: Phoenix's Determination in
"The Worn Path"
Eudora
Welty sets "The Worn Path" in the middle of the twentieth century at a
time when African Americans were not treated as equal to white Americans.
Welty tells the story of Phoenix, an old African American woman, who
journeys through the wilderness to get medicine for her sick grandson.
For most people the journey from the country to Jackson, Mississippi
would not be very difficult. However,
because Phoenix is so old and because of some racist attitudes of people she
meets, the trip is a difficult one--she must overcome many obstacles to reach
her destination. Determination and
will enable Phoenix to accomplish her goal (getting the medicine) and without
these qualities, she probably would not have achieved it.
Phoenix becomes a great example for people who face problems and
illustrates the qualities necessary to succeed when barriers block success.
In "A Worn Path" Eudora Welty uses symbolism and
characterization to show that determination and will enable people to survive in
life no matter how difficult the struggle is.
Welty uses
many nature symbols to help illustrate her strong will and perseverance. These symbols occur at several points in the story and help
show how Phoenix struggles against nature to get what she wants—medicine for
her grandson. One of the first
obstacles she runs into is the hill. Every
time she comes to climb the hill, Phoenix says it seems like there are
"chains about my feet" (94). This
hill symbolizes the hard life that Phoenix has had to travel in order to get
what she wants. She could have just
given up when faced with this kind of obstacle, but she keeps on climbing.
After she reaches the top, she gives "a full severe look behind
where she had come" (94). The
climb was difficult, and she does not appreciate being held back.
Immediately after overcoming this obstacle and on her trip down the hill,
"a bush caught her dress" (94). She
says that the thorns are "doing your appointed work" and that they
"Never want to let folks pass" (94).
The bushes symbolize the things that hold people back in life, and they
seem to conspire with the hill to keep her from getting to Natchez to get the
medicine. However, after struggling
against them, Phoenix "trembling all over" stands "free"
(94). Even though these hurdles
have slowed her down, Phoenix proceeds towards her final objective. These objects symbolize the impediments Phoenix has faced and
help show just how hard of a life Phoenix has endured.
One of the main traits that Phoenix has that helps
her survive is her sense of humor. Without
this sense of humor, she probably could not have maintained the will or desire
to accomplish her goals. She would
have just been overcome by the obstacles she faced and not made it to Natchez to
get the medicine for her grandson. For
example, when she is traveling through the field, she thinks she sees a ghost,
but after addressing the ghost, and not receiving an answer, she "shut her
eyes, reached out her hand, and touched a sleeve. She found a coat and inside
that an emptiness as cold as ice" (95).
When she realizes it's a scarecrow and not a ghost, "her face
light[s]" and "with laughter" she says "'I ought to be shut
up for good'" (95). Instead of
being ashamed or embarrassed, she just laughs off her fear and even ends up
dancing with the scarecrow. Instead
of getting down on herself because her "senses is gone" (95), she just
smiles at herself and keeps plugging away.
If she had not been able to laugh at herself, she might have lost
confidence and not been able to move on.
Another trait that fuels her determination and will
is compassion. She feels great
compassion for her grandson and without this feeling of love, she probably would
not have had the determination and will necessary to get the medicine. She even says that the grandson is the reason why she
"'made [her] long trip'" (98). Even
though Phoenix temporarily forgets why she made the trip, once she remembers,
her sympathy for her grandson shines through: "'We is the only two left in
the world. He suffer and it don't
seem to put him back at all. He got
a sweet look. He going to last.
He wear a little patch quilt and peep out holding his mouth open like a
little bird. . . . I could tell him from all the others in creation'" (98).
Welty uses indirect characterization to show the strong feelings Phoenix
has for her grandson. She feels
sympathy for his suffering and the way he maintains a "'sweet'" look
despite the pain he endures because of the lye that burned his throat. She emphasizes her love for him when she says that she knows
him better than all "'others in creation.'" Her actions reveal her love for the grandson when she steals
the nickel from the hunter who stops her in the woods. At first we think she's just being selfish when "Her
fingers slid down and along the ground under the piece of money with the grace
and care they would have in lifting an egg from under a setting hen" and
the fact that she thinks to herself "'God watching me the whole time.
I come to stealing'" seems ironic (96). However, when we learn that
she has stolen the money to buy her grandson a paper "windmill" (99),
we see how selfless her act is. She's
getting the money to buy a present for her grandson and not for selfish gain.
Her desire to take care of him has been behind her actions all along, but
we don't find that out until the end of the story.
The strong feelings Phoenix has for her grandson fuel her determination
and will to ease his pain first with the "'soothing medicine'" (98)
and then with the "windmill."
Welty
presents Phoenix as a determined woman who is motivated by compassion and
nourished by humor to overcome the obstacles so that she can help her sick
grandson. This story gives a lesson
for all people who feel like the problems of life are too great to overcome and
provides advice for how to persevere when accomplishing goals seems impossible.
The way Welty uses symbols makes clear just how difficult Phoenix's task
is, but the way she depicts her character shows how humor and compassion help a
person make it through tough situations.
Work
Cited
Welty,
Eudora. "The Worn Path." Literature: Reading Fiction Drama, Poetry,
and the Essay. Ed. Robert Diyanni. 4th Edition. Boston:
McGraw-Hill, 1998. 93-99.
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