The Worn Path

Eudora Welty's "The Worn Path" is a short story about a southern Negro woman named Phoenix Jackson and the journey she takes from her country house into town. There is plenty of symbolism in this story from the title "The Worn Path" to the main characters name.

The name Phoenix comes from the name of a mythical bird which when it dies it rises from its ashes. This symbolizes that nothing can knock this main character down. Whatever hardships come her way, Phoenix will rise from the ashes and continue on. Born into slavery and living in a racist world Phoenix has, like the mythical bird she is named for, risen from the ashes.

Phoenix's journey along the "worn path" is full of obstacles which she must overcome alone. Even the description of the path calling it "worn" suggests that it is a journey that she has taken many times before. Always rising from the ashes to overcome the challenges and hardships that she encounters each time along this path, Phoenix endures.

Another reason Phoenix is a great name for this main character is how she has risen above the racist people she meets on her journey. The worn path that Phoenix is travelling is not an easy one and Phoenix states "seem like there is chains about my feet ," this brings to mind images of slaves being held back by their white owners.

From the white hunter who tries to intimidate Phoenix by pointing his gun at her to the rude nurse nurse at the Doctors office who calls Phoenix a "charity case," she endures like the mythical bird and rises from all the humiliation heaped upon her.

Phoenix may be a poor, uneducated country woman but she does not allow these obstacles to stop her from getting the medicine she needs for her grandson. Phoenix is a strong willed woman who would not allow age, poverty, or racism beat her down.