What do you think?
Rate this book
A Worn Path
Phoenix Jackson, an old woman, is on a dangerous journey through the woods to get medicine for her grandson.
The Atlantic Monthly first published the story in February 1941.
The Atlantic Monthly first published the story in February 1941.
ebook
First published November 1, 1941
11 people are currently reading
689 people want to read
About the author
Eudora Welty
221 books1,009 followersEudora Alice Welty was an award-winning American author who wrote short stories and novels about the American South. Her book The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published by the Library of America.
Welty was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and lived a significant portion of her life in the city's Belhaven neighborhood, where her home has been preserved. She was educated at the Mississippi State College for Women (now called Mississippi University for Women), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Columbia Business School. While at Columbia University, where she was the captain of the women's polo team, Welty was a regular at Romany Marie's café in 1930.
During the 1930s, Welty worked as a photographer for the Works Progress Administration, a job that sent her all over the state of Mississippi photographing people from all economic and social classes. Collections of her photographs are One Time, One Place and Photographs.
Welty's true love was literature, not photography, and she soon devoted her energy to writing fiction. Her first short story, "Death of a Traveling Salesman," appeared in 1936. Her work attracted the attention of Katherine Anne Porter, who became a mentor to her and wrote the foreword to Welty's first collection of short stories, A Curtain of Green, in 1941. The book immediately established Welty as one of American literature's leading lights and featured the legendary and oft-anthologized stories "Why I Live at the P.O.," "Petrified Man," and "A Worn Path." Her novel, The Optimist's Daughter, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.
In 1992, Welty was awarded the Rea Award for the Short Story for her lifetime contributions to the American short story, and was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, founded in 1987. In her later life, she lived near Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, where, despite her fame, she was still a common sight among the people of her hometown.
Eudora Welty died of pneumonia in Jackson, Mississippi, at the age of 92, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson.
Excerpted and adopted from Wikipedia.
Welty was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and lived a significant portion of her life in the city's Belhaven neighborhood, where her home has been preserved. She was educated at the Mississippi State College for Women (now called Mississippi University for Women), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Columbia Business School. While at Columbia University, where she was the captain of the women's polo team, Welty was a regular at Romany Marie's café in 1930.
During the 1930s, Welty worked as a photographer for the Works Progress Administration, a job that sent her all over the state of Mississippi photographing people from all economic and social classes. Collections of her photographs are One Time, One Place and Photographs.
Welty's true love was literature, not photography, and she soon devoted her energy to writing fiction. Her first short story, "Death of a Traveling Salesman," appeared in 1936. Her work attracted the attention of Katherine Anne Porter, who became a mentor to her and wrote the foreword to Welty's first collection of short stories, A Curtain of Green, in 1941. The book immediately established Welty as one of American literature's leading lights and featured the legendary and oft-anthologized stories "Why I Live at the P.O.," "Petrified Man," and "A Worn Path." Her novel, The Optimist's Daughter, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.
In 1992, Welty was awarded the Rea Award for the Short Story for her lifetime contributions to the American short story, and was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, founded in 1987. In her later life, she lived near Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, where, despite her fame, she was still a common sight among the people of her hometown.
Eudora Welty died of pneumonia in Jackson, Mississippi, at the age of 92, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson.
Excerpted and adopted from Wikipedia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
June 12, 2017
This short story by Eudora Welty was both vivid and very moving. An old woman named Phoenix Jackson makes a journey that, from the title alone, we sense is one she has made many times before. The reason for her journey is not immediately evident, but Welty’s lovely prose made me feel as if I was on this quest with her. "Deep, deep the road went down between the high green-colored banks. Overhead the live-oaks met, and it was as dark as a cave." A Worn Path also reflects the racism and poverty of Mississippi during those times (the story was written in 1941). An affecting piece of literature and one that I recommend to anyone wanting to sample classic, American southern literature. I would love to immerse myself more fully in one of Welty’s full length novels sometime soon.
April 7, 2017
The worn path is a trail that old Aunt Phoenix has taken since she was a young girl, from her place back off the Old Natchez Trace into the town of Natchez. How old is she? "There's no telling", she says. But she must be close to 100. "I never did go to school, I was too old at the Surrender", she says. Her trip this time is to get medicine for her grandson. The trip, the people she meets, the things she sees, are so beautifully and vividly described by Welty that it's like watching the movie. The ending seemed unfinished to me which kept me from giving it five stars.
August 11, 2018
A free online link to the short story is found here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
In this story an elderly black woman, Phoenix, takes an arduous trip by foot into Natchez, a town in southern Mississippi. It is most probably the early 1900s; the Civil War is spoken of as having occurred, but long ago.
A person can read this story in two ways. One can take what is told as being true or one can question the validity of what we are told. A nurse at the medical dispensary to which Phoenix has walked tells us that Phoenix is seeking medicine for her grandson. Several years ago, he swallowed lye. His throat has never properly healed; it gradually swells up and suffocates him. They are willing to give Phoenix medicine if she comes and fetches it herself. Note, as she takes the long and difficult journey to the hospital, she never tells us this, and she talks as she walks--to herself, to the animals along the way and to the people she meets, some kind, some mean and one very dangerous. Skeptic that I am, I couldn’t stop wondering if what we have been told is actually true! There is not enough in the story to decide. The story needs more meat and the end feels incomplete.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive and vivid. Atmospheric and alive. Phoenix is elderly, very elderly, and she is traveling alone. The walk, what she sees and experiences through her senses, rather than what happens, is the best of the story.
The short story captures the poverty and racial inequality that persisted after the Civil War.
Is there no one other than me that questions what we are told? I wish I could ask Eudora Welty what she wanted to say with the story. Could the journey portray the ups and downs, the good luck and the bad and the struggle of life?
In this story an elderly black woman, Phoenix, takes an arduous trip by foot into Natchez, a town in southern Mississippi. It is most probably the early 1900s; the Civil War is spoken of as having occurred, but long ago.
A person can read this story in two ways. One can take what is told as being true or one can question the validity of what we are told. A nurse at the medical dispensary to which Phoenix has walked tells us that Phoenix is seeking medicine for her grandson. Several years ago, he swallowed lye. His throat has never properly healed; it gradually swells up and suffocates him. They are willing to give Phoenix medicine if she comes and fetches it herself. Note, as she takes the long and difficult journey to the hospital, she never tells us this, and she talks as she walks--to herself, to the animals along the way and to the people she meets, some kind, some mean and one very dangerous. Skeptic that I am, I couldn’t stop wondering if what we have been told is actually true! There is not enough in the story to decide. The story needs more meat and the end feels incomplete.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive and vivid. Atmospheric and alive. Phoenix is elderly, very elderly, and she is traveling alone. The walk, what she sees and experiences through her senses, rather than what happens, is the best of the story.
The short story captures the poverty and racial inequality that persisted after the Civil War.
Is there no one other than me that questions what we are told? I wish I could ask Eudora Welty what she wanted to say with the story. Could the journey portray the ups and downs, the good luck and the bad and the struggle of life?
October 19, 2016
Powerful and heart breaking.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/ew_p...
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/ew_p...
June 18, 2017
Just my take on this but **SPOILERS ** maybe if you've not read it.
*****************************************
Even as I started reading this very short story I had the feeling that it was about the last journey we all have to make.
Phoenix an ancient black lady sets out on a very long walk with a 'cane made from an umbrella'.She has walked this path up hills through the pine trees and down hill through the Oaks many times, indeed her feet know their own way.
She is on a mission to get medicine for a beloved grandson.
On her journey she encounters hardship, and danger as well as good fortune and kindness. A lot like life really.
There is for me a lot to reflect on in this story.
I wonder how old Eudora Welty was when she wrote this... Was she looking back on her own life through the eyes of Phoenix?
As well as reading this story I also listened to it voiced by Eudora herself which I think made the 'feelings' even more poignant.
*****************************************
Even as I started reading this very short story I had the feeling that it was about the last journey we all have to make.
Phoenix an ancient black lady sets out on a very long walk with a 'cane made from an umbrella'.She has walked this path up hills through the pine trees and down hill through the Oaks many times, indeed her feet know their own way.
She is on a mission to get medicine for a beloved grandson.
On her journey she encounters hardship, and danger as well as good fortune and kindness. A lot like life really.
There is for me a lot to reflect on in this story.
I wonder how old Eudora Welty was when she wrote this... Was she looking back on her own life through the eyes of Phoenix?
As well as reading this story I also listened to it voiced by Eudora herself which I think made the 'feelings' even more poignant.
June 10, 2017
Welty takes us on a journey with Phoenix, an elderly Southern black lady, as she treks a path she knows well from her home to the doctor's office in town. Along the way, we learn a great deal about both Phoenix and the environment in which she lives. Welty packs a great deal into a very short story.
August 29, 2013
A Negro woman, poor and ancient, travels on foot in the woods, with a stick, trying to conquer the great distance from her humble abode to the nearest town.
Her language is coarse and illiterate. She talks to herself, to imagined and real persons and animals she meet. She remembers, forgets, suffers and sins.
In most of our real lives, like those dirty beggars who knock on your car window as you try to drive through the rush hour traffic each day, this old woman is not someone whom you would cast your merest attention to. To their kind, you'd often avert your gaze, convinced of the uselessness of looking at an irremediable suffering you feel no responsibility for or reason to be guilty of.
Eudora Welty makes alive such a non-entity here, and exhibits a powerful, sympathetic insight into the mind of an inconsequential life.
Her language is coarse and illiterate. She talks to herself, to imagined and real persons and animals she meet. She remembers, forgets, suffers and sins.
In most of our real lives, like those dirty beggars who knock on your car window as you try to drive through the rush hour traffic each day, this old woman is not someone whom you would cast your merest attention to. To their kind, you'd often avert your gaze, convinced of the uselessness of looking at an irremediable suffering you feel no responsibility for or reason to be guilty of.
Eudora Welty makes alive such a non-entity here, and exhibits a powerful, sympathetic insight into the mind of an inconsequential life.
August 9, 2017
This is really a short story but in a lovely volume which I found in our library shop. Although not usually a fan of short stories, this one I really enjoyed. It's a tale of an elderly black woman in Mississippi making a long trek into town on foot. Having lived in Mississippi as a child, this little story held great interest for me and Eudora Welty is one of my favorite Mississippi authors.
January 15, 2018
3.75 :)
February 5, 2025
داستان بسیار کوتاهی است، کند و تا حدی نا امید کننده شروع می شود ولی به نظرم پایان تاثیرگذاری داشت. زنده باد ققنوس
June 29, 2025
این شد حالا یه چیزی.
زنده باد ننه ققنوس !!!
زنده باد ننه ققنوس !!!
June 26, 2018
Eudora Welty was an American short story writer and novelist who wrote about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.
A Worn Path is about Old Phoenix (a mythological bird...does that have meaning?) Jackson (they also elude she is around 100 yrs old) and her journey from her quiet rural life to town in order to get the medicine for her beloved grandson is a ritual of caring she must do.
Some might think the story is very simple. It is not exciting, no highs and no lows, but what it does tell is the quaint rural quiet life that Phoenix has. A Worn Path eludes to the many times she has overcome the obstacles along the way to achieve her goal.
The story tells of the poor life (apron made of sugar sacks) Phoenix has, but she is full of love, persistence and gumption. Nothing deters her on her way to get what she needs for her Grandson. Her body is so used to making this trip she even forgets the why, when she reaches her destination. When she gets to the clinic, they do not take any payment written off as "charity".
For years people have walked the course of life, overcoming obstacles along the way and grasping onto hope and love to help strengthen their steps along the path. This is such a tale.
A Worn Path is about Old Phoenix (a mythological bird...does that have meaning?) Jackson (they also elude she is around 100 yrs old) and her journey from her quiet rural life to town in order to get the medicine for her beloved grandson is a ritual of caring she must do.
Some might think the story is very simple. It is not exciting, no highs and no lows, but what it does tell is the quaint rural quiet life that Phoenix has. A Worn Path eludes to the many times she has overcome the obstacles along the way to achieve her goal.
The story tells of the poor life (apron made of sugar sacks) Phoenix has, but she is full of love, persistence and gumption. Nothing deters her on her way to get what she needs for her Grandson. Her body is so used to making this trip she even forgets the why, when she reaches her destination. When she gets to the clinic, they do not take any payment written off as "charity".
For years people have walked the course of life, overcoming obstacles along the way and grasping onto hope and love to help strengthen their steps along the path. This is such a tale.
August 12, 2024
a simple short story about love in the face of hardship written very similar to a religious fable/myth, with some beautiful and detailed natural imagery. a bit too short to develop any ideas enough to make a lasting impact on me though.
October 31, 2025
Is the boy dead or alive?
It doesn't matter but to answer your question I would say, Phoenix is alive.
It doesn't matter but to answer your question I would say, Phoenix is alive.
May 2, 2025
Using foreshadowing and irony, Eudora Welty has written one of the best short stories I have EVER read.
I had to read this for my ENG 102 class. This is not something I would usually read, as I am more of a novel type of girl, but I did enjoy this short story!
From the beginning, it is obvious that Phoenix Jackson (my queen) has poor eyesight, is impoverished, is old, and has an important place to be. As she speaks to herself while traveling through the pinewoods, Phoenix is on an urgent journey to get to the doctor. However, she has a few odd encounters.
First, there is the little boy with the marble cake. Phoenix decides to rest after walking in the woods, when she sees a young boy come up to her with a plate with a slice of marble cake. "'That would be acceptable,' she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air." This strange encounter is jarring, as the boy and the cake vanish without explanation, leaving Phoenix reaching into empty air. Despite her strong exterior, the moment subtly suggests that her mind may not always align with reality.
Next, there is the scarecrow. At first, Phoenix mistakenly sees the scarecrow as a man dancing in the field of dead corn. Then, she mistakes the figure again for a ghost. Finally, Phoenix goes up to the figure and touches it. In doing so, she realizes that it is a scarecrow—neither a ghost nor a dancing man. “‘I ought to be shut up for good,’ she said with laughter. ‘My senses is gone. I too old…’” Her reaction, filled with humor and self-awareness, adds a layer of complexity to Phoenix's character, suggesting a quiet struggle with clarity while maintaining a brave and determined spirit.
Then, there is the hunter. Before meeting him, she falls into a ditch, frightened by one of the hunter’s dogs. While lying in the ditch, the text states, “Down there, her senses drifted away. A dream visited her, and she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull. So she lay there and presently went to talking.” Thankfully, the hunter comes along and helps Phoenix out of the ditch. After conversing with the hunter, she notices a nickel fall out of his pocket. Phoenix distracts the hunter by getting his dogs riled up, allowing her to bend down and steal the nickel from him. What is fascinating is that the hunter aims his gun at her—he never realizes she steals his nickel, and Phoenix stands there, completely unfazed.
Finally, there is the attendant and the nurse. At last, Phoenix makes it to the doctor. Here, she remains stiff and silent when the attendant speaks to her. When the nurse appears, she states that Phoenix “…makes these trips just as regular as clockwork.” The nurse asks Phoenix how her grandson has been doing with his sore throat, but Phoenix does not respond. “My grandson. It was my memory that had left me. There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip.” Phoenix tells the nurse. (Now, this is where I began to cry a little in class.) Phoenix goes into detail about her grandson’s condition and shares, “He got a sweet look. He going to last… I not going to forget him again…I could tell him from all the others in creation.” The nurse, being kind, gives Phoenix a nickel and says she will use it to buy her grandson a paper windmill.
Using foreshadowing and irony, Eudora Welty has written one of the best short stories I have EVER read (granted, I do not typically read short stories haha). Allow me to explain:
Would you like to know why I called Phoenix Jackson a queen in the beginning?
I had to read this for my ENG 102 class. This is not something I would usually read, as I am more of a novel type of girl, but I did enjoy this short story!
From the beginning, it is obvious that Phoenix Jackson (my queen) has poor eyesight, is impoverished, is old, and has an important place to be. As she speaks to herself while traveling through the pinewoods, Phoenix is on an urgent journey to get to the doctor. However, she has a few odd encounters.
First, there is the little boy with the marble cake. Phoenix decides to rest after walking in the woods, when she sees a young boy come up to her with a plate with a slice of marble cake. "'That would be acceptable,' she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air." This strange encounter is jarring, as the boy and the cake vanish without explanation, leaving Phoenix reaching into empty air. Despite her strong exterior, the moment subtly suggests that her mind may not always align with reality.
Next, there is the scarecrow. At first, Phoenix mistakenly sees the scarecrow as a man dancing in the field of dead corn. Then, she mistakes the figure again for a ghost. Finally, Phoenix goes up to the figure and touches it. In doing so, she realizes that it is a scarecrow—neither a ghost nor a dancing man. “‘I ought to be shut up for good,’ she said with laughter. ‘My senses is gone. I too old…’” Her reaction, filled with humor and self-awareness, adds a layer of complexity to Phoenix's character, suggesting a quiet struggle with clarity while maintaining a brave and determined spirit.
Then, there is the hunter. Before meeting him, she falls into a ditch, frightened by one of the hunter’s dogs. While lying in the ditch, the text states, “Down there, her senses drifted away. A dream visited her, and she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull. So she lay there and presently went to talking.” Thankfully, the hunter comes along and helps Phoenix out of the ditch. After conversing with the hunter, she notices a nickel fall out of his pocket. Phoenix distracts the hunter by getting his dogs riled up, allowing her to bend down and steal the nickel from him. What is fascinating is that the hunter aims his gun at her—he never realizes she steals his nickel, and Phoenix stands there, completely unfazed.
Finally, there is the attendant and the nurse. At last, Phoenix makes it to the doctor. Here, she remains stiff and silent when the attendant speaks to her. When the nurse appears, she states that Phoenix “…makes these trips just as regular as clockwork.” The nurse asks Phoenix how her grandson has been doing with his sore throat, but Phoenix does not respond. “My grandson. It was my memory that had left me. There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip.” Phoenix tells the nurse. (Now, this is where I began to cry a little in class.) Phoenix goes into detail about her grandson’s condition and shares, “He got a sweet look. He going to last… I not going to forget him again…I could tell him from all the others in creation.” The nurse, being kind, gives Phoenix a nickel and says she will use it to buy her grandson a paper windmill.
Using foreshadowing and irony, Eudora Welty has written one of the best short stories I have EVER read (granted, I do not typically read short stories haha). Allow me to explain:
Would you like to know why I called Phoenix Jackson a queen in the beginning?
April 23, 2025
3.25/5☆
March 9, 2024
This was my first short story after a long time and definitely a great choice for revisiting this format!
Overall, an extremely layered tale which tackles the issues of the 1930s American South in a completely approachable style that, nonetheless, leaves you with plenty of material for reflection long after reading it.
Overall, an extremely layered tale which tackles the issues of the 1930s American South in a completely approachable style that, nonetheless, leaves you with plenty of material for reflection long after reading it.
February 12, 2014
This is a story about an old, black woman who lives out in the country. She must walk a very long way to town to get medicine for her grandson. She can't see very well, but she has the way memorized in her head. It is a very hard journey with many dangers along the way. She makes it to town and then she has to walk all the way home again.
The main character is the old lady, her name we find out is Aunt Phoenix, but most people just call her Granny. She is very old and she uses an old umbrella which she uses as a cane. She is very determined to get to town for the medicine for her grandson.
The story takes place by the town of Natchez, which is a town in Southern Mississippi. It takes place around 1900 after the Civil War.
This would be a good story to anyone who likes a story with a lot of good details and descriptions. Also the scenery and characters are described very well. I don't think most high school students would like this story very much. I think older people would enjoy it more because they would remember that time of history.
The main character is the old lady, her name we find out is Aunt Phoenix, but most people just call her Granny. She is very old and she uses an old umbrella which she uses as a cane. She is very determined to get to town for the medicine for her grandson.
The story takes place by the town of Natchez, which is a town in Southern Mississippi. It takes place around 1900 after the Civil War.
This would be a good story to anyone who likes a story with a lot of good details and descriptions. Also the scenery and characters are described very well. I don't think most high school students would like this story very much. I think older people would enjoy it more because they would remember that time of history.
November 1, 2024
"i could tell him apart from all the others in creation"
yet another one for school
edit: read this yet again because i’m writing an essay on it.. i think it’s interesting how the author chooses to indicate that the grandson is no longer living but how phoenix still traverses the worn path for him over and over again bc it gives her purpose.
yet another one for school
edit: read this yet again because i’m writing an essay on it.. i think it’s interesting how the author chooses to indicate that the grandson is no longer living but how phoenix still traverses the worn path for him over and over again bc it gives her purpose.
March 30, 2017
The best thing about this story for me was the description. The out-dated short film based off of it kind of ruined it for me. It was all right.
March 28, 2022
read for school.
May 8, 2024
The story is about an elderly African-American woman named Phoenix Jackson who undertakes a long journey in the forest to reach Mississippi in order to get medicine for her grandson. On her journey she faces many problems such as thorny bushes, dangerous people, racial inequalities, as well as hardships that come with age. Yet, she perseveres and reaches a doctor's office. There she obtains the medicine and uses the rest of her money to buy a paper windmill for her grandson.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2023
A Worn Path is a deeply symbolic short story about an elderly African American woman who makes a difficult journey through the countryside. It's a unique take on the "hero's journey" story template.
A quick, easy read that gives you plenty to ponder.
A quick, easy read that gives you plenty to ponder.
January 6, 2019
I read this story in a much darker tone than someone else might read it, and it's left open to decide the truth for yourself. Phoenix is an old woman, who must be around a hundred, since it seems like the story takes place in the very late 1930s or very early 1940s, and she says she was "too old [for schooling] at the Surrender," which means the end of the Civil War, 1865. Too old for education would've had to have been late teens at the earliest, mostly likely meaning 20 or older, so she probably would have been at least 20 in 1865, so at least 95 in 1940.
This may contain some spoilers if you haven't read the story, or it may help you see the story in a different light if you find it coming up short: Phoenix is black in the racially divided South and makes a trip she has taken many times, from her home far from the city center through some tedious obstacles to a doctor's office. Along the way, she talks to animals, can't see objects clearly, imagines things that are not there, talks to herself, has her shoes untied despite them tripping her, and is generally not "with it," though she's plenty capable of making the tough journey, regardless of her age.
When she gets to the doctor's, we find out that she is collecting medicine for her young grandson who has swallowed lye at least three years ago, and whose throat has never been the same since, swelling occasionally so that he cannot swallow. But anyone who knows the dangers of lye (hi, historian here!) knows that it is rather unlikely that a child would have survived it at all, especially if this journey Phoenix takes is how long it would have taken to get treatment. Lye causes severe chemical burns and corrosion, eating right through the esophagus. Stomach acids can neutralize it in the stomach, but the mouth and throat are powerless, and if it doesn't kill you, it will at the very least dissolve so much of your lips, tongue, and throat that you'll have to eat with a tube for the rest of your life. Colonists who made lye soap would regularly die from just the chemical poisoning involved in inhaling the fumes (which is why lye soap was never made inside the house, always outside, even in the cold of winter).
So. One wonders if the child survived at all, or if this is just one more of Phoenix's delusions, such as reaching for a proffered piece of cake by the river that is just a figment of her imagination. The dispensary clerks are skeptical, as well, shedding light on the possibility that Phoenix may simply not be dealing with the grief and guilt of losing the grandchild, the rest of the backstory of the situation being murky at best.
My theory is that she once took this path, three years ago, to try to save her grandson, who had ingested lye. As we take this long, arduous path with her, seeing all the obstacles it entails (barbed-wire fences, thorns, rickety bridges, dangerous white men with guns who clearly own the property she's traversing, no roads), we see how long it must have taken her the first time she had to make this journey, a journey too long to have made and to have still had the child survive without immediate treatment. We see that this is her guilt-ridden penance walk, her cross to bear, and in this we also see the disparities of those who "have" and those who "have not." It demonstrates the class divide, the wealth divide, the education divide, the race divide; and for all these divides, she had to pay the dearest price, which was the loss of her grandson because she couldn't get to treatment fast enough. In this, we also get echoes of today's healthcare atmosphere between the haves and have nots, those who still cannot afford to receive medical treatment or who can't get to it fast enough, and those who can.
This story actually only gets three stars for my enjoyment of it, but I gave it one more star for the aftereffects of reading more into it than what was on the page and of seeing some deeper irony and symbolism, though it loses one star for its rather ambiguous ending that feels chopped off and unfinished.
This may contain some spoilers if you haven't read the story, or it may help you see the story in a different light if you find it coming up short: Phoenix is black in the racially divided South and makes a trip she has taken many times, from her home far from the city center through some tedious obstacles to a doctor's office. Along the way, she talks to animals, can't see objects clearly, imagines things that are not there, talks to herself, has her shoes untied despite them tripping her, and is generally not "with it," though she's plenty capable of making the tough journey, regardless of her age.
When she gets to the doctor's, we find out that she is collecting medicine for her young grandson who has swallowed lye at least three years ago, and whose throat has never been the same since, swelling occasionally so that he cannot swallow. But anyone who knows the dangers of lye (hi, historian here!) knows that it is rather unlikely that a child would have survived it at all, especially if this journey Phoenix takes is how long it would have taken to get treatment. Lye causes severe chemical burns and corrosion, eating right through the esophagus. Stomach acids can neutralize it in the stomach, but the mouth and throat are powerless, and if it doesn't kill you, it will at the very least dissolve so much of your lips, tongue, and throat that you'll have to eat with a tube for the rest of your life. Colonists who made lye soap would regularly die from just the chemical poisoning involved in inhaling the fumes (which is why lye soap was never made inside the house, always outside, even in the cold of winter).
So. One wonders if the child survived at all, or if this is just one more of Phoenix's delusions, such as reaching for a proffered piece of cake by the river that is just a figment of her imagination. The dispensary clerks are skeptical, as well, shedding light on the possibility that Phoenix may simply not be dealing with the grief and guilt of losing the grandchild, the rest of the backstory of the situation being murky at best.
My theory is that she once took this path, three years ago, to try to save her grandson, who had ingested lye. As we take this long, arduous path with her, seeing all the obstacles it entails (barbed-wire fences, thorns, rickety bridges, dangerous white men with guns who clearly own the property she's traversing, no roads), we see how long it must have taken her the first time she had to make this journey, a journey too long to have made and to have still had the child survive without immediate treatment. We see that this is her guilt-ridden penance walk, her cross to bear, and in this we also see the disparities of those who "have" and those who "have not." It demonstrates the class divide, the wealth divide, the education divide, the race divide; and for all these divides, she had to pay the dearest price, which was the loss of her grandson because she couldn't get to treatment fast enough. In this, we also get echoes of today's healthcare atmosphere between the haves and have nots, those who still cannot afford to receive medical treatment or who can't get to it fast enough, and those who can.
This story actually only gets three stars for my enjoyment of it, but I gave it one more star for the aftereffects of reading more into it than what was on the page and of seeing some deeper irony and symbolism, though it loses one star for its rather ambiguous ending that feels chopped off and unfinished.
September 11, 2010
Based on her encounter with two elderlu women while out painting. She caught a glimpse of one crossing a field "obviously on a mission for someone else, so intently she was walking." The second woman she talked to giving her the line Aunt Phoenix says, "My memory failed me. I was too old at the surrender to get an education." She said these two women merged into one in this story.
Phoenix is an apporpriate name for the region as well as symbolic of her life-giving mission.
Welty wrote an essay saying she never intended to suggest the grandson was dead.
Phoenix is an apporpriate name for the region as well as symbolic of her life-giving mission.
Welty wrote an essay saying she never intended to suggest the grandson was dead.
September 16, 2014
I had to read this for my Women's Literature class in college. I had read this before also, for another English class at some point. I like it. I feel bad for the old woman making the long trek, but I admire her determination and love she has for her grandson.
September 29, 2008
The story of the journey of the grandmother to the store turns into an insightful allegory for all of our journies.
October 8, 2010
Great writing, but why would I want to read something so boring? No offense.
April 10, 2024
Sad and whimsical. Just the way I like it.
September 26, 2024
To me, this short story is a perfect example of a short story that has great components but doesn't equate to a great whole. There are many interesting pieces of symbolism in this work that move together to tell a big story about the acts that love makes us do and the legacy of racism in the Deep South. Altogether, though, I felt like this story wasn't THAT interesting and didn't draw me in, but that's just a me thing. There is no denying the masterful writing at play in Eudora Welty's work here, but I just don't find it that interesting.
Here's a mini-English class essay I wrote about the symbolism of death in this short story for anyone who needs to do something similar or for anyone curious.
Death in “A Worn Path”
“A Worn Path” employs a death motif to punctuate the lengths that Phoenix Jackson will go to for the love of her grandson and to highlight the remnants of racism in the Deep South. The most present example of this is Phoenix’s encounter with the hunter. He carries a gun and “... one of the bobwhites with its beak hooked bitterly to show it was dead.” Given Phoenix’s bird-related namesake, it’s clear there is a symbolic danger from an avian-hunter. This danger is confirmed when the man continues to aggressively question her, leading to a confrontation between their dogs. The threat of death here also serves as a mechanism to make clear how omnipresent the threat of racist violence is. The man asks strange questions and points out her race, making it clear that race is a part of their ultimately violent interaction.
Perhaps the most obvious usage of death to punctuate love is towards the end of the piece. “Tell us about your grandson and get over it. He’s dead, isn’t he?” In the following exchange, it is revealed that Jackson’s grandson swallowed lye three years ago and still hasn’t gotten better. Though Welty says it doesn’t matter, it would seem clear to the observant reader that this means her grandson is almost certainly dead. And in the possibility of his being dead, there is a yet greater thing for the reader to learn; another testament to the power of love. However sad it may be that this woman seeks treatment for a Grandson who’s dead, it shows the profundity of devotion that she feels to him and what love drives us to do. That is ultimately how death helps build this story’s theme of the power of love.
Here's a mini-English class essay I wrote about the symbolism of death in this short story for anyone who needs to do something similar or for anyone curious.
Death in “A Worn Path”
“A Worn Path” employs a death motif to punctuate the lengths that Phoenix Jackson will go to for the love of her grandson and to highlight the remnants of racism in the Deep South. The most present example of this is Phoenix’s encounter with the hunter. He carries a gun and “... one of the bobwhites with its beak hooked bitterly to show it was dead.” Given Phoenix’s bird-related namesake, it’s clear there is a symbolic danger from an avian-hunter. This danger is confirmed when the man continues to aggressively question her, leading to a confrontation between their dogs. The threat of death here also serves as a mechanism to make clear how omnipresent the threat of racist violence is. The man asks strange questions and points out her race, making it clear that race is a part of their ultimately violent interaction.
Perhaps the most obvious usage of death to punctuate love is towards the end of the piece. “Tell us about your grandson and get over it. He’s dead, isn’t he?” In the following exchange, it is revealed that Jackson’s grandson swallowed lye three years ago and still hasn’t gotten better. Though Welty says it doesn’t matter, it would seem clear to the observant reader that this means her grandson is almost certainly dead. And in the possibility of his being dead, there is a yet greater thing for the reader to learn; another testament to the power of love. However sad it may be that this woman seeks treatment for a Grandson who’s dead, it shows the profundity of devotion that she feels to him and what love drives us to do. That is ultimately how death helps build this story’s theme of the power of love.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews