A Worn Path By Eudora Welty Essay

887 Words4 Pages
What is Wisdom? When we think of wisdom an image of an elderly person comes to mind. We automatically connect age to wisdom because older people tend to have more life experiences than the persons younger than them, and typically they know what to do in situations the youth have no level of thinking in. That is why a majority of the time the youth depend on elders for advice. What about a situation where a child is faced with countless setbacks and is forced to grow up before their body does. This child can still be seen as wise even though they are not greying, so then what exactly defines wisdom? Wisdom isn’t stealing or implementing child-like behaviors. However, wisdom is to possess experience, good judgement and knowledge. In the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, the reader was able to follow aged protagonist Phoenix on her journey to the city to retrieve medicine her grandson needed to keep himself healthy from his Lye poisoning. On her journey, the reader is able to pick up examples of wisdom, but to…show more content…
The youth tend to overlook aspects in their lives because their minds are always on the go. Instead of stopping to take in their surrounding they classify them as unimportant because they have nothing significant to do with their fast paced life. If a young person were on their way to an important destination and they had to go through wilderness they more than likely wouldn’t keep a keen eye on their surrounding because they're focused on their destination and making it to that destination and nothing else. On her journey, Phoenix regards a shadow as a dancing man but comes to realize, after taking on a better look, that it was a scarecrow. If it were an unwise person they wouldn’t take a second look because the it would be an unimportant distraction. Phoenix, on the other hand, got a closer look to verify what the shadow was exactly because she was wise enough to engage in her
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