Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

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There is no substitution for life experience. Eudora Welty’s Short Story “A Worn Path” exemplifies this with one of Phoenix Jackson’s many walks into town and the trials and tribulations she faces during the journey. Although the story never definitively gives the time or place where her journey takes place it is understood that the story is set in the rural south during the early part of the twentieth century. This was a time in our country’s history when elderly blacks lived both as a slave and marked the beginning of their long struggle for true freedom. This is the most significant part of the short story and helps define just a few of Phoenix Jackson’s most endearing qualities. Courage, perseverance, and the true meaning of love and sacrifice are qualities that can only be learned through life experiences. Using symbolic character dialogue and Phoenix Jackson as her vessel Eudora Welty captures these qualities throughout the story and should be a lesson to us all.…show more content…
During this part of the story the white hunter points his gun at Phoenix Jackson and says, “Doesn’t the gun scare you?” (Welty 14). Phoenix answers by telling the white hunter, “No, Sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less what I done,” (Welty 14). I think it is significant that when Phoenix makes this statement she is standing straight and facing the white hunter. I believe it proves not only is Phoenix not afraid of the white hunter and his gun but that she is willing to stand in defiance of even the threat, that takes true

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