Paper Example on A Worn Path: Phoenix Jackson's Hero's Journey Through Obstacles

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty is a story of an elderly African American woman who is making her pilgrimage to Mississippi, during the great depression, to procure medicine for her grandson who had swallowed lye some years back. The story is narrated by the third-person's perspective, where it follows the elderly woman called Phoenix Jackson. The journey is not comfortable as she encounters many obstacles, including a thick bush, barbed wire fence, wild animals and a corn maze. At some point, she runs into a white hunter who helps her up after she fell, but a lot of racial tension characterizes their encounter. The overreaching theme of the story is the persistence of the protagonist to make the journey through the harsh landscape during the depression era, for the sake of her grandson. By analyzing Phoenix's character against the other people, we see a deep-grained habit of love which cuts through the confusion and contrives its way out of difficulty.

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The Christmas setting is significant when looking at the plot of the novel because the author manages to depict selflessness and charity showing how love pushes the protagonist to persevere. Christmas is generally a season of joy and giving characterized by sacrifice and selflessness. The theme of love and charity is reinforced when Phoenix is acting selflessly by trying to help her grandson cure his sore throat. Phoenix has been making this trek along a worn path, so worn that she would even find the way without sight. She has braved through many obstacles, and through sacrifice, she can help her grandson. Phoenix makes the journey as an act of care for her grandson, and she does every time her grandson runs out of medicine. The author tries to contrast her sacrificial journey to the two nickels she is given, from the motivating sense of charity during the Christmas period. The author also tries to compare her journey with the medicine which she is presented as a charity, which she can get for free, but no one will go through the effort of taking it to her. In pale comparison, her acts of kindness are things she undertakes every day of her life. Also, as a gift to her son, Phoenix decides to spend the nickels to buy her grandson a windmill. Although this is not substantial, and it's short-lived, it emphasizes how Phoenix feels about charity and the holiday season. Notably, the protagonist does not bring up Christmas at any point. The other characters, like the whites, are more focused and connected to the commercial society. We see this connection when the hunter suggests that Christmas would be the only explanation for Phoenix's arduous journey.

Phoenix’s love for her grandson makes her persevere through many obstacles, revealing her character as a heroine. The author continuously depicts her as a hero throughout the story, though unconsciously. She emulates the necessary bolts and nuts of the archetypal journey as a hero while answering the call to adventure. She depicts the character of a hero archetype and the journey of a hero. A famous quote said that life is a course full of obstacles which have to be overcome. This aspect of the archetypal hero is employed in various situations. We see her talking to the bush saying "Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass. No, sir..." She even mocks how her old eyes though it was a green bush. She manages to free herself from the thorn bush. After that, she faces another hurdle, a barbed-wire fence, which is not easy for anyone. She gets through the fence and tells herself that she could not pay for having her arm or leg sawed. As she continues with her journey, once again, she is startled by a stray dog, and she ends up falling into a ditch. Eventually, a white man and his dog happen to be passing by, so the man pulled her out of the ditch. He attempts to prevent her from finishing her journey by telling her she's too old. He even pulls his gun, pointing at her at some point and just like an archetypal hero, she is brave and she faces the threat. Ultimately, she perseveres, and she will undoubtedly continue to do so.

Through the encounters of Phoenix with other characters, we see both regional and historical conflicts. Despite these conflicts, she still perseveres through the love she has towards her grandson, and quickly gets past the conflicts arising. When she fell to be picked by a white man, we see the deep-rooted conflict of racism. Phoenix, an African American woman who is trying to survive the era of depression of the South experiences racism during the encounter with the white man. The author describes the man as white and the readers knowing Phoenix is African American, it immediately depicts a certain aura between the two characters. There seems to be racial tension between the two characters and no sooner or later, we see the apparent illusion of racial violence. At the office, she endures humiliation from the attendant who hatefully calls her "a charity case" and tells her "speak up grandma." Here we see the conflicts between those who hold certain positions looking down on those who have nothing, or the typical rich showing condescending behavior on those who are perceived are poor or who do not contain certain positions.

Conclusion

To sum up, as readers follow Phoenix's story, they are filled with a tremendous sense of respect towards her encounters and the difficulties she faces. She a time talks out loud to wildlife, objects and visions. Phoenix perseveres despite the obstacles she encounters. Emotionally she is forced to deal with the abuse of the people she meets. Spiritually she has to deal with the heartache of having a grandson who is sick. As the Greek mythology phoenix, she keeps rising again with a lot of determination paralleling the Greek mythology phoenix in actions and character.