Literary Analysis on “A Worn Path”
Literary Analysis on “A Worn Path” In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, the protagonist Phoenix Jackson helps portray the theme that people will do anything for whom they love. Everyday people are going out of their way to make either a theoretical or literal journey to help someone they love. In the movie “The Notebook” a man tells the story of his and his wife’s whole life every day to his wife because she has Alzheimer’s and can’t remember who she is.
He does this not only because he loves her, but to see the faint glimmer of remembrance when he finishes that story.
His love for her is what keeps him going, so if he has to read the same story every day until the day he dies, he is completely fine with that. By using the actions of Phoenix, and the setting of the story, Welty helps show us an example of love, perseverance, and dedication. Phoenix Jackson’s feeble mind and body was no obstacle to the insurmountable devotion she felt toward her grandson. She proved this on a number of occasions throughout the story. She was a selfless woman whose spirit could not be broken.
“She doesn’t come for herself- she has a little grandson.
She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork. ” Phoenix not only made this journey once, but she does in numerous times, so much so, that the people there know her. The setting affects the action in this story by placing obstacles in Phoenix’s path. Some of these obstacles include her old age, the cold weather, ditches & hills, thorns, wild animals and a hunter with a gun.
She does not flinch in the face of these potentially dangerous situations because of her love and dedication to her sick grandson. These obstacles only prove the love that Phoenix has for her grandson.
Throughout the journey, there were numerous opportunities that Phoenix could have given up and gone home, but she didn’t. “There she had to creep and crawl, spreading her knees and stretching her fingers like a baby trying to climb the steps. ” She walked to the city to get medication for her ill grandson, putting her wellbeing aside. She knows she has to take care of her grandson because she is the only person he has left.
Yet she does it with a smile on her face. That shows that she is faithful to who she loves.
