Characterization in "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty

     I found that the character of Phoenix Jackson really began to come alive after she had someone else to converse with.  This is despite the fact that she had already been conversing with herself throughout her journey into town.  It might be a strategy to keep herself entertained and motivated as she goes along and it is very much something one would expect from an old person who doesn't care about the judgements of others anymore.  It doesn't really pull me in though.  I can't really see her until another living character comes into play so that I see her through their eyes.  How she interacts with the man she meets along the way and the two women in the clinic really help me to see her more clearly.  It also puts her into context within the community.  The first woman in the clinic doesn't treat her with much respect.  She speaks to her rudely and it's clear that she sees her as a bother.  The second woman to talk to her in the clinic knows her and knows that she's been there before and helps to expose to the reader her relationship with her grandchild by reminding her why she came.  The fact that she forgot such an important thing serves to show where she is mentally and that she's lost it a bit.  It's only after she talks to the second woman that she remembers the whole purpose of her journey and what is probably the most important thing in her life right now, caring for her grandson.