Reflection on “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty

 It is not every day that I am drawn to a character as quickly as I was drawn to Phoenix Jackson. Perhaps it was the immediate contrast between “Phoenix,” reminding me of a mythical bird that rises from the ashes, and “Jackson,” a very ordinary name that captured by attention? She is described to us as a “very old and small” woman carrying a “thin, small cane made from an umbrella.” Yet despite her obvious physical weaknesses, there is a level of respect and admiration as ironically, while fragile, she emanates strength through her perseverance and determination. Even before we find out the purpose of her trip, her conviction as she “looked straight ahead” is intriguing. Her unthreatening presence as she continues on her journey creates tension as to the reader she is not only vulnerable because of her age, but also exposed to the harshness of the elements. This tension escalates with her encounter with the hunter. Even as I re-read this story I can feel a strong sense of nervousness as it is unsure whether she will reach her destination. This tension builds even more as she has a lapse in memory at a crucial moment.  Welt’s masterful use of imagery creates an almost magical place where the sun makes the “pine needles almost too bright to look at” and where “cones dropped as light as feathers.” But what I also realised is how through the description of the life around Phoenix, for example the “chirping of a solitary little bird” or the “mourning dove” we are given glimpses into who Phoenix is. However what really struck me was the moment where Phoenix says, “We is the only two left in the world…. He going to last.” On one hand there is sadness as to the reader Phoenix’s age will soon prevent her from going to get her grandson's medicine, but on the other hand there is beauty as through her obliviousness to both her and her grandson's mortality, she continues to live life with untainted hope.