The Character of Phoenix Jackson in Eudora Weltys A Worn Path Essays

The Character of Phoenix Jackson in Eudora Welty's A Worn Path 'A Worn Path' is the tale of the unstoppable love and care of a grandmother for her grandchild. Phoenix Jackson is Eudora Welty's main character and protagonist in   A Worn Path.? Phoenix is an old, frail woman who attempts to proceed on a long and treacherous journey through the woods to Natchez. Phoenix strives forward despite frequent obstacles in her way that include her own failing health and her grandchild's slim chance of survival. As she takes this prolonged trek across the woods, many of her characteristics are revealed. Her tenacity, senility, and consideration that she displays throughout her long worn path emphasize her character. Phoenix's precarious journey may seem dangerous, but her determination is what carries her through the obstacles she faces as she makes her way through the woods. Phoenix makes her way across the worn path and discovers many active opponents. She continues forward over barriers that would not even be considered a hindrance for the young. The long hill that she takes tires her, the thornbrush attempts to catch her clothes, the log that Phoenix goes across endangers her balance as she walks across it, and the barbed-wire fence threatens to puncture her skin. All of these impediments that Phoenix endures apparently do not affect her because she is determined that nothing will stop her on her journey. She keeps proceeding onward letting nothing deter her determination. ?The hunter(tm)s attempt to instill fear in Phoenix, a fear she disposed of years ago as she came to terms with her plight in society, fail   (Sykes 151). She ?realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the pos sible harm that can be done to her brittle ... ...es in Short Fiction. 14.3 (1977): 288-290. Evans, Robert C., Anne C. Little, and Barbara Wiedemann. Short Fiction: A Critical Companion. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill, 1997. 265-270. Gretlund, Jan N.. Eudora Welty(tm)s Aesthetics of Place. Odense UP, 1994. 322, 337-338. Isaacs, Neil D..   Life for Phoenix.? The Critical Response to Eudora Welty(tm)s Fiction. ed. Laurie Champion. London: Greenwood, 1994. 37-42. Marrs, Suzanne.   Eudora Welty(tm)s Photography: Images into Fiction.   Critical Essays on Eudora Welty. W. Craig Turner and Lee Emling Harding. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall, 1989. 288-289. Sykes, Dennis J.. ?Welty(tm)s The Worn Path.   Explicator. 56.3: 151-153. 1998 Spring. Welty, Eudora. ?The Worn Path.? Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PH, 2001. 150-155.