Phoenix Jackson Character Analysis in A Worn Path Essay Example

Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path,” describes the tenuous journey an old woman of color takes to pick up medicine for her sickly grandson. Walty uses many symbols throughout this short story to show the reader that it is meant as an allegory for life as a whole. It represents the journey that one takes from the cradle to the grave, full of hardships and strife, with the ultimate medicine coming in the form of death.

In the opening scene of “A Worn Path,” we meet an old woman of color walking in the woods. She is at the end of her life, and the author most likely chose the month of December because it is the end of the calendar year. The earth is frozen, cold, and silver, like the ashes  Phoenix is coming out of, like the mystical Phoenix. She moves like a grandfather clock ticking away with the bit of time she has left on earth. She reflects upon what has changed as she moves along on her journey, shooing the creatures that could get in her way like memories that could halt her travels. She rises out of the darkness like a Phoenix, as her name implies. The red rag symbolizes the flames of the Phoenix head, and the small cane in her hand guides her to the end of her journey, like a child’s security blanket. This opening scene is an allegory for reflecting on our lives as older people from birth through childhood. The older woman is very child-like with unlaced shoes and a striped dress too big for her small frame. Her eyes are blue even though she is old, similar to the lack of pigment that occurs to newborn babies when they haven’t developed enough melanin yet. There is an odor about her hair, which is not gray as one would assume, but black, like in her youth. Her dark black hair also smells like copper, which is often used to describe the taste and metallic smell of blood,, yet another reminiscent of birth. 

As Phoenix moves into the adult phase of her life, she knows that time is still on her side. Welty describes it as a “Down in the hollow was the mourning dove- not too late for him.” (Welty, 2)  As in everyone’s life, the path that she is on is not easy. It is draining and challenging, like the chains tied to her feet. These chains remind us that things are always holding us back in life, even when we are still young. Yet, Phoenix moves on, as we all have to do. When Phoenix reaches the top, she gives it a “full severe look behind her” (Welty, 2). This is reminiscent of when people reflect on their lives in each stage they pass through. Phoenix is rejecting her past, bad experiences. She is annoyed by things that held her back when she was younger, and she vows to herself not to let them interfere again in the next stage, like when people reflect on their lives and make promises not to do something with a poor outcome again. She doesn’t dwell for long on the negative, and she continues on her journey. Like when people reach middle age, one of the first things to happen is that they cannot see well. A parallel is when Phoenix says, “Old eyes thought you was a pretty green bush.” (Welty, 2) when she gets snagged in the bush and can’t let her dress torn. The bush is presumed to be evergreen, as it is in the middle of December. The hedge is alive like the bright sun n the sky, which makes Phoenix tear up, but she is still aware that the clock is ticking from the frigid air surrounding. As Phoenix moves along her path, as in life, she is forced to deal with a trial. The trial in her life is crossing a log that has been laid across a creek. This trial can be compared to a test and is difficult, like hardships we deal with in life.  Phoenix crosses the creek on the log by faith and memory, not sight. She marches across with a firm conviction that she will travel it successfully. Relying on her procedural memory, she makes it through as she then realizes, “She opened her eyes and was safe on the other side.” (Westy, 3) In the most complex trials in our lives, we must go through with blind faith in God and not rely on our being. Phoenix successfully crosses, but when she gets to the other side, it is not easier,, even though she went through one trial already. Everything feels as it should be downhill from there, she is still tired and needs to rest. Her brain is not working the exact way it used to. She is exhausted from her trial already that she begins to imagine children, mistletoe, and marble cake, “when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble cake, she spoke to him” (Welty, 3). This is possibly how Phoenix focuses on the positive, reverting to happier times to get through the darkness. Yet even though she is getting older, her body is behaving like a baby. “She had to creep and crawl, spreading her knees and stretching her fingers like a baby trying to climb the steps.” (Welty, 3) If we think about getting old, many of the things you were once able to do revert back as if you were a baby again. It has to be difficult not to be able to see very well, walk very well, and eventually be forced to depend on other people again.  

When Phoenix has crossed into the fields, like in life, most of the people around her are gone. Although we are unsure where they are, we know that they aren’t all dead. However, Phoenix is alone with a buzzard. The author most likely chose a buzzard instead of another bird because a buzzard knows when something will die. They circle it, waiting for it to die so they can eat. They are patient and will remain for a long time. Phoenix is in the final stage of her life, although she is somewhat in denial. She asks the buzzard, “Who are you watching?” (Welty, 4) even though she is the only person in the dead cotton field, and the buzzard is watching her. Just like a lot of people don’t believe they will die someday. However, Phoenix is still grateful for things. She is thankful that there are no snakes in the grass or bulls to attack her. However, once again, as she moves along and is taken by surprise by a big, black dog. The dog knocks her down because she didn’t see him coming, and she falls into a ditch. There, she tries to talk herself into getting up, as if it is just a lack of willpower keeping her down and not the fact that her body is old. She is still very young and not interested in being old in her mind. This happens in life too, when people get older, they are in denial about what they can no longer do physically. Sometimes they are in denial about what they can do mentally, too. Phoenix lies in the ditch because she cannot get out of it by herself even though she wants to. Finally, a man comes along and helps her.  He makes sure that she is okay physically, but then he insults her and the thought that she wants to make such a long journey. He makes rude comments about the fact that she is colored as well. This is similar to those who make racist judgments based on a person’s skin color or when people use ageism against older people. Sometimes it’s necessary, like if an older person can no longer drive because it’s too dangerous or needs to have someone check in on them when they don’t want anyone to help. However, Phoenix sees a nickel fall out of the man’s pocket. She steals it from him and feels justified after the way he has treated her. Yet, she is again forced to deal with an unexpected trial when he pulls the gun on her. She has seen many guns in her life, and she is not one bit scared. This is like life experience in older people. She has seen so many troubles in her life that it has made her tough and calloused. Like in life, older people are not as rattled by the little things that younger people may be more stunned at when faced. 

When Phoenix finally gets to the town, she asks a woman in the street to tie her shoes for her in one of the final scenes. There are many symbols and metaphors in this scene for death. The gold stamp on the certificate nailed to the wall, like a death certificate. The “fixed and ceremonial stiffness to her body.” (Welty, 9) is like a dead body. She is deaf and stiff and cannot answer any questions as if she is dead, her face solemn and rigid as if she were in armor. (Welty, 9) At the end of an older person’s life, they often die slowly. They cannot speak or react, and then they come out of it, like the flicker of life doesn’t want to go out. This happens when Phoenix is talking with the nurses to get medicine for her grandson. She comes in and out of the conversation as if she is between two worlds, living and dead. She then asks for forgiveness, similar to the last rites given to someone before they pass away. At this point, the only thing that can be offered to Phoenix is charity, much like all we can provide someone who is dying is charity. Even the two nickels that she has, one stolen, one given freely, cannot save her from life or death at this point. She can only pass on what she has to her grandson and the generations that follow her.  Much like in life, we cannot take the material things we have with us but leave them for the generations that follow us. The short story, “A Worn Path” is filled with symbols and an allegory for an entire life filled with hope and promises and despair and trials. Every person on this planet journeys through life in their way and experiences, their problems and tribulations, much like in the life of Phoenix Jackson.