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A Worn Path by: Eudora Welty
SUMMARY- A Worn Path is a short story by Eudora Welty. She introduces us to an elderly African-American woman by the name of Phoenix Jackson. Phoenix must travel a familiar road to retrieve medication for her grandson that in the past, swallowed lye and damaged his throat making it hard to impossible to breathe. In another reading by Elaine Orr she goes on and talks more about Phoenix's trials. Phoenix travels by foot, alone, facing and overcoming many obstacles in her path. It is an achievement for her to have been able to accomplished this long and treacherous trip for Phoenix is blind.

Setting
Cold, December morning out off of the Old Natchez Trace far outside the city of Natchez, Mississippi.

Character
Blind - The story starts off by telling us that she uses a thin small cane made from an umbrella to tap the ground, this is her "white cane", these are used by the blind to help navigate from place to place. Elaine Orr also talks about the blindness of Phoenix. Phoenix is always looking straight ahead in the story and when she needs to concentrate Phoenix closes her eyes to go over the log, inspect the "ghost" which Phoenix finds to be a scarecrow, and using the cane to feel her way through the corn fields. When Phoenix comes up to the hunter and his dog, the hunter pulls a gun on Phoenix which she does not move because Phoenix does not see the gun. When Phoenix reaches for the nickel that fell to the ground, she used her hand to follow her body then along the ground till she found the nickel to pick it up. Phoenix's blindness can also be said for the reason that she did not know the nurse was talking to her till the nurse uses her name.

Symbolism
Phoenix Jackson - Eudora Welty used mythology when creating some of her characters to settings. In "A Worn Path" she named her lead in the story, Phoenix Jackson, Phoenix from the bird and Jackson from the town she was born, raised, and died in. The mythical bird, Phoenixes are old, persistent, unselfish, and heroic creatures that are red and gold in color. In the story, Phoenix Jackson was very old, facial skin of a golden color with yellow burning knobs in her cheeks, and her head was covered with a red rag. While the story its self was about her endurance and unselfish act of love to provide medication for her grandson.

Path - Even though this is an obstacle and a large feat for Phoenix to accomplish, this is a tack she has made several times. The path has many obstacles that she must face such as: the dead trees, the snake, barbed wired fence, scarecrow, the hunter, tying of her shoes, climbing the stairs, and all while she is going blind with age. To which this shows her endurance and persistence in accomplishing her task.

Money - The nickel that she stole from the ground that the hunter dropped, can say that she find and takes what she needs when she needs it. Also later in the story, she is labeled as a "charity case" if she manages to acquire the things she needs when needed is it still safe to say is she a charity case or is she an independent, hell-bent, secluded old woman?

Point-of-View
"A Worn Path" is told in the third person point of view. Which means we are reading the story from an outside looking in perspective.