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Mistletoe is seen as a symbolic item by David Piwinski, who states that the plant is affiliated with "Jesus Christ" implying how Phoenix herself Is a "Christ-like figure" who repeatedly overcomes adversity. Welty herself has said it is a story about how a writer works. Kathleen Feeley has drawn comparisons to the story of Odysseus, who faces many trials along his journey. Other writers such as Dennis Sykes and Kevin Moberly have argued that Phoenix's endurance through multiple obstacles emphasizes racial and economic inequalities in the Deep South during the Depression. Many critics have commented on the significance of the main character's name in relation to the mythology phoenix, relating to her indomitable ability to rise again and make her journey. The symbolism in the piece and the potential lessons to be learned from it are open to interpretation. However, another theme of the story is the ability of the human spirit to endure conflict and poor circumstances within nature and society out of devotion to loved ones. The short story also discusses racism and the arrogance it breeds by marginalizing other people and being cruel to them.
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: 59 Themes Ī commonly cited theme of the story is unselfish love, which Orr has stated is the ""charitable" view of Phoenix that the white community in the text finds acceptable". Butterworth has noted that the character is neither a stereotype or stock character. Elaine Orr identifies Phoenix as a fabulist who has "a penchant for re-creation (making up stories) rather than resolution." : 58 She has also been identified as "a completely and beautifully harmonious person" and Nancy K. The character of Phoenix Jackson is an elderly African American woman who uses a thin small cane made from an umbrella to tap the ground, akin to a white cane.
#A warm path eudora welty trial
It is Old Phoenix's love for her grandson that causes her to face the trial of the journey to town, every time it is necessary, with no questions asked. She tells the nurse supplying the medicine that the damage to his throat never fully heals, and every so often his throat will begin to swell shut.
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Her motivation for having done so is also revealed as she laments how her grandson swallowed lye damaging his throat from the reaction. The story concludes with Phoenix arriving at the town having completed the journey yet again. She meets a hunter, pocketing a nickel that he drops, and a lady who ties her shoes. As Phoenix journeys along the Natchez Trace, she periodically encounters many obstacles, including thorny bushes, barbed wire, and a large dog, among others. The story is set in Natchez, Mississippi during the Great Depression era. "A Worn Path" follows an elderly African American woman named Phoenix Jackson as she ventures toward a town. "A Worn Path" is told in the third person point of view.