Phoenix Jackson as the Spirit of Her Race

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Phoenix as a human
Pine trees as youth
Thorns and barbed wire as oppression after emancipation
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

What is real love anyway? Does anyone really know? How can its story be told? Eudora Welty has the answers as she tells the story of Phoenix Jackson and the long walk she takes for love in the short story A Worn Path. According to Welty, love is the continued determination to struggle, as an individual and a race, for the welfare of the children.

Phoenix as a human

The action of the story is completely centered on this old black womans long walk through the country finally arriving at a small town decorated for Christmas in the end. Phoenixs character and many of the physical things she passes along the way are symbolic of the journey shes taken through life and the journey her race has taken during the history of America. Not until the end does Welty finally reveal the purpose of Phoenixs trip and thus the answer to the questions above.

Phoenix begins the story already deep into an evergreen forest. It was delightful to me to see the comparison Welty makes between Phoenixs youth and the soft, yellow pine trees. The innocence suggested in this bright little forest can also be considered the innocence of the African people in their bright yellow country before the white people came.

Pine trees as youth

I think it was brilliant of Welty to remind her readers about the softness of pine wood by suggesting Phoenix still needs to defend herself. The scene when she hears something rustling in the thicket is funny as you envision the small black woman standing up against the great wilderness, Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals! & Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at the brush as if to rouse up any hiding things (143).

Thorns and barbed wire as oppression after emancipation

As the story progresses, the old woman makes her way through a landscape that continues to symbolize the old womans progression through life as well as the progression of her race into freedom, continued oppression and continued struggle to gain their human rights. As the story comes to a close, the purpose of her trip is revealed and the depth of love of the self, of the individual and of the race hits you like a warm wave.

Conclusion

Through Weltys beautiful descriptions, this frail old woman becomes a symbol of the struggle of her entire people for the basic elements of survival. On a deep level, this journey is not just the story of a physical walk through the country, but also Phoenixs life journey and the journey her race is still taking now. Her strength, determination and resilient inner nature demonstrate how the black movement for survival and equality will continue and has found some success. Through characters such as Phoenix, the hopes and dreams of the black race will continue to rise.

Works Cited

Welty, Eudora. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. New York: Harcourt Brace, pp. 142 149.

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Phoenix Jackson as the Spirit of Her Race

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