What is the Theme of a Worn Path: Aging and Resilience

Unveiling the Theme of Aging

Phoenix Jackson carried on a lifetime of hardship in the short story “A Worn Path.” She strolls on this worn path to pick up medicine for her ill grandson. On a chilly December day, she shares one of her adventures at the clinic. This journey is analyzed intently by an elderly person brimming with devotion, respect, and high firmness. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” displays many examples of themes. The theme that stood out the most was old age.

Phoenix Jackson was not only aging physically but also mentally. Although she aged physically, that did not stop her from holding on to her wisdom and knowledge. Some examples of her old age are shown all throughout the short story, “Her eyes were blue with age.” “Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the dark.” (Welty 387) Seniority is often described as shortcomings and decay. Phoenix tosses a twist into these stereotypes.

Resilience and Wisdom in Old Age

When her journey begins, the audience comes to understand that her journey will be a struggle. Phoenix Jackson never let her old age, physically or mentally, get to her. She was stacked with power, which was comprised of her affection, encounter, and relinquishing nature. One may notice that Ms. Jackson takes this path quite often; in the short story, she would know when she got to certain locations on the path, she would already know what was coming up next. “Up through the pines, she said at length.” “Now down through the oaks.” (Welty 388) She even stated that she wasn’t as old as she thought she was. (Welty 388) She also stated that back in the summer, it took her a while to get by a two-headed snake that was coming around a tree. (Welty 389)

The Familiar Journey

Ms. Jackson eventually came upon a well with which she had clearly been familiar her entire life. She stated that no one knew who made the well or knew anything about it. It had been there since she was born. (Welty 389) As she continued her walk, she came in contact with a dog and fell into a ditch while hitting the dog with her cane.

Unyielding Courage in the Face of Adversity

A man who happened to be a hunter went over to help her with his dog on a chain. (Welty 390) The man asked her where she was headed and also found it very humorous when she informed him that she was headed into town. The hunter tries to belittle Ms. Jackson and boasts of himself because he walks just as far as she does when he is out hunting for birds. Ms. Jackson eventually sees a nickel fall out of the man’s pocket and onto the ground. While the man was distracted by the dogs, she stretched down to the ground and slipped the nickel into her apron pocket. “Well, I scared him off that time,” he said, and then he laughed and lifted his gun and pointed it at Ms. Phoenix.” (Welty 391) At this point, Ms. Phoenix’s courage is unmatched. She shows the reader that she wasn’t not only afraid of the hunter’s gun, but she was not afraid of the journey that she was on as well.

References:

1. Welty, Eudora. "A Worn Path." The Seagull Reader: Stories. Edited by Joseph Kelly, W.W. Norton & Company, 2008, pp. 387-391.

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