Eudora Welty Phoenix Jackson

Improved Essays
In the short story, “A Worn Path”, the author Eudora Welty made the main character Phoenix Jackson a symbol of the mythical phoenix bird. They are alike because they both live for a long time; they both symbolize a rebirth; they both go on a journey in order for their “rebirth.” Each and every similarity shows that they are connected in some way, shape, or form. The author purposely made many similarities between the two because Phoenix Jackson is an allusion to the mythical Phoenix bird. Though they are both fictional characters, Welty made Phoenix Jackson kind of like a human representation of what the phoenix bird actually is and does. That is why Phoenix Jackson must overcome obstacles on a journey she takes for her rebirth, much like the phoenix bird overcomes obstacles on its way to be reborn. When the author Eudora Welty made the character Phoenix Jackson she made her old due to the mythical birds reputation for living a very long life. Much like Phoenix Jackson, the phoenix bird lives for a long time. After being alive for so long, it then becomes tired of living from its own age and goes on a journey to be reborn. Phoenix Jackson is a very old woman in the eyes of people much like the …show more content…
The phoenix bird and Phoenix Jackson both have a rebirth, the phoenix bird literally and Phoenix Jackson metaphorically. Phoenix jackson’s main purpose in this short story is to get medicine for her sick grandson, that symbolizes a rebirth because it’s like giving new life to a dying soul. The phoenix bird’s main purpose is just to live and be reborn, like giving new life to a dying soul. Although Phoenix Jackson isn’t the one being reborn her grandson is and she is the one making that “rebirth” possible. If it were not for Phoenix Jackson her grandson may have never been able to get the medicine he needed in order to heal. Their rebirth is another way they are both

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The “Fire” is the answer. The phoenix is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like this. It created flames that danced, destroying everything in their path.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A worn path by Eudora Welty Phoenix Jackson and the phoenix bird of mythology are very similar they both overcome obstacles and keep going no matter what and they both go on a journey. Phoenix jackson and the mythological bird both overcome obstacles. Phoenix jackson overcome obstacles throughout the story when she walking the path she is an older women and it is during the winter and it's cold so her bones are weak…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Eudora Welty's novel Delta Wedding starts out by introducing Laura a nine year old girl who was boarding a train by herself for the first time. She was on her way to Fairchild's Mississippi to visit the family of her recently deceased mother. She was going to visit her 17 year old cousin Dabney who was soon to be married. Despite all of the wedding chaos with all of the family all Laura wanted to do was to fit in and be loved like all of the other Fairchild children.…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Did Phonix Make The Trip

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Let us assume that Phoenix at that time was too old and her age in 1865 was 25 years old. By 1941, when Eduora Welty wrote the story she was 101years old! Also when she encountered the white man he said to her "you must be a hundred years old, and scared of nothing." Because she was too old at the end of the story she forgots why she went to the clinc. Another reason is that the trip was in december which is winter.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Once the sighting of the bird was revealed as a hokse the bird began to represent failed hope and in a way a symbol for Cabot and he rose so high but then fell so hard. Tone (Whaley page 35) ” People dreamed. People left. And they all came back. ...…

    • 1559 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This may depict that she is not that she is a frail lady who is probably weakening as she get older. She has to make a journey on a cold winter day in December and see that she is old and most likely weak this journey will a difficult one for Phoenix. Heller states “mainly because of her age, the simple walk from her remote home in Natchez is a difficult enough journey to take on epic proportions.” Phoenix is really old and this journey is a hard one for her to make.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “She doesn’t come here for herself—she has a little grandson. She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork” (Welty 7). Phoenix has a grandson who, when he was younger, swallowed lye (a drain cleaner like solution). She makes these long journeys to his doctors to get medication for him even though his throat is not healing very…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Things should not be like that. In the Worn path story people treated Phoenix very bad because she was looking a medicine for her grandson. Today we are going to see how people in the worn story reacted to Phoenix, and why they were reacted like that. I can tell that Phoenix is a great and strong old woman, the path she got through was not easy to do. She was alone fighting by herself to get the medicine for her grandson.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After that is mentioned, then she seems to recall again her reasoning for being there. In conclusion, through the many obstacles that Phoenix Jackson faced, she never gave up her goal which was to get to town to get her grandson medicine. She dealt with obstacles since the minute she started walking through the woods. Her age, the wild animals, the obstacles in the woods, the dog, and the hunter were all a challenge for her, but she still kept on going.…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The name Phoenix is significant because a phoenix is a mythical bird that is born out of fire and rises from the ash. Phoenix Jackson is an old black woman that began her life during a time of slavery and lived through the Surrender. She is extremely poor, but she is free. She has in a sense, been reborn from the ashes of the civil war and rebuilt her life. When she meets the hunter, a few things happen that are significant.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A phoenix may represent hope and seek for redemption. Phoenix is on a mission to save her grandson who has taken a drink of lye. By going on this trip, she is hopeful that she will find something that will save him and make him feel better. She says, “He is not able to help himself. So the time come around, and I go on another trip for the soothing medicine” (Welty 90).…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his short poem “To Waken an Old Lady,” William Carlos Williams writes about the disturbing subject of old age by representing old age through a series of actions that are typical of birds. Furthermore, the narrator 's use of figurative language and poetic structure contributes to the horrifying idea that death is bound to happen. Essentially, the speaker makes an attempt to show that the difficulties of old age shouldn’t leave a person feeling hopeless for life. The poem begins with the metaphor “old age is/ a flight of small/ cheeping birds” which puts forth the idea that old age can be illustrated through birds (lines 1-3).…

    • 1013 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story A Worn Path by Eudora Welty is a story that represents high spirits, trust, brave, and life and death. Phoenix Jackson, from A Worn Path, has a mission/journey to go into town for her grandsons medication. She goes through many obstacles she is a very elderly women around her 80’s. The connection Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” the character Phoenix Jackson is symbolic to a Phoenix bird from mythology because they both rebirth, go on missions/journeys, and have high spirits to where they live a long time.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While both are different stories there are major similarities that emerge throughout their journeys. Some of the similarities…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    There are several symbols and references made during the course of the story to the legend of the phoenix. The phoenix, comes from Egyptian mythology. As with most myths, phoenix is a large scarlet and gold bird. The phoenix has been credited with amazing powers like the ability to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye and to heal, for example. Perhaps the most incredible power is the determination of the phoenix to travel to Heliopolis, the sun city, towards the end of its life.…

    • 2168 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays