Out of all the short stories that I have learnt, “A Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty would be my favorite because this short story tells the tale about an old African-American grandmother who walks to a town to acquire some medicine for her grandson. At first, while reading this story, it is not clear where Phoenix is headed or why she is even going anywhere.
The one thing that I do know is that she is determined to get to her destination. This story really brings out curiosity within me and makes me wonder more about Phoenix. Later, after I go through much more in depth into the story, I find out that she is travelling this path for her grandson. When it comes to Phoenix, it is “do not judge a book by its cover” kind of situation as even though she might have a somewhat unique and ragged appearance, she is on a significant journey to soothe the suffering of a loved one. I also could see that she is an individual with many valuable characteristics such as Phoenix is such a devotional grandmother who will do whatever it takes, including putting her life in danger. At the same time, she is as loving as a mother has love for her own children. Mainly because of her age, the simple walk from her remote home into Natchez is a difficult enough journey to take on epic proportions but because of her love and dedication towards her sick grandson, Phoenix endure the cold, keep her footing on frozen ground and crawl under a barbed-wire fence just to obtain medicine for her grandson.
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Here, I could see that being a loving person like Phoenix is very important because it gives us something to do, something to hope for, something to believe in, something to invest in and I think that makes life worth living.
“A worn path” also has been my favorite because this short story is such a nice story that I could relate the most. The heroine, Phoenix Jackson, has honestly reminded me of my grandmother as I had grown up with most of my best childhood memories being made at my grandmother’s house. My grandmother is someone who will do absolutely anything to help me when I need it without even complaining. This kind of personality really resembles Phoenix’s personality where in my point of view, I could see that Phoenix is a persistent person and very direct in her goal to get the medicine despite being quite old and suffering from infirmities. On her way to Natchez she has been threatened by an unfriendly dog and she also falls into a ditch but surprisingly, she keeps going and continues her journey. From these, I realized that being persistent like Phoenix is the best quality in life that everyone should have because persistent is a major key to a life of success. It is also a great tool to use and it does not require any college education or training as it comes naturally but it does require a strong will just like what Phoenix have shown. Moreover, after I treasure the Phoenix’s journey, I have learned that it doesn’t matter what your goal is or how long it takes you to reach that goal because the chances of your success depend largely on your willingness to persist and persevere.
Apart from that, Phoenix is one of the characters that shows bravery in this story. For example, she is even brave enough to confront the evil of racial prejudice which is a fact of life in Mississippi. She is also indeed a brave person when she picks up a nickel after the hunter is distracted by one of his dogs in the forest. Nevertheless, the bravery that has been shown by Phoenix has truly inspired me in many ways. I have also learned through phoenix’s action that it is important for us to have courage and as well as building bravery because it will help us take risks to a sunnier future that we commonly would not take. When our body builds bravery, we will place fear behind. That is what Phoenix does when the dog attacks her, she is unfazed while some people would have panicked. Next, Phoenix also could still maintain her pleasant demeanor despite the racism and lack of compassion she encounters. I think it is important to cultivate a positive attitude and mindset like Phoenix does as having both can change our entire life.
To conclude, I think these personalities are indeed hard for us to see among the elderly nowadays and Phoenix is such a strong old woman that should be a role model to the youngsters, in terms of being determined in order to get something that we want.
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