When was a worn path published

In most of our real lives, like those dirty beggars who knock on your car window as you try to drive through the rush hour traffic each day, this old woman is not someone whom you would cast A Negro woman, poor and ancient, travels on foot in the woods, with a stick, trying to conquer the great distance from her humble abode to the nearest town. In most of our real lives, like those dirty beggars who knock on your car window as you try to drive through the rush hour traffic each day, this old woman is not someone whom you would cast your merest attention to.

To their kind, you'd often avert your gaze, convinced of the uselessness of looking at an irremediable suffering you feel no responsibility for or reason to be guilty of. Eudora Welty makes alive such a non-entity here, and exhibits a powerful, sympathetic insight into the mind of an inconsequential life. Jul 01, Bobbie rated it it was amazing Shelves: short-stories , mississippi. This is really a short story but in a lovely volume which I found in our library shop.

Although not usually a fan of short stories, this one I really enjoyed. It's a tale of an elderly black woman in Mississippi making a long trek into town on foot.

Having lived in Mississippi as a child, this little story held great interest for me and Eudora Welty is one of my favorite Mississippi authors. Jun 26, Lesle rated it really liked it Shelves: no-longer-own , read-in Eudora Welty was an American short story writer and novelist who wrote about the American South. A Worn Path is about Old Phoenix a mythological bird Jackson they also elude she is around yrs old and her journey from her quiet rural life to town in order to get the medicine for her beloved grandson is a ritual of caring she must do.

Some might think the story is very simple. It is not exciting, no Eudora Welty was an American short story writer and novelist who wrote about the American South. It is not exciting, no highs and no lows, but what it does tell is the quaint rural quiet life that Phoenix has. A Worn Path eludes to the many times she has overcome the obstacles along the way to achieve her goal. The story tells of the poor life apron made of sugar sacks Phoenix has, but she is full of love, persistence and gumption.

Nothing deters her on her way to get what she needs for her Grandson. Her body is so used to making this trip she even forgets the why, when she reaches her destination. When she gets to the clinic, they do not take any payment written off as "charity".

For years people have walked the course of life, overcoming obstacles along the way and grasping onto hope and love to help strengthen their steps along the path. This is such a tale. Dec 24, mary shrilley rated it liked it. Jan 23, Chuck rated it it was ok. This is a story about an old, black woman who lives out in the country. She must walk a very long way to town to get medicine for her grandson. She can't see very well, but she has the way memorized in her head.

It is a very hard journey with many dangers along the way. She makes it to town and then she has to walk all the way home again.

The main character is the old lady, her name we find out is Aunt Phoenix, but most people just call her Granny. She is very old and she uses an old umbrella whi This is a story about an old, black woman who lives out in the country. She is very old and she uses an old umbrella which she uses as a cane. She is very determined to get to town for the medicine for her grandson. The story takes place by the town of Natchez, which is a town in Southern Mississippi.

It takes place around after the Civil War. This would be a good story to anyone who likes a story with a lot of good details and descriptions. Also the scenery and characters are described very well. I don't think most high school students would like this story very much. I think older people would enjoy it more because they would remember that time of history. Mar 30, Courtney Kleefeld rated it liked it. The best thing about this story for me was the description.

The out-dated short film based off of it kind of ruined it for me. It was all right. Sep 11, JoAnn rated it really liked it Shelves: short-story-collection , Based on her encounter with two elderlu women while out painting. She caught a glimpse of one crossing a field "obviously on a mission for someone else, so intently she was walking.

I was too old at the surrender to get an education. Phoenix is an apporpriate name for the region as well as symbolic of her life-giving mission.

Welty wrote an essay say Based on her encounter with two elderlu women while out painting. Welty wrote an essay saying she never intended to suggest the grandson was dead. Feb 21, Cara rated it liked it Shelves: books , older-children , everyone-should-read. I had to read this for my Women's Literature class in college. I had read this before also, for another English class at some point. I like it.

I feel bad for the old woman making the long trek, but I admire her determination and love she has for her grandson. Sep 29, Sharon rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction. The story of the journey of the grandmother to the store turns into an insightful allegory for all of our journies. Oct 08, Wolf rated it it was ok. Great writing, but why would I want to read something so boring? No offense. Jan 06, Leah Angstman rated it really liked it.

I read this story in a much darker tone than someone else might read it, and it's left open to decide the truth for yourself. Phoenix is an old woman, who must be around a hundred, since it seems like the story takes place in the very late s or very early s, and she says she was "too old [for schooling] at the Surrender," which means the end of the Civil War, Too old for education would've had to have been late teens at the earliest, mostly likely meaning 20 or older, so she probab I read this story in a much darker tone than someone else might read it, and it's left open to decide the truth for yourself.

Too old for education would've had to have been late teens at the earliest, mostly likely meaning 20 or older, so she probably would have been at least 20 in , so at least 95 in This may contain some spoilers if you haven't read the story, or it may help you see the story in a different light if you find it coming up short: Phoenix is black in the racially divided South and makes a trip she has taken many times, from her home far from the city center through some tedious obstacles to a doctor's office.

Along the way, she talks to animals, can't see objects clearly, imagines things that are not there, talks to herself, has her shoes untied despite them tripping her, and is generally not "with it," though she's plenty capable of making the tough journey, regardless of her age.

Actually, it could also be the result of the numerous times she has done this journey, that in the meantime she is able to value every familiar condition.

She knows every spot of the way so well that she could do it in her sleep. Understanding Eudora Welty. Columbia: University of Southern Carolina. Ann Charters.

Shorter 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Add to cart. Introduction 2. Interpretation 3. A bird flew by. Her lips moved. I come to stealing. She stood straight and faced him. He smiled, and shouldered the gun. I'd give you a dime if I had any money with me. But you take my advice and stay home, and nothing will happen to you. She inclined her head in the red rag. Then they went in different directions, but she could hear the gun shooting again and again over the hill. She walked on. The shadows hung from the oak trees to the road like curtains.

Then she smelled wood smoke, and smelled the river, and she saw a steeple and the cabins on their steep steps. Dozens of little black children whirled around her. There ahead was Natchez shining. Bells were ringing. In the paved city it was Christmas time. There were red and green electric lights strung and crisscrossed everywhere, and all turned on in the daytime.

Old Phoenix would have been lost if she had not distrusted her eyesight and depended on her feet to know where to take her. She paused quietly on the sidewalk, where people were passing by. A lady came along in the crowd, carrying an armful of red, green, and silver-wrapped presents; she gave off perfume like the red roses in hot summer, and Phoenix stopped her. She put her packages down on the sidewalk beside her and laced and tied both shoes tightly.

I doesn't mind asking a nice lady to tie up my shoe, when I gets out on the street. She entered a door, and there she saw nailed up on the wall the document that had been stamped with the gold seal and framed in the gold frame, which matched the dream that was hung up in her head. There was a fixed and ceremonial stiffness over her body. But Phoenix only looked above her head. There was sweat on her face, the wrinkles in her skin shone like a bright net.

We must have your history, you know. Have you been here before? What seems to be the trouble with you? But then the nurse came in.

She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork. She lives away back off the Old Natchez Trace. We won't keep you standing after your long trip. The old woman sat down, bolt upright in the chair. Old Phoenix did not speak. Is your grandson's throat any better since the last time you came for the medicine? He isn't dead, is he? It was my memory had left me. There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip. They are happy to see you fall down and not be able to get back up.

A white man then rescues Phoenix from her suffering. The setting plays a large role in "A Worn Path. Welty uses the setting to totally change and influence her story. She uses incredible detail to make her story interesting, and that detail gives the plot life. The external conflict depicted in the story is that of man versus nature. In view of this conflict , phoenix has to travel in a worn path ; a part that is characterized by vast challenges and which is definitely unfit for an elderly whom to travel.

Phoenix the woman has many similarities to phoenix the mighty bird. There are frequent references to time and age in the story. Eudora Welty's fiction captured events through her characters ' eyes. The woman's name is Phoenix , alluding to the mythological bird said to rise from its own ashes.

Phoenix is the hero of this story and fits the role well by delivering much-needed medicine to her grandson. Phoenix shows many distinct traits that reveal her to be a hero to her grandson. WHO published a worn path? Category: books and literature art and photography books.

What is the theme in a worn path?