Blog Entry One, "The Worn Path"

           The short story “The Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty is a great example of an author using description of appearance and environment to tell us about the character’s traits. Welty also uses actions and speech to reveal what the main character is like. Toward the end of the story, we see how other people talk to the main character, which helps to better understand her.

            Eudora Welty starts the story off with a lengthy description of the main character, Phoenix Jackson, and the setting around her. The story starts with a description of Phoenix Jackson that paint a clear picture in your head of what this woman looked like and the life she has lived. Jackson is described as such, “…an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag…She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in her steps…She carried a thin small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her.” (314). It goes on to give a full description of what she is wearing and how her face looked. This description shows that she had a rough life and that she is not in the best economic standing. It shows that this rough life that she had lived molded her into the woman she is today.

Welty’s use of actions and speech really help establish a better understanding of Phoenix. Around the middle of the story, Phoenix comes into contact with a hunter and his dog. While the hunter and his dog were scaring another dog away, a very detailed description was given of what Phoenix was doing “…she was slowly bending forward by that time, further and further forward, the lids stretched down over her eyes, as if she were doing this in her sleep. Her chin was lowered almost to her knees. The yellow palm of her hand came out from the fold of her apron…Then she slowly straightened up, she stood erect, and the nickel was in her apron pocket.” (317). This shows that Phoenix had the mentality of being willing to do what was needed in order to survive, even if it was stealing a nickel from a man helping her. Right after this the hunter came back and pointed his gun at Phoenix and asked why she was not afraid of the gun. Phoenix says, “No sir. I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done…” (317). The reader can clearly see that Phoenix is a very tough and brave woman. However, it also shows that she is very well educated just by looking at the way she talked.

Eudora Welty shows Phoenix’s character through her interactions with other people. The hunter called her granny when he first saw her. When Phoenix got into town and asked for help the lady that helped her called her grandma. This shows that she had a loving grandma personality, which caused people to want to help her. Near the end of the story, we see her conversations with the doctor about her grandson and why she truly headed into town. These conversations reveal that she regularly came into town to get her grandson medicine. Welty uses this conversation and her path into town to show Phoenix’s deep love for her grandson despite the challenging life she has had.