A Worn Path by Eudora Welty

What was intriguing to me about this story was how detailed it was. The author paints a clear picture of what the setting is and the character. The first paragraph of the story is a great example of the author describing the character and the setting. "It was December-a bright frozen day in the early morning. Far out there was an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods. 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, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of a pendulum in a grandfather clock. She carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept the frozen earth in front of her. This made a grave and persistent noise in the still that seemed meditative like the chirping of a solitary little bird."

The emotions I felt were both happy and sad. As I was getting close to end of the story I felt sad when I read that Phoenix Jackson was living alone with her grandson, who is sick, and that he's waiting for her alone back home. I also felt sad for her because she went through some obstacles during her journey to town such as going under a barbed-wire fence, coming across a man and his dog and passed through some thorny bush. I was happy when she reached her destination and got the medicine that she needed for her grandson. Although at her elderly age she was still witty when she tricked the hunter and took the nickel

for herself. Phoenix accomplished something that she wanted to do and that brought a smile to my face.

When you look into a dictionary the meaning of Phoenix is a unique bird that periodically burned itself on a funeral pyre and was born again from the ashes. Maybe that says something about Phoenix Jackson. Her funeral was the path and she was born again when she reached the office.

I saw Phoenix Jackson as a positive, strong person who is very determined and doesn't let anything get in the way of her path. She may have come across some things in her path but she still went through with it. Even when the man told her to go back home she wouldn't quit. I believe in a way many can relate to this story. I think of it as life being a path that you go through which always comes a long with some obstacles. There's always something that gets in the way and the only way to get to where you want to go is