Welty and Hughes
The protagonists of both Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" and Langston Hughes "The Negro Woman" are elderly African-American woman who sacrifice themselves in order that their offspring will have better lives. Welty writes a touching story about a woman who everyone rebuffs because of how she looks and dresses, but who is so much stronger than all those who would ridicule her. Even with all the odds stacked against her, Phoenix Jackson holds out hope that her efforts will eventually pay off and her grandson will be well again. Hughes's narrator, on the other hand, is angry at her suffering and warning those who live freely now not to forget her and her misery. On the surface, the stories are about an old woman making a very long journey on foot through the south in order to get medicine for her ailing grandson and one reflecting on how much misery she had to endure that the present generation would not have to suffer. One a deeper level, "A Worn Path" and "The Negro Woman" are about the journey each person makes through life, the sacrifices we have to endure for the people we love, and the eventual demise that awaits us all.
When "A Worn Path" begins, the reader does not yet know what it is that sends Phoenix on her lengthy journey. Despite the adjectives that would depict her as old and frail, the words spoken by Phoenix show how strong she is. She says, "Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons, and wild animals!...Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites…Keep the big hogs out of my path. Don't let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way" (Welty 1). She is unafraid of the wild animals in her path....
Worn Path by Eudora Welty "A Worn Path" is recognized as one of Welty's most illustrious and often studied works of what is considered to be short fiction. Illusorily simple in scope and tone and, the story is made to be very structured upon a journey theme that joins a rich worth of figurative significance. As stated by Alfred Appel, "A Worn Path' goes way beyond its decentralization for the reason
Short stories are poignant pieces of literature, as pithy and powerful as poetry but in a more straightforward and relatable package. Like poetry, a short story relies on literary devices like symbolism and imagery, characterization and setting, to convey the author’s themes. Also like poetry, the short story reflects the cultural and historical context in which it was written. While the canon of American literature is rich with examples of
Social Economic Status and Healthcare through the Lens of Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”: The Impact it has on the U.S. Healthcare System Introduction The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has shown that in order to promote health in communities access to care is absolutely necessary. And yet even today in the 21st century, access to healthcare remains a big problem for people of low socio-economic status. The Affordable Care
She does not seem to mind the cold, as she considers it to be effective in the thought that it prevents wild animals from leaving their shelter. Phoenix interacts with several white people in her expedition, and, while most of them treat her with disrespect, others actually understand her problem and help her in solving it. The hunter, the lady on the street and the receptionist express their racism through
With a cane, she is able to make a long walk from her home to the hospital, and only needs someone to tie her shoe because she cannot, because she is using a cane. The tale is set in winter, in the South, after the Civil War. The lack of respect shown towards the poor woman who has walked so far may have a great deal to do with her
Phoenix is however closer to a saint in her dedication to a cause, while Calixta is a human being who abandons herself at some point to the voice of desire and allows a few moments of surrender to the carnal pleasure that takes hold, regardless of her and her accidental companion's marital status. Welty's story is full of imagery, thorny bushes come to life and grab old Phoenix' dress, she
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