Miniver Essay, Research Paper
The worn path is about conflict. Praytell, you ask what conflict. The obvious conflict is that an elderly lady needs to get medicine for her sick grandchild, and she has to make perilous journey to reach her destination. Now, why in the hell is an old woman gallivanting through the woods. Why in heavens isn?t there someone to help her. This is the real conflict. It is the conflict that exists between granny and society. Granny has a conflict with society because of her health, her grandson?s health and her state of poverty.
Granny was nearly a 100 years old but she still roaming through the woods on a quest to get her Grandson some medicine. Why is granny making the trip. Is there anyone that can make the trip for her. Evidently she has made the trip before. The nurse gave her a nickel, but she didn?t have the decency to ask if granny was all right. The doctors didn?t care about this old woman. The hunter she encountered didn?t care about a sickly old woman bumbling around in the woods. He didn?t offer her a ride or suggest where she could get assistance. Her age has her in conflict with society. She is an outcast and society doesn?t care about her.
The clinic where she gets the medicine knows that her grandson is sick. Now surely she can?t afford to pay full price for the medicine so it must be a public clinic. Why didn?t the doctor refer to society that helps sick children. The best they could is to offer her five paltry cents. Why couldn?t they give her the medicine free. Evidently the child is alone. If not then someone else would have made the trip. Because what type of heartless being would have sent an old woman on an errand like that. Did they ask about the grandchild? Did they ask if he was alone or not? Her grandson is an outcast that means nothing to their civilized society.
The final conflict is granny?s state of poverty. If she wasn?t poor she could have taken a bus the clinic. She didn?t step on the hunters money because she industrious, she stepped on it because she was broke as hell and society didn?t give damn whether she lived or died and she didn?t give a hoot about the hunter coming up five cents short. When the nurse gave granny five pennies, granny said five pennies is nickel, but she really wanted to say if I wasn?t poor I?d tell you to stick those pennies where the sun don?t shine. Because of her poverty her grandson is able to get the best of treatment. Because of her r poverty she had to make the perilous return trip on foot. Why didn?t the nurse refer her to some society that helped the needy. Granny was a poor outcast in conflict with society.
The conflict wasn?t about race it was about the way society treats the old and the disabled. Granny and her grandson represented the old and the disadvantaged outcast that are neglected by society. The title the worn path means that that people like granny are constantly walking the worn path of poverty, neglect, and abandonment. She wants the reader to see that grannies every where shouldn?t have to walk the worn path. Would you let your granny walk the worn