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Phoenix Rises From The Ashes Essay Research

Phoenix Jackson By Eudora Welty Essay, Research Paper

Phoenix Rises From the Ashes When asked by a white hunter ? Doesn?t the gun

scare you?? while having it pointed at her, Phoenix Jackson, of Eudora

Welty?s ?A Worn Path?, replies ?No, sir. I seen plenty go off closer by,

in my day, and for less than what I done,? This is an example of how the

protagonist deals with another of her travails. Phoenix?s conflicts only hone

the thrust of Welty?s tale of triumph over adversity. The irrelevancy of these

tortures to this person?s purpose is made all the more poignant by their

staggering weight. From the first line of the narrative you learn the setting is

December. A ?frozen day?, and yet Phoenix does ought but rejoice that it is

not the ?season? for bulls and snakes. Given the numerous references to her

advanced age: a delusion of a small boy handing her a slice of cake after

navigating a log bridge, to ?Her eyes blue with age.? She travels from the

deep wood though the dangers of both terrain and prejudice. Throughout the story

she encounters obstacles that would deter stalwart heroes of epics. While

traveling through the country Phoenix encounters a white hunter who helps her up

after being knocked to the ground. Despite his threatening manner, pointing his

gun at her, he tries to deter her from her task. He points out the distance she

had to travel even to reach the point at which they had met. He callously

explains that ?I know you old colored people! Wouldn?t miss going to town to

see Santa Claus!?. Lastly to add further injury to insult, after losing a

nickel and not being aware of it, he claims to not have a penny to give her. All

Phoenix does is apologize to ?God? for having stolen it. What fear grips a

person who knows what they were doing was incredibly important, and yet they

cannot recall what they were about? The attendant repeatedly attempted to

communicate (in a condescending tone) with Phoenix, yet she had to ignore the

questions, for she was unsure why she had made the journey. The nurse came to

her rescue, and in so doing gave an explanation why ?grandma? had made this

arduous voyage. She was caring for her grandson who was suffering from the

result of having swallowed lye; consequently at that level of medical and social

evolution meant being an invalid without any other sociological resources than

his grandmother. Despite these travails Phoenix Jackson retains her composure,

and more. Each of these incidents, although difficult to fully grasp within

context of modern society, is still painful. Once she manages to reach town she

manages to get a woman, busy with packages to assist her with one of her

difficulties, her untied shoe. At the clinic she manages to push the attendant

to 500% of her original offering. Subsequently she resolves to purchase her

grandson a paper windmill with the two nickel profit she made entering town.

These conflicts she faces only reflect the spirit shining from the character of

Phoenix Jackson.

Welty, Eudora . ?A Worn Path.? Literature an Introduction to reading and

Writing . Ed. Edgar V. Roberts, Henry E, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1998.

132-37.