Deep, Selfless Love~

"A Worn Path" is a deeply moving short story by Eudora Welty. The story follows and aging woman named Phoenix, as she travels to the town of Natchez in order to obtain medicine for her grandson, who swallowed lye. The story is captivating, because it depicts an elderly woman who encounters many difficulties, obstacles, and trials as she treks her way through the forest and into the town-- all for the love of her grandson. That love is what makes the story so beautiful. "A Worn Path" captivates the theme that, deep love for another enables a person to defy age, struggle, danger and morals.

For the majority of the short story, Phoenix battles many obstacles. In the beginning of the story, she struggles with a thorn bush that snags her dress, a barbed wire fence that she must crawl under, and the chance of being stopped and hurt by a wild animal. Through all of this, she remains positive, and continues on her way. Another major difficulty that Phoenix encounters is that of herself. She often momentarily loses her memory, and must force herself to continue forward by remembering where she is going and why she is going there- bringing her back to the love she has for her grandson. As her journey continues, Phoenix meets a scarecrow, who she fears is a ghost. Her fear is not long standing, however, and she ends her 'visit' with the scarecrow with a dance. Soon after, a wild dog knocks Phoenix off of her feet, and unable to raise. A young hunter helps her up, but when he drops a nickel, Phoenix quickly snags it without his knowledge. Though she feels guilty, this is an example of how deep love can enable to a person to defy their morals. In this case, even though Phoenix is guilty for stealing the nickel from the hunter, she does it for her grandson. When Phoenix finally reaches the town, and receives the medicine for her grandson from the clinic, the woman that assisted her offers her a couple of pennies. Phoenix instead asks her for a nickel, noting that she already has a nickle, and that another would give her ten cents. As she leaves the clinic, Phoenix decides to buy her grandson a pin-wheel as a present, “He going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world. I’ll march myself back where he waiting, holding it straight up in this hand.”

In conclusion, even though Phoenix is old and worn, even though she faces many struggles along her path and that at times her journey proved to be quite dangerous, even though her memory struggles to remain with her, even though she is a poor, and even though her good-natured morals tell her not to steal, the deep and selfless love that Phoenix has for her grandson goes beyond all of these factors, and ultimately, allows her to complete her journey.