2/29/00

EN102

Ms. Spadorcia

Fiction Essay

Symbolism is a very important element used in works of fiction. In the short story "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, symbolism is used throughout the story, and gives her characters added significance. The symbol of the main character, Phoenix, an old grandmother, represents the ancient Egyptian myth of the Phoenix and its rebirth. The setting is also symbolic, a cold December day in the dark and deep woods. Objects used in the story, such as the hunter, the nickel, and the snake, were images of obstacles standing in Phoenix's way throughout her journey. Symbols are very meaningful images representing something else, and in this story they are plentiful.

The legend of the Phoenix comes from Egypt, and states that after one hundred years, the Phoenix rose from the ashes and experienced a sort of rebirth or renewal. In "A Worn Path", Phoenix is a grandmother on her way to get medicine for her ill grandson who had already passed away. She made the hard journey all the way to town because she cannot yet accept reality, and is living in mourning. She states, "We is the only two left in the world. He suffer and it don't seem to put him back at all. He got a sweet look. He going to last" (110). The meaning of the symbol represents the grandmother on her own journey to be renewed by overcoming her grief for her grandson.

The setting in "A Worn Path" is the forest, on a path that the grandmother has worn out on her previous travels to town for her grandson. The woods are deep and very quiet, and the hills make it difficult for Phoenix to continue. The narrator says, "The path ran up a hill. 'Seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far,' she said, in the voice of argument old people keep to use with themselves" (106). The woods are filled with Pine trees on one side and Oak on the other side going down. These trees are some of the chains she speaks about, casting shadows that make her journey darker. A log lying across a creek was the hardest trial that she encountered. Phoenix said, "Now comes the trial" (106). After passing it she had to stop and rest for a while to regain her strength. These objects and chains hold her back and try to prevent her from going further on her journey.

Phoenix tries to deal with the problems she is facing, but objects she encounters along the way hold her back. The hunter stands in her way and warns the grandmother to go back because it is too far for her to go to town by herself. The hunter comments, "Why that's too far! That’s as far as I walk when I come out myself, and I get something for my trouble" (108). Phoenix takes a nickel that the hunter drops which represents the wealth and power that she does not have. The snake that she had come across in her other journeys is an image of something evil. She understands this when she says, "Glad this is not the season for bulls', she said, looking sideways, 'and the good Lord made snakes to crawl up and sleep in the winter" (107). This serpent image is very symbolic of deception and danger. Phoenix faces danger each time she travels on the worn path to town and the snake represents just one of the obstacles she has had to overcome. Objects can stand for something other than what it actually is, and these objects are very metaphorical.

Symbols have significance that may not be seen at first glance. "A Worn Path" is an ideal example of s short story that uses many symbols to represent other things. Phoenix's story has a deeper meaning and shadows the rebirth of the myth of the Phoenix. Symbolism is a very important factor used in fiction, and can add depth and poignancy to pieces of writing.