A Worn Path

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty

Theme

 “A Worn Path” develops a timeless theme through the course of the story. Phoenix Jackson, characterized as an old woman who walks with a cane and untied shoelaces, conveys the theme through her journey to get medicine for her grandson. Whether the grandson is dead or alive has no relevance to the theme. Because she is an old and somewhat disabled elderly woman, one would assume that she could not walk for hours through the woods in the cold winter weather. However, she defied her odds because she was driven and powered by the love for her grandson. The first obstacle Phoenix Jackson overcame was climbing up a hill. For example, “ ‘Seem 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. ‘Something always take a hold of me on this hill—pleads I should say,’ ” (Welty, 224). She kept on to the path despite getting caught in thorny bushes. Moreover, she crossed a creek on a log with her eyes closed. She did not even flinch when a hunter pointed his gun straight toward her. Phoenix’s journey to get medicine for her grandson reveals the central theme to the story, which is that love can drive one to overcome any obstacle in their path.