An Amateur Analysis by Me of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path (Short Story)

Introduction

A Worn Path is Eudora Welty’s best known short story. The author used to be a photographer and taking pictures about social classes and economic phenomenon.  Most of her writing is about South American people, so basically that is why no wonder that the A Worn Path short story somehow pretty much becoming her legendary artwork as one of her very first short story.  Symbols are lying all around the corner in this short story. As you read it closely you will find the complexity word by word.

The story is about a journey of an elderly woman called Pheonix Jackson walking through the pine wood to get to the city, but the journey is not so smooth as we thought it would be. There are so many obstacles during her walk in the woods. We as the readers might even drown into it so bad that we will find it to be so unexpected for such old woman to eventually succeed all the struggles.

Analysis

Start from the name of the main character of the story, grandma Phoenix Jackson, we would already have thoughts that this is not just an ordinary name. We will imagine the Phoenix, a legendary beast of bird form that born from fire and has unusual power to back to life after the death as many time as possible. The name Phoenix, symbolize the strong desire and surviving skill of the grandma. Why I keep calling Phoenix Jackson as a grandma, because she is a grandma, a really old one. From the author’s description of her, we can tell she is very old and very fragile. A bad eyesight and wrinkles on her skin have perfectly describe her, she does not even know her own age. Somehow, I think that the old is not only has the literal meaning but also represent the African American people and everything in the woods may pictured as the cruel world for them. The white proud disrespectful hunter who point out the gun in front her that she met in the middle of the woods is the criticism part racism, how white people has so much power beyond the color people. The story is about an old woman oppose the wild nature seemed to be unfair but she made it until the end. The memory lost she recognize at the end of the story which uncover how she forgot why she even made the long journey might be connected to the value of existentialism using the one question we have in mind for every human about what is the point of our life and what is the purpose of our existence on earth.

Conclusion

The author trying to explain to us about what she felt by let us experiencing the fiction story she made which is full of symbols about the struggle of the color people. About what is really going on in the world at the time.  

*tugas yang sudah gagal dikumpul dua minggu karena pak dosen gak masuk tapi gagal aku buat dua minggu juga karena mager 

*sebenarmya udah bikin kemaren tapi masih jelek dan lupa kalau harus ada intro dan kesimpulan

*gak jauh beda sih paling cuman kata-kata yang agak sengaja dipanjangin dikit biar keliatan banyak