In Eudora Welty's story "A Worn Path," there are many important symbols. Eyes are significant because Phoenix's eyesight is failing her due to her age, making her journey along the worn path much more challenging. Although Phoenix may not have strong vision, her eyes give her a deeper kind of vision—to see her through the journey into town to get her grandson's medicine.
The barbed wire and cotton fields represent slavery. This story takes place...
In Eudora Welty's story "A Worn Path," there are many important symbols. Eyes are significant because Phoenix's eyesight is failing her due to her age, making her journey along the worn path much more challenging. Although Phoenix may not have strong vision, her eyes give her a deeper kind of vision—to see her through the journey into town to get her grandson's medicine.
The barbed wire and cotton fields represent slavery. This story takes place in the south, where racism was still a serious issue. As a black woman, Phoenix has experienced racism and continues to combat it, even in her old age. The exchange with the white hunter is a good example of racist treatment. Barbed wire is something to entrap people and cotton fields are where the slaves did harsh physical labor; thus, they symbolize slavery.
The scarecrow and trees silver in their dead leaves represent aging and death. Phoenix mistakes the scarecrow for a ghost; the scarecrow is a lifeless representation of man. The leaves that are silver are not a vibrant green anymore—they are dying.
Finally, Phoenix's dress is long and dark. She takes care not to tear it on the thorns because she wants to look respectable when she goes to town. Also, she is poor and probably does not have many dresses to wear. The dress represents Phoenix's respectability and determination to have dignity in spite of the difficulties she faces.
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