Eudora Welty drew on her personal experiences during the Great Depression in Jackson, Mississippi for writing A Worn Path. Eudora was born in Jackson in 1909. Eudora grew up with her parents and eleven siblings. Eudora’s father worked as a clerk for L & N Railroad Company, which provided enough money to Eudora’s family to survive. Eudora was educated at the Mississippi State College for Women, the University of Wisconsin, and Columbia University. Eudora became a writer after graduating from college.
Eudora wrote short stories about people living in her home state. Eudora Welty was recognized as one of Americas most important literary figures, with many awards won over her lifetime including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Optimist’s Daughter (1972). Eudora Welty passed away on July 23rd, 2001 due to respiratory failure. Eudora lived out her life in Jackson where she worked as a photographer and then an English professor at Queens College. Eudora’s experiences during The Great Depression greatly influenced what she chose to write about.
Eudora describes the time of The Great Depression as a time “when people lived by their wits” (Welty Eudora, A Worn Path). Eudora was only eight years old when the stock market crashed in 1929 which led to these tough times for her family. Eudora felt that she was too young to notice what was really going on around her at the time, though Eudora does recall having to wear hand-me down clothes from her older sisters since Eudoras father could not afford to buy new clothes for his nine daughters.
As Eudora grew older during The Great Depression she noticed more of whats going on around her and began writing about it. Eudora’s story A Worn Path is about an elderly African American woman called Phoenix Jackson. Eudora describes Phoenix as a “tall, bony woman with a knob of iron gray hair” who is going through the woods to get some medicine for her sick grandson (Welty Eudora, A Worn Path). Eudora also describes Phoenix as a caring and loving grandmother, Eudora says that she would do anything for her only living grandson whom she had raised since he was born.
Eudoras description of Phoenix Jackson can be seen by Eudoras own experiences during The Great Depression in Mississippi where many people cared for their family members or neighbors more then they cared about themselves. Eudora Welty drew on her personal experiences during The Great Depression in Jackson, Mississippi for writing A Worn Path. Eudora was born in Jackson in 1909. Eudora grew up with her parents and eleven siblings. Eudora’s father worked as a clerk for L & N Railroad Company, which provided enough money to Eudora’s family to survive.
Eudora was educated at the Mississippi State College for Women, the University of Wisconsin, and Columbia University. Eudora became a writer after graduating from college. Eudora wrote short stories about people living in her home state. Eudora Welty was recognized as one of Americas most important literary figures, with many awards won over her lifetime including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Optimist’s Daughter (1972). Eudora Welty passed away on July 23rd, 2001 due to respiratory failure. Eudora lived out her life in Jackson where she worked as a photographer and then an English professor at Queens College.
Eudora Weltys A Worn Path takes place in Eudora Weltys hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Eudora was born there in 1909 and died there in 2001. Eudora’s grandmother lived on the outskirts of town where Eudora spent much of her time with Nanny, reading to her and listening to stories that Nanny told about the past. Eudora did not go to school until she was ten years old; she was taught at home by her mother which allowed many hours for reading and writing (About Eudora 1).
Eudoras life experiences inspired many different themes throughout her works. In A Worn Path Eudoras rich vocabulary expresses strong emotions by describing events, characters, and Eudoras own feelings. All of Eudoras stories show a woman’s point of view, Eudora often wrote about the south and she always used her writing to express how women experienced life differently from men. Eudora portrays many characters in A Worn Path with an abnormality which causes them to seem isolated from society.
Phoenix Jackson is one character who stands out among Eudoras characters because of her strength demonstrated by enduring through lifeis hardships without complaining or showing any sign of defeat. These conflicts throughout A Worn Path characterize Eudora’s style. She uses conflict in order to help the reader better understand the story she is trying to tell, along with creating suspense that keeps the readers’ interest high. Eudora uses many different types of conflict throughout A Worn Path that help to better connect the events and characters with Eudoras use of symbolism.
Eudora doesnt just use conflict for the sake of creating suspense but also creates feelings in her readers so they can fully understand Eudoras use of symbolism. Eudora uses imagery well in A Worn Path. She describes what is happening, making it easier for the reader to imagine what Eudora is experiencing as she writes about each event or character. Eudora’s stories are based on events that she saw throughout her life; because Eudora was alive during all of these events, she knew exactly how things looked and felt, which allows for much more details and understanding.
Eudora uses symbolism through out A Worn Path; she uses it to symbolize the strength that Phoenix Jackson possess and also throughout Eudoras own personal life as well. Eudora’s stories help to better explain her own life experiences compared to Eudoras other works such as her short stories. Eudoras use of symbolism in A Worn Path helps readers better understand Eudoras point of view as a woman during her time period. Eudora Welty’s A Worn Path is about an elderly black women who struggles on a long journey across town for medicine for her sick grandson.
As the story begins, we learn that this character has already had quite a difficult day: she lost one of her walking sticks, she is hungry, and she has fallen down at least once. Eudora writes that the old woman “seemed to present all difficulties in the world . she was tired and indomitable; Eudora weaves a tale of endurance as Phoenix travels through thorny brush and over rickety wooden bridges Eudoras use of imagery through out A Worn Path helps readers better understand Eudoras point of view as a woman even though Eudora wrote this story from a third person perspective.
Eudora uses conflict throughout A Worn Path to show Phoenix’s determination most importantly Eudoras conflicts help to represent Eudoras point of view as an author. Through out A Worn Path Eudora uses different types of conflict Eudora uses it to both help the reader better understand Eudoras point of view as a woman during her time period, Eudoras conflicts also help to create suspense which keeps the readers’ interest high Eudora’s use of symbolism throughout A Worn Path helps readers better understand Eudoras point of view as a woman.
Eudora writes A Worn Path with much detail; she even brings herself into the story about halfway through. Eudora describes herself in this story because Eudora wrote A Worn Path after an accident where Eudora fell off of her bicycle and broke her ribs (American Masters 1).
