Introduction & Overview of A Worn Path

This Study Guide consists of approximately 41 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of A Worn Path.
Related Topics

Introduction & Overview of A Worn Path

This Study Guide consists of approximately 41 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of A Worn Path.
This section contains 179 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy the A Worn Path Study Guide

A Worn Path Summary & Study Guide Description

A Worn Path Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:

This detailed literature summary also contains Bibliography on A Worn Path by Eudora Welty.

Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path," first published in Atlantic Monthly in February, 1941, is the tale of Phoenix Jackson's journey through the woods of Mississippi to the town of Natchez. The story won an O. Henry Prize the year it was published and later appeared in Welty's collection The Wide Net. Since then, it has been frequently anthologized. At first the story appears simple, but its mythic undertones and ambiguity gives a depth and richness that has been praised by critics. Welty has said that she was inspired to write the story after seeing an old African-American woman walking alone across the southern landscape. In "A Worn Path," the woman's trek is spurred by the need to obtain medicine for her ill grandson. Along the way, Phoenix encounters several obstacles and the story becomes a quest for her to overcome the trials she faces, which mirror her plight in society at large. The story is one of the best examples of Welty's writing, which is known for its realistic portrayal of the American South, particularly during the depression.

Read more from the Study Guide

This section contains 179 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy the A Worn Path Study Guide
Copyrights
Gale
A Worn Path from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.