"A Worn Path" is Eudora Welty's story of an old African-American woman's ritual journey. Its themes are elicited from the symbol of the journey as well as the encounters the old woman has on her journey. Critics have praised Welty's use of language, myth, and symbol in this deceptively simple story.
Issues of race often inform Welty's fiction for the fact that so much of her fiction is set in Mississippi during the 1940s and 1950s. Phoenix's brief encounters on her journey typify the views of many Southern whites during the era. A white hunter helps her out of a ditch but patronizes her and trivializes her journey: "I know you old colored people! Wouldn't miss going to town to see Santa Claus!" He also taunts her by pointing his loaded gun.....
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