29 pages • 58 minutes read
A Worn Path
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Character Analysis
Phoenix Jackson
Precious little background is given for Phoenix. The story focuses more on her task and how she triumphs over the obstacles that threaten to obstruct and stop her. Beyond a description of her physical appearance, readers receive few basic facts about her personal history: She is quite old and lived through the Civil War; she never received a formal education; and she lives with her grandson in a house on the Natchez Trace, an old forest trail that extends through Mississippi.
Phoenix is a frail, elderly woman with failing eyesight, but she is described in heroic and mythic terms. She is named after the mythological phoenix bird, and her aged yet vibrant appearance has deep connotations:
Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the dark. Under the red rag her hair came down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still black, and with an odor like copper. (142)
Phoenix is not merely an old woman with the typical physical characteristics of the elderly; her wizened face is like a tree, symbolizing life and wisdom. For example, in the biblical story of the garden of Eden, two trees serve as prominent landmarks: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Phoenix’s wrinkles are like a tree inscribed on her forehead, and her actions in the story demonstrate a commitment to life and a savvy world-wisdom that helps her navigate tricky social situations. The “yellow burning” that illuminates her appearance suggests fire, which has a specific relevance in the story of the phoenix but also represents warmth, life, creativity, passion, destruction, and the divine. Her hair has not turned gray and has a metallic odor. In sum, Phoenix is animated by a vital life force and carries within her the power of myth and legend.
One of Phoenix’s defining characteristics is her sheer force of will. The first words that come out of her mouth are “Out of my way!” (142). She declares to all the woodland creatures, “I got a long way” (142), and nothing will stop her progress. There are multiple points where the physical demands on her body briefly tempt her to stop. At the foot of a daunting hill she says to herself, “Something always take a hold of me on this hill—pleads I should stay” (143). She keeps going and takes a moment to rest, yet “[s]he did not dare close to her eyes” because falling asleep would create a dangerous delay (143).
Even seemingly supernatural things do not stop her. When she initially mistakes a scarecrow for a ghost, she walks right up to it and demands to know who it is the ghost of. Realizing her folly, she laughs at herself and dances with the scarecrow before resuming her journey. The moment she falls into the ditch after being approached by the black dog is the only point in the story where she is truly helpless. She must depend on the white hunter—a potentially dangerous figure—to help her out. He tries to manipulate the unequal power dynamic between a white man and Black woman to intimidate her into going home, but she refuses: “I bound to go on my way, mister” (146), she says before resuming her journey.
Phoenix’s willpower is so strong, and her habit of making the trip to Natchez so ingrained, that she still completes her journey even when she forgets the goal: throat medicine for her grandson. There are vague indicators along the way, such as the mirage of the boy offering her cake and the framed document on the wall in the doctor’s office that “matched the dream that was hung up in her head” (147), but she remembers her purpose only after repeated prompting by the nurse. She briefly feels guilty for forgetting, but assures herself and the nurse, “My little grandson, he is just the same” (148). She acknowledges her failing memory but believes that her love and her grandson’s endurance will ensure he lives.
The Grandson
Phoenix’s grandson is neither named nor given an exact age. He does not appear in the story’s present time, and readers are given no details beyond the fact that he suffers from a chronic throat ailment after swallowing lye. He is entirely dependent on Phoenix. The vision Phoenix has of a small boy offering her a piece of marble cake foreshadows his existence and hints at the affection between him and his grandmother.
The only description of the boy occurs when Phoenix talks with the staff at the doctor’s office. She emphasizes that, though young and vulnerable, he is surely not dead. She describes him as being bundled in a patchwork quilt while he waits at home, “peep[ing] out holding his mouth open like a little bird” (148). Phoenix describes him in tender terms and does not seem to express any fear that he is at risk of dying.
Phoenix is deeply invested in her grandson’s survival. She wants him to not only survive but also thrive. Her resolution to use her two nickels to purchase a paper windmill will nurture his imagination: “He going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world” (149). The grandson represents generational concern for a better life. Phoenix undertakes this arduous journey for the boy, reflecting how older generations hope that younger ones enjoy a better future. That the path is worn by many prior crossings yet remains so wild illustrates that this work toward progress is never done; the boy will have his own path to tread with unique challenges. In broad terms, her grandson’s future is part of a cycle of worn paths leading to racial equality.
The White Man
The man is simply described as a young white man hunting quail with his dog. Though initially helpful, his manner of speaking to Phoenix presents him as a typical white, southern man of the time who treats African Americans with condescension and views them through the lens of stereotypes. He calls her “Granny,” a generic term, and expresses no interest in the personal nature of Phoenix’s journey. He believes African Americans only make trips to town for simple amusement: “I know you old colored people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see Santa Claus!” (145). He tells Phoenix she should not be in the woods and should go home, paternalizing her. He tries to intimidate her by pointing his gun in her face, asserting his dominance as a white man and flaunting the unequal power dynamic between them. His actions show that he views Phoenix as disposable.
The white hunter represents the racism African Americans endured daily in the 1930s Deep South. He also represents the ease with which violence was enacted against African Americans and the lack of consequences. His statement that he would “give [her] a dime if [he] had any money with [him]” is hypocritical considering Phoenix steals the nickel that falls from his pocket. She already knows he has no intention of helping her and uses the situation to her advantage.
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