Knowing secret information can be a very enlightening thing. Knowing information that someone else does not helps make the reader feel more powerful. Such is the case when the reader knows of the mythical Phoenix and then reads “A Worn Path. ” Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” the story of an elderly grandmother’s journey to the doctor’s office for medication for her grandson, explores allusions to mythology, including the character Phoenix and her journey.
In an Egyptian tale the Phoenix, a large bird, retains immortality by restoring itself every five hundred years by setting fire to its nest and immolating itself by fanning fire with its wings. From the ashes a new Phoenix arises. Then it collects the ashes and flies to Heliopolis, a religious city in Egypt, and deposits the egg at the Temple of the Sun. This bird is a direct link to Old Phoenix in Eudora Welty’s story” (Donlan 5). Mythology is shown in the physical characteristics of Phoenix Jackson. There are many events throughout the story that remind the reader that Old Phoenix looks and sounds like the mythical bird.
The phoenix bird in Egyptian myth is known for its scarlet and gold body” (Donlan 6). In the opening of the story Welty describes Old Phoenix’s appearance as “a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illuminated by a yellow burning under the dark. Under the rag her hair came down on her neck” (Welty 2). Another example is when Phoenix’s cane makes a sound “like the chirping of a solitary little bird” (Trefman 1). Welty makes these comparisons with the legendary bird clearly visible while giving Phoenix her own character as well.
When Welty describes Old Phoenix it is very easy to see the similarities with the bird of Egyptian myth. Then after carefully describing Phoenix’s physical appearance, Welty incorporates the use of other senses as well. The sound of a bird that Welty uses is just one example of how subtle Welty can be when mixing the Egyptian bird into the story. These examples prove that Phoenix is not just an ordinary character but instead, Old Phoenix is a character with a higher meaning. Through Phoenix’s journey, mythology is included again. Phoenix’s journey begins in “December, a bright frozen day in the early morning” (Welty 1).
She is equated with the morning, the rising sun, for she is the immortal bird which rises from its own ashes as the sun rises, and dies only to be reborn” (Ardolino 2). Eudora does not stop with the opening paragraph to incorporate the old legend. “After Phoenix’s arduous journey into town, she arrives at the charity ward where she is to obtain the medicine for her grandson, and there she saw nailed up on the wall the document that had been stamped with the gold seal and framed in the gold frame, which matched the dream that was hung up in her head.
In this office Phoenix stands, a fixed and ceremonial stiffness over her body” (Jones 5). “Obviously like the embodiment of the original Egyptian sun-god that flew home every five hundred years, this Mississippi Phoenix has returned by instinct to the source of her strength to renew her own youth” (Jones 5). I think that Welty must have been thinking of the bird when she wrote the story because every step Old Phoenix makes is somewhat a reference to the journey of the mythical bird. It is almost eerie to think about how much the two stories have in common.
It only takes a small imagination to see how Old Phoenix can be mistaken for the myth. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” in which a woman with tremendous courage makes a visit to town, refers to mythology, including the character Phoenix and her journey. Being able to deconstruct Welty’s story and seeing the resemblance’s gives the reader a more clear understanding of the deeper meanings in the story. Even though Old Phoenix had no idea she was like the mythological predecessor, it makes the reader feel more knowledgeable by knowing and that is all that matters.
