Short stories are poignant pieces of literature, as pithy and powerful as poetry but in a more straightforward and relatable package. Like poetry, a short story relies on literary devices like symbolism and imagery, characterization and setting, to convey the author’s themes. Also like poetry, the short story reflects the cultural and historical context in which it was written. While the canon of American literature is rich with examples of iconic, enduring short stories with the timeless qualities that have allowed them to rise to the status of being classics, there are a few that have risen higher than the others, and among those few there is one that is superior to all others. That exemplary short story is Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” which uses characterization, setting, and symbolism to capture the themes of faith and perseverance. In an exemplary short story, setting becomes like a character with a personality and life of its own. No other short story personifies setting as well as “A Worn Path,” the title of which hearkens to the way a person is always interacting with the environment. The path Phoenix Jackson takes is not worn from the repetitive footsteps of others, but from the persistent nature of love. Phoenix walks on and on, in spite of the dismissive attitudes of others, the physical, economic, and psychological hardships she endures. Through this intense and heavy-hearted setting, Welty paints a portrait of what it means to be black in America. Thus, setting promotes the power of symbolism in the short story, showing how Welty manages to blend together multiple literary devices in one masterful work.

“A Worn Path” is set in the middle of winter, and starts on a “frozen day” that drives home the environmental conditions the protagonist must face. The freezing environment also represents the cold-heartedness of people around her, including those Phoenix encounters along the way to her grandson. At times, Phoenix risks losing her own dignity: “Phoenix was like an old woman begging a dignified...

After all, a hero is celebrated for surrendering to a purpose much bigger and more important than the self. The grandson symbolizes that higher purpose for Phoenix Jackson.
Setting and symbolism also interact to deliver the central theme of perseverance. The wintry setting creates harsh external conditions that make it tougher for the old woman to achieve her goal. Already slowed down by the ravages of age, Phoenix now contends with icy roads and “frozen earth,” which even threaten to kill her. Welty cleverly uses diction like the “grave” noise made by the old woman’s cane to anchor home for the reader how precarious her situation is and how much she puts herself at risk for her grandson. In addition to using symbolism and diction to capture the protagonist’s spirit, Welty also uses straightforward descriptions that alert the reader that a “persistent” nature, mentioned in the first paragraph of the story, is the number one feature of a survivor, of someone who overcomes all obstacles not because she has something to prove but because she has a purpose greater than herself to serve.

Just as the revolutionaries sacrificed their lives so that posterity could enjoy a land of liberty and justice for all, Phoenix Jackson sacrifices her life and her comfort in order to provide for her grandson. Welty describes her protagonist delicately, while still pointing out at the onset that Phoenix is an “old Negro woman.” Describing Phoenix in the first line of the story alerts the reader to the importance of gender, age, and race in characterization. Welty emphasizes the woman’s age more than any of her other features, to show how difficult it must be for Phoenix to trudge along the path to her grandson day after day, rain or shine. She has cataracts, evident by the description of her eyes that are “blue…