In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson is confronted with the unpredictability of nature and the uncertainty she encounters as she travels through the woods and in town. Her main goal is to get her grandson's medicine and to do so she must take a path through the woods. Although she is sure she will arrive at her destination safely, she knows that difficulties will await her. Phoenix's journey through the path he or she takes symbolizes his or her life's journey through the path he or she takes. Phoenix Jackson is a force in nature that never stops. Its name gives it this quality. A phoenix is ​​a mythical bird that is reborn from the ashes after death. In a way, Phoenix is ​​like a phoenix because every time she hesitates, she gets back up and continues on her way. Her physical description also implies that she has features similar to those of a phoenix: "...a golden color flowed beneath [her skin], and the two apples of her cheeks were lit by a burning yellow beneath the darkness" and her hair was covered with a “red rag” (259-260). When Phoenix is ​​faced with the path she must travel for the umpteenth time in her life, she relies not only on her senses, but on her intuition and physical memory in the process of her journey from home to his arrival in town. Phoenix began its journey on a very cold December morning (259). The task of driving a long distance to the city on a near-frozen December day should be a difficult task for a person in the state of Phoenix. She uses her cane to tap the ground in front of her. She listens to the sound to know where the ground is solid and where it is not (259). At the edge of the stream with the log placed across it, she closes the...... middle of paper ......e [;] I come to theft” (262). Throughout his journey, Phoenix takes a path that involves many trials. She does what she can to not stop for too long at any one point on the path she has chosen to follow. She decides where to go based on what she remembers from the past and how to get through it with little to no injury. She stays on the path that seems best suited to herself. When there is no clearly defined path, it will find its way, even if there is the slightest chance that it will be pointed in an alternative direction. When it seems like she's going to stop and give up, she keeps moving forward. She is almost fearless even though nature can be cruel and merciless. Works Cited Welty, Eudora. “A worn path.” Composition literature: essays, fiction, poetry and theater. Ed. Sylvan Barnett, et al. New York: Longman, 2003. 259-264.