"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly African American woman who undertakes a familiar journey on a road in a rural area to acquire medicine for her grandson. She expresses herself, both to her surroundings and in short spurts of spoken monologue, warning away animals and expressing the pain she feels in her weary bones. Plot "A Worn Path" is told in the third person point of view. "A Worn Path" follows an elderly African American woman named Phoenix Jackson as she ventures toward a town. The story is set in Natchez, Mississippi during the Great Depression era. As Phoenix journeys along the Natchez Trace, she periodically encounters many obstacles, including thorny bushes, barbed wire, and a large dog, among others. She meets a hunter, pocketing a nickel that he drops, and a lady who ties her shoes. The story concludes with Phoenix arriving at the town having completed the journey yet again. Her motivation for having done so is also revealed as she laments how her grandson swallowed lye damaging his throat from the reaction. She tells the nurse supplying the medicine that the damage to his throat never fully heals, and every so often his throat will begin to swell shut. It is Old Phoenix's love for her grandson that causes her to face the trial of the journey to town, every time it is necessary, with no questions asked. Character The character of Phoenix Jackson is an elderly African American woman who uses a thin small cane made from an umbrella to tap the ground, akin to a white cane. Elaine Orr identifies Phoenix as a fabulist who has "a penchant for re-creation (making up stories) rather than resolution." She has also been identified as "a completely and beautifully harmonious person" and Nancy K. Butterworth has noted that the character is neither a stereotype or stock character. Themes A commonly cited theme of the story is unselfish love, which Orr has stated is the ""charitable" view of Phoenix that the white community in the text finds acceptable". The short story also discusses racism and the arrogance it breeds by marginalizing other people and being cruel to them. However, another theme of the story is the ability of the human spirit to endure conflict and poor circumstances within nature and society out of devotion to loved ones. Symbolism The symbolism in the