First of all, I
really liked this reading… Never have I read something that brings the story to
life as well as that did. The descriptions of the woods were so sharp it immediately
connected with my memories of the wilderness and I was living where she was. And
yet, with these sharp descriptions, it’s also so mysterious in ways. Or that’s
the effect it had on me, anyways. To sum it up, the descriptions were awesome,
and I really liked the reading.
To respond to the questions, I believe the significance of the title could be two things. First, it could be simply the fact she knew that path in the woods very well. And she’d taken it many times according the lady in the store; therefore calling it a ‘Worn Path’ is understandable. It could also be referring to her life, in a way her entire life has been a ‘Worn Path’: we’re not given a time reference, but I believe we can assume she grew up in the mid-late 1800’s and is currently in the 1930’s or 40’s, just because of the racial slurs of the first man and the way she talked. The seemingly high value of a nickel also is a clue to this time in history. A life for a Negro in those times, as we all know, was very hard. She seems to have lived it with an iron heart; therefore we can call her life a ‘Worn Path’.
The name Phoenix is appropriate because it sounds tough, and it’s not a name we hear very often. If we used another more common old lady name, such as Gertrude, we get an image of a standard kind hearted old lady – not this tough iron hearted character we read about in this book. And I believe most common names actually would give us this image. Phoenix, however, sounds tough to me. Like the character as well sounded tough.
The most memorable place where the birds are used as a symbolic creature is when the part where she steals the man’s nickel – a bird flies by and she says, “God’s been watching me this whole time as I’ve come to stealin’,” or something like that. So God comes as the image of a bird. The meaning of birds all of a sudden becomes ten times what it usually is. Birds aren’t that important, but here they have a powerful meaning and therefore add a powerful effect on the story.
Another motif I caught was the thorns – she made them sound like the guardians of the forest, never letting anyone pass. Well let’s just say I’ve had my many experiences with thorns, and never really thought to think of them as something as ‘royal’ sounding as Guardians of the Forest. If someone asked me, I would’ve probably said thorns were simply the annoying part of the forest. But here they have much more meaning, the ‘Guardians of the Forest’, and by giving them this meaning, it seemingly changed the old lady’s common struggle through the thorns more towards the idea of an epic battle against ‘Guardians of the Forest’. That’s the impression I got from it, anyways, and it added a sweet flavor of mystery to the story.
The question being “What is symbolic about her journey back?” Well that’s an extremely hidden meaning, or that’s the impression I get from it. Because the story really was about the journey there, not back. But you could say if the ‘Worn Path’ is her life, so then the journey back symbolizes that life always returns to the Creator. But the story really ends before she journey’s back so it’s really not implying that meaning in the story… but that’s certainly a meaning you could take from it.
To respond to the questions, I believe the significance of the title could be two things. First, it could be simply the fact she knew that path in the woods very well. And she’d taken it many times according the lady in the store; therefore calling it a ‘Worn Path’ is understandable. It could also be referring to her life, in a way her entire life has been a ‘Worn Path’: we’re not given a time reference, but I believe we can assume she grew up in the mid-late 1800’s and is currently in the 1930’s or 40’s, just because of the racial slurs of the first man and the way she talked. The seemingly high value of a nickel also is a clue to this time in history. A life for a Negro in those times, as we all know, was very hard. She seems to have lived it with an iron heart; therefore we can call her life a ‘Worn Path’.
The name Phoenix is appropriate because it sounds tough, and it’s not a name we hear very often. If we used another more common old lady name, such as Gertrude, we get an image of a standard kind hearted old lady – not this tough iron hearted character we read about in this book. And I believe most common names actually would give us this image. Phoenix, however, sounds tough to me. Like the character as well sounded tough.
The most memorable place where the birds are used as a symbolic creature is when the part where she steals the man’s nickel – a bird flies by and she says, “God’s been watching me this whole time as I’ve come to stealin’,” or something like that. So God comes as the image of a bird. The meaning of birds all of a sudden becomes ten times what it usually is. Birds aren’t that important, but here they have a powerful meaning and therefore add a powerful effect on the story.
Another motif I caught was the thorns – she made them sound like the guardians of the forest, never letting anyone pass. Well let’s just say I’ve had my many experiences with thorns, and never really thought to think of them as something as ‘royal’ sounding as Guardians of the Forest. If someone asked me, I would’ve probably said thorns were simply the annoying part of the forest. But here they have much more meaning, the ‘Guardians of the Forest’, and by giving them this meaning, it seemingly changed the old lady’s common struggle through the thorns more towards the idea of an epic battle against ‘Guardians of the Forest’. That’s the impression I got from it, anyways, and it added a sweet flavor of mystery to the story.
The question being “What is symbolic about her journey back?” Well that’s an extremely hidden meaning, or that’s the impression I get from it. Because the story really was about the journey there, not back. But you could say if the ‘Worn Path’ is her life, so then the journey back symbolizes that life always returns to the Creator. But the story really ends before she journey’s back so it’s really not implying that meaning in the story… but that’s certainly a meaning you could take from it.
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