A Worn Path Phoenix Jackson Character Analysis Essay

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Phoenix Jackson was a very old and small Negro woman. She carried a thin cane made from an umbrella to find her way around. In the story, “A Worn Path”, Jackson’s grandson had gotten sick from swallowing lye. This made Jackson start her journey into town to fetch medicine for her grandson. Unfortunately, she had gotten stopped by a hunter and his dogs, who then pointed his gun at her and threatened to shoot her. Jackson eventually made it past the hunter and made it into town to get the medicine. Throughout this story, Phoenix Jackson was determined, fierce, and wise on her journey to get the medicine for her grandson to help him live, that is if he isn’t already dead. Jackson was very determined to get the medicine for her grandson, because …show more content…
In the story, Jackson was not quick to jump to conclusions, but she was rather wise in her choices. On page 2 it says, “Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let the folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush.” When Jackson stumbles upon the thorn bush, she doesn’t freak out in any way, but she has prior knowledge and experience to react in a way that she is calm and relaxed. She is a wise old woman who has probably had these troubles before, and knows that all that has to happen is to take them off and keep going. Another example of Jackson being wise is on page 3 where it says, “At first she took it for a man. It could have been a man dancing in the field. But she stood still and listened, and it did not make a sound. It was as silent as a ghost.” This shows how she is wise because at first she thought it was man, but as it didn’t say a word she had a good judgement as to what it really was. As she got closer and touched it, she realized that it was just a scarecrow.
In “A Worn Path”, Phoenix Jackson used her characteristics of being determined, fierce, and wise to make it into town to help get medicine for her Grandson. But as it turns out, her grandson had drunk the lye two or three years ago, so maybe he had already died. Which then means that Jackson had just been delusional the whole time in her efforts to make it into town. But in all, Jackson had used her character

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