Setting:The action takes place in December, circa 1940, in southwestern Mississippi. The scene begins in the the wilderness and then shifts to the city of Natchez.
Characterization:The author also sometimes reveals the activity of Phoenix's mind in the narration, as in the following passage:
"Down there, her senses drifted away. A dream visited her, and she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull.
"Down there, her senses drifted away. A dream visited her, and she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull.
Theme:Though quite old and suffering from infirmities, Phoenix Jackson regularly walks a long distance to obtain medicine for her grandchild. Even in cold weather, when the frozen earth is slippery, she makes the trip. Her journey—the worn path she follows—demonstrates her love for the child.
Figurative Language: A bird flew by. Her lips moved. "God watching me the whole time. I come to stealing."
Comparison of a bird to the watchfulness of God
Comparison of a bird to the watchfulness of God
Point of View: Eudora Welty presents the story in third-person point of view. She reveals the thoughts of the main character, Phoenix Jackson, in dialogue in which Phoenix talks to herself.
Similes :
This (tapping of the cane) made a grave and persistent noise in the still air that seemed meditative, like the chirping of a solitary little bird.
Comparison of the noise made by the cane to the chirping of a bird
Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead. . . .
Comparison of the branching wrinkles to the branching limbs of a tree
Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at the brush.
Comparison of the limberness of her cane to that of a whip
Big dead trees, like black men with one arm, were standing in the purple stalks of the withered cotton field.
Comparison of the trees to black me
The track crossed a swampy part where the moss hung as white as lace from every limb.
Comparison of the moss to lace
The shadows hung from the oak trees to the road like curtains.
Comparison of the shadows to curtains
He wear a little patch-quilt and peep out, holding his mouth open like a little bird.
Comparison of the boy to a bird
Notice how old Phoenix is and how difficult this journey is for her.... In the beginning of the story Phoenix is described as an old women who is aging by the minute, but is she really that old?
The description "Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin has a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles" are indications of Phoenix Jackson's old age. She supports herself with a cane, striving not to fall with every step she takes. She wears a "dress reaching down to her shoe tops" along with "an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks, with a full pocket."
Although she appears to be old and have some type of dementia, she clearly identities the nickel when the hunter drops it on the ground and looks up to the sky to realize that God is watching her.
Similes :
This (tapping of the cane) made a grave and persistent noise in the still air that seemed meditative, like the chirping of a solitary little bird.
Comparison of the noise made by the cane to the chirping of a bird
Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead. . . .
Comparison of the branching wrinkles to the branching limbs of a tree
Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at the brush.
Comparison of the limberness of her cane to that of a whip
Big dead trees, like black men with one arm, were standing in the purple stalks of the withered cotton field.
Comparison of the trees to black me
The track crossed a swampy part where the moss hung as white as lace from every limb.
Comparison of the moss to lace
The shadows hung from the oak trees to the road like curtains.
Comparison of the shadows to curtains
He wear a little patch-quilt and peep out, holding his mouth open like a little bird.
Comparison of the boy to a bird
Notice how old Phoenix is and how difficult this journey is for her.... In the beginning of the story Phoenix is described as an old women who is aging by the minute, but is she really that old?
The description "Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin has a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles" are indications of Phoenix Jackson's old age. She supports herself with a cane, striving not to fall with every step she takes. She wears a "dress reaching down to her shoe tops" along with "an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks, with a full pocket."
Although she appears to be old and have some type of dementia, she clearly identities the nickel when the hunter drops it on the ground and looks up to the sky to realize that God is watching her.