View the story as a kind of fictional
"quest"--look up the "quest theme in
literature" on Google, or just type "quest" in Wikipedia to get an
overview of
the quest theme, which should help frame the story, as Phoenix imagines
herself,
not consciously, to be on a "quest." If the protagonist does imagine
herself to be on a quest, how might this help with her internal
conflict--a disavowal of, or refusal to accept the fact that her
grandson in no longer alive, and in any case a means of helping her deal
with her loss, if not avoid completely confronting it. Lots of interesting image/symbol patterns in this
story... see below
Again, when analyzing short stories, look for evidence of the main character's conflict, the terms of the conflict (often a combination of internal and external), and how the character changes as a result (change can be more or less subtle, and sometimes very subtle); theme is revealed though character interaction, dialogue and description; through elements of set, symbol (elements of set often take on symbolic value within a story), and a character's observations of these things. Third person narrators in short stories are often focused through a particular character. So, as in first person narration, it is up to readers not to mistake what narrators tell us for "objective" fact, but to take it as evidence revealing a particular character's conflicts, state of mind, etc. Some short stories do, however, have "omniscient" narrators, which readers can trust are giving us the "whole" story, i.e., letting us see what goes on the the minds of various characters, and not limiting perspective to only that character--"Story of an Hour" is an example....
In A Worn Path, though we see primarily through the eyes of the Phoenix, other elements of the story, such as passages of dialogue with other characters, allow us to see through/around her sense of things...
Here are SEVERAL SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE STORY TO CONSIDER (taken from my comment on a class blog post):
The opening description of the set and the the old woman herself are chock full of symbols--the color of the rag and the fact that it is a rag, the time of year--look for patterns and repetitions throughout the story, and contrasts--the descriptions of her cheeks in par. 2, her name, the time of year and description of the day in the first sentence....consider details of the path, the journey, the paper windmill...consider her own comments as she progresses on her journey and its symbolic value--the passage of thorns,then sun so high, then the "trial," and so on; consider the people she meets and their interactions, dialogue, etc. It's not just a "walk" for her, right, but a kind of quest? You see her weaving a fictional journey out of the realities of the path? Chart patterns throughout the story and examine some of these details as they attempt to communicate a larger theme... rereading the beginning of a story after coming to its end can also often yield valuable insights--embedded meanings that simply looked like innocent description at first... consider the discussion of the "boy," the final image of the story, and this: is the boy really still alive, or alive only in Phoenix's mind? if the latter, how does this effect your interpretation of details of the story and understanding of the protagonist? How does this connect with the final image and the name, "Phoenix" (look up the myth of the Phoenix in Wikipedia, or even Dictionary.com)?
Again, when analyzing short stories, look for evidence of the main character's conflict, the terms of the conflict (often a combination of internal and external), and how the character changes as a result (change can be more or less subtle, and sometimes very subtle); theme is revealed though character interaction, dialogue and description; through elements of set, symbol (elements of set often take on symbolic value within a story), and a character's observations of these things. Third person narrators in short stories are often focused through a particular character. So, as in first person narration, it is up to readers not to mistake what narrators tell us for "objective" fact, but to take it as evidence revealing a particular character's conflicts, state of mind, etc. Some short stories do, however, have "omniscient" narrators, which readers can trust are giving us the "whole" story, i.e., letting us see what goes on the the minds of various characters, and not limiting perspective to only that character--"Story of an Hour" is an example....
In A Worn Path, though we see primarily through the eyes of the Phoenix, other elements of the story, such as passages of dialogue with other characters, allow us to see through/around her sense of things...
Here are SEVERAL SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE STORY TO CONSIDER (taken from my comment on a class blog post):
The opening description of the set and the the old woman herself are chock full of symbols--the color of the rag and the fact that it is a rag, the time of year--look for patterns and repetitions throughout the story, and contrasts--the descriptions of her cheeks in par. 2, her name, the time of year and description of the day in the first sentence....consider details of the path, the journey, the paper windmill...consider her own comments as she progresses on her journey and its symbolic value--the passage of thorns,then sun so high, then the "trial," and so on; consider the people she meets and their interactions, dialogue, etc. It's not just a "walk" for her, right, but a kind of quest? You see her weaving a fictional journey out of the realities of the path? Chart patterns throughout the story and examine some of these details as they attempt to communicate a larger theme... rereading the beginning of a story after coming to its end can also often yield valuable insights--embedded meanings that simply looked like innocent description at first... consider the discussion of the "boy," the final image of the story, and this: is the boy really still alive, or alive only in Phoenix's mind? if the latter, how does this effect your interpretation of details of the story and understanding of the protagonist? How does this connect with the final image and the name, "Phoenix" (look up the myth of the Phoenix in Wikipedia, or even Dictionary.com)?
