Blooms Literary Themes - THE HEROS ... - ymerleksi - home

The Worn Path 227While the relationships are manifestations of historical and societalcircumstances, each person Phoenix encounters has the ability to actin opposition to these conditions but does not. Each sustains theinstitutionalized racism found in southern Mississippi at the time,which Welty critiques.Reading Phoenix with race in mind, we can see that the whitecharacters believe they understand her. The white hunter says, “I knowyou old colored people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see SantaClaus!” “A charity case,” the doctor’s attendant announces without evenlearning Phoenix’s name. Yet there is no true charity for this “charitycase.” The word has been perverted with connotations of disdain andracial superiority. Even though the hunter helps Phoenix out of theditch, he has already laughed at her, lied about having no money to giveher, and pointed his gun at her head. He no doubt could have given herthe nickel, or more, or could have shared the birds he had killed withher. But he did neither, perhaps, since he knew “old colored people”or at least knew the stereotypes; he thought giving only encourageddependence. In addition, although he says it is too far to walk toNatchez, he abandons Phoenix without any further help or comfort.In town, though the nurse is willing to give Phoenix the medicineas the doctor has instructed, she admonishes Phoenix: “You mustn’ttake up our time this way.” The doctor, who does not appear in thestory, has placed conditions on the charity he extends to Phoenix andher grandson. She can have the soothing medicine for the sick childas long as she makes the difficult trip into Natchez to get it. Charityfor these individuals has to be easy; it cannot cost them anything.In the Christmas season, ironically, the charity Phoenix receives isinsincere and should challenge the reader’s acceptance of these acts asmotivated by love. Welty implies that true charity would not consistof tossing small favors to Phoenix, nor would it ignore her true needs.Furthermore, charity might involve questioning the social conditionsthat created Phoenix’s need in the first place.Alexandr Vaschenko also views Welty’s stories as having morecomplexity than revealed on the surface. In spite of ordinary situationsand “apparently insignificant” details, the “general mystery”of her narratives offers “a challenge for any critical mind” (9). OldPhoenix appears in the stereotypical dress of a black woman at thetime, recalling the image of Aunt Jemima (a red rag tied around