Symbolism
Popular with Literature classes, the story is open to interpretation as to the symbolism in the piece and the lesson(s) to be learned. The consensus is that it emphasizes racial and economic inequalities in the Deep South during the Depression. Also it is similar to the story of Odysseus who faces many trials along his journey. Miss Welty herself has said it is a story about how a writer works.
Read more about this topic: A Worn Path
Famous quotes containing the word symbolism:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)