A commonly cited theme of the story is unselfish love, which Orr has stated is the ""charitable" view of Phoenix that the white community in the text finds acceptable".[5]: 59
The short story also discusses racism and the arrogance it breeds by marginalizing other people and being cruel to them. However, another theme of the story is the ability of the human spirit to endure conflict and poor circumstances within nature and society out of devotion to loved ones.[6]
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The Question and Answer section for A Worn Path is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
Phoenix is old; she has trouble with mobility and vision. Phoenix must face many obstacles on the worn path on the way to town. She has trouble seeing a scarecrow, she thinks it might be a ghost, and she doesn't see a black dog approach her.
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The phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. The central character demonstrates this by repeating an arduous journey.
During her journey, Phoenix has an altercation with a dog that comes after her. She hits the dog wih her cane, but falls over in turn. At this point, a white man—a hunter—helps her from the spill she took into the ditch. He starts out nicely by...
