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Hallie Geary
Dr. Lee Hobbs, PhD.
El267.01
30 April 2008
Revealing Equal Ethnicities in
Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”
The history of mankind often shows a powerful ethnicity subjugating a weaker ethnicity. Most of the time, the more powerful ethnicity is portrayed as more civilized and technologically advanced, while the weaker ethnicity is uncivilized and backwards. Often the more powerful ethnicity will assume or try to prove a natural superiority to the subjugated ethnicity. This is the case in both Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path.” Both of these stories reveal a definite difference in the power of two ethnicities; however, both also reveal equality between the two by contrasting their views on civility and religion, and by the different outcomes of the main character’s journey.
The most contrasting ethnicities in Kosinski’s story are the rural peasants that the narrator lives with to the Kalmuks and the Red/Soviet army that he meets up with. The first similarity between the two classes is their levels of civility. The author, in a prologue to the book, describes the peasants as, “ignorant and brutal, though not by choice,” (Kosinski 4). This is a fundamental characterization of the class, because the peasants have no choice but to be ignorant and brutal because of the world they live in. It is more difficult to blame them for acting like animals when they have no opportunity for betterment and no idea that their actions are wrong. The Kalmuks, on the other hand, appear as “proud horsemen” with uniforms and guns at their disposal (Kosinski 176). They seem to have had the opportunity to choose a different path, but instead chose to “loot and rape in the manner of their war customs and manly traditions,” (175). The Kalmuks have the means change and civilize themselves, but lack the will to do so. Despite their technology, the more powerful and advanced Kalmuks certainly are not more civilized than the peasants, shown by the fact that the Kalmuks burst into town to rape, pillage, and murder the peasants in the most gruesome, humiliating, and painful manner they can think of (Kosinski 175-181). As a final contrast, the also technologically advanced Red Army appears and drives off the Kalmuks. The Red Army takes the narrator in and cares for him, even teaching him to read (Kosinski 181-186). The Red Army appears to be far more civilized than the peasants or the Kalmuks, but that sense of civilization proves to be shallow. When local villagers kill friends of Mitka, a legendary sharpshooter in the Red army, he shows that the same instincts that drive the villagers are present in the civilized armies by shooting and killing several random members of the village (Kosinski 200-205). Despite the rules and manners of the army, Mitka’s human nature takes control and calls for blood to revenge his fallen comrades. So, despite the different levels of technology and power, the three groups show equality in their true nature. The more powerful and advanced ethnicities are better able to conceal their savage nature, but they are also capable of far more damage when it is revealed.
The ethnical conflict in “A Worn Path” is between the Negro main character, Phoenix, and the white characters. Phoenix seems to be less civilized even at her first appearance, where she is wearing a “long apron of bleached sugar sacks,” and has “unlaced shoes,” (Welty 1). It is obvious from the description that Phoenix is fairly poor, which is confirmed later when she receives charity from the hospital (Welty 7). During her journey, Phoenix is attacked by a dog then saved by a white hunter. The white man helps her and the two exchange civil conversation (Welty 4), but this interaction soon proves to be as shallow as Kosinski’s portrayal of civility. Phoenix repays the white hunter by stealing a nickel that fell out of his pocket and the hunter lies and tells her that he would give her a dime if he had any money (Welty 4-5). Again both sides prove to be equally immoral and abandon the code of civility when it benefits them. Although these circumstances are far less drastic than in The Painted Bird and so the infraction seems to be less, the return to immorality is actually much more significant here because it is not a matter of survival but a matter of personal gain. Neither person is in circumstances that mandate any means for survival, so the deviation from civility is actually more drastic because it is unnecessary. Their infraction is worse because it is less needed, whereas Kosinski creates a story that requires brutality for survival.
Another difference between the two ethnicities in The Painted Bird is their views on religion. The peasants are extremely superstitious, even going as far as to rely on witch doctor like Olga for medicinal treatment (Kosinski 17-19). Their view of the Roman Catholic Church is not much better and, instead of learning and practicing the morals of the church, they attempt to gain exemption for sin by uttering prayers and only avoid sin for fear of God’s vengeance. The importance of the church and its ceremonies are just as obsessively strict and paranoid as the rest of the superstition, and even the smallest mistakes in the ritual of the church warrant a swift and severe punishment (Kosinski 130-142). The Red Army, on the other hand, places no faith in any God or superstition. As atheists, they place all their confidence in “The Party” which gains superhuman and almost God-like powers and control. Instead of God judging lives and deciding morality, The Party took the place of religion (Kosinski 187-195). Both rely on an obsessive order to attempt to gain control over their chaotic lives. The Reds, because there is some order to their lives, attempt to take all the control of their lives into their own hands. The peasants, whose lives are short and filled with violence, know they have no control over what happens to them and place all the power into a God or superstition. They try to find a reason for the misfortune that is a constant part of their lives and to control it by appeasing the deity that makes it happen. Both ethnicities are seeking the same thing, but because of a difference in power they seek it in different ways.
In “The Worn Path,” Phoenix shows the same kind of superstition in her journey as she speaks to herself, possibly asking a higher power to “Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction,” (Welty 1). Throughout her journey, Phoenix talks to herself, animals, and any object she comes up against (Welty 1-3). Phoenix’s life is similar to that of the peasants from Kosinski’s story in that she spends much of her time in the forest, so she is aware of how often things happen by chance. Because she knows how chaotic and brutal the world and be and how little power humans truly have over it, Pheonix knows she cannot control her own fate, so she places control of her life into the hands of God or fate. The white nurses at the hospital, on the other hand, put faith only in their ritual and order. They are the most concerned with being able to fit Phoenix into a category, repeatedly asking her if she wants charity. One nurse recognizes Phoenix and asks about the grandson, then emotionlessly asks if he has died (Welty 6-7). Although they do not use superstition, the nurses rely on order to keep control over their lives and become agitated when Phoenix will not immediately fit into that order. In this story, like Kosinski’s, both ethnicities use ritual to maintain the illusion of control over their lives, with the weaker ethnicity praying to a higher power for protection and the stronger ethnicity using order to maintain control over life.
A final similarity between the two stories is in the journey of the narrator. Both stories show the narrator making a journey out of his/her and ethnicity to journey the territory of another ethnicity. The main difference between the two stories in this area is that in The Painted Bird the narrator is unable to return home. At the end, the boy returns to his family, but has been too affected by the his travels and growing up in savage lands to accept what his parents offer him, and he constantly slips out at night to return to the type of savage existence he has become accustomed to. Only returning him partially to the savage wilderness he grew up in allows him to find a kind of peace (Kosinski 231-234). Now that the narrator knows the true nature of man, he cannot accept the farce of civilization even in his own family.
In “The Worn Path,” on the other hand, Phoenix is able to successfully make her trip through the land of the white ethnicity, overcome her own lapse in memory, and return to her grandson with a resolve never to forget him again (Welty 6-8). Unlike in The Painted Bird, Phoenix is able to overcome her flawed human nature because of the love she has for her grandson. While the other narrator has great difficulty accepting the return to his family and his own ethnicity, Phoenix is happy to return to her grandson and leave the world of the white man behind. Both narrators have seen the true nature of humans, but only Pheonix is able to return to society and the love of her grandson. Kosinksi’s narrator is too altered by his experiences to find any bond with his family. Both narrators are changed by their journey, but Kosinki’s narrator is altered to reject his former home, while Pheonix resolves never to forget hers again. Both characters see the flaws of the other society along with the flaws of their own, but only Pheonix is able to accept the flaws of her own society and live there despite them.
Both of these stories show great conflict between ethnicities, and they also show great contrast between the habits of the ethnicities. However, in both stories the faults of one ethnicity are balanced by the same kind of faults in the other. Both authors show that the ethnicities are seeking the same ideas of comfort and safety, but their different levels of technology and power force them to seek it in different places. On the whole, both authors represent the ethnicities as superficially different, but equally savage at the core. The Painted Bird shows a humanity that is controlled completely by self-interest, and the narrator of that story is unable to accept the lie that civilization tries to give to him. “The Worn Path” shows humanity as being driven by self-interest but tempered by love, and so Phoenix is able to return home. Both stories, however, show humans as flawed creatures that easily fall into sin. Ethnicity may change what people use to fulfill their needs, but it cannot change the savage self-interest that resides in human beings.

Works Cited
Kosinski, Jerzy. The Painted Bird. New York: Grove Press, 1976.
Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” 1940. An excerpt from An Introduction to Literature: Fiction, Poetry, Drama. Eds. Morton Berman, et al. Addison, 1996. 105-112.

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I felt that I should put my paper in this section even though I know my paper looks at The Painted Bird a lot more than it does this work simply because of how much longer the novel is in comparison. However, I think it's important to point out all the similarities there are between a novel and a short story like this one, which I did in my paper. I think you can get a lot more from a short story by looking at it like you would a novel (looking at the characterization and plot) than you would by looking at it like a fable or myth (looking for the point or moral). So I put my paper here instead of under ethnical conflicts because, while my paper might not have a ton to say about the short story, I think I use a style of looking at the short story that is important to see.

Amanda Farabaugh
Prof. Lee Hobbs
American Literature 1915-Present EL 267
30 April 2008
Perceiving the Natural Symbols within Texts
Nature plays a significant role in literature. It may be in the form of everyday obstacles such as the trees, animals, wind and destructive forces. It is also in the form of natural symbolism, as well as perception verses reality. Within two texts, Eudora Welty “A Worn Path” and Metallica “One”, there is natural symbolism that is present, as well as the idea of perception verses the reality. Things found in the texts have different meanings then what the eye notices. Through ones travels through life, the daunting task of perceiving the truth is influenced by nature’s existence in a literature text.
Natural symbolism is an idea that represents something in a story that either comes from nature or something that surrounds us. Within two texts, natural symbolism and perception verses reality will be defined and explained to the fullest. In Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path”, the worn path symbolizes Phoenix Jackson’s life because of the long path Phoenix Jackson has to travel, symbolizing her life’s journey as she ages and must go through. During her journey she travels a long cold path into town for medicine that her grandson needs. She will do whatever it takes get the medicine.
On her journey the heroine, Phoenix Jackson, demonstrates that her love for her grandson is stronger than the obstacles that are put upon her. Her love for her grandson is stronger than the obstacles because throughout her journey she had only one thing in mind, to get the medicine so her grandson will become better.
One natural symbolism in the story is Phoenix’s love of life. The heroine speaking towards the animals of the forest, to not be in her way; demonstrates it;
“Out of my way, all of you fox, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!.. Keep out from under these feet, little bobwhites. . . Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way” (“A Worn Path”, Welty, 1).
Within this quotation, the reader may understand that obstacles are no matches for her. Even though she is described as being old, she is like a phoenix. She is a symbol of keeping peace within the forest. From dancing with the scarecrow to drinking water from a well that’s been there before her time, is another example of natural symbolisms. It is representing how the well and the water is symbolizes her long life.
Phoenix Jackson’s name is a symbol of the bird the phoenix. These are birds that are reincarnated after death. They are strong fierce birds like Phoenix Jackson. She is a fierce woman who is on a journey for her loved one. Everything around her emphasizes natural symbols. For example, Phoenix Jackson says, “Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far”, “Something always take a hold of me on this hill-pleads I should stay”(“A Worn Path”, Welty, 1). This is a natural symbolism as her body is very old and weak and that this hill is a hard climb for an elderly woman. Even though there is nothing visible in reality holding, the hill represents life being too difficult to climb, but nothing will stop her.
One page two of Welty’s “A Worn Path”, more natural symbolisms can be found. For example, “Big dead trees, like black men with one arm . . .” “There sat a buzzard” (“A Worn Path”, Welty, 2). The buzzard alone is also a symbol for death, but sitting on the dead tree emphasizes the symbolism of death. Buzzards are nasty creatures that one may think of as a flesh eating bird that follows death. When something dies, buzzards appear before the animals ready to eat and take the life and soul that had been left. To be perched on a dead tree is a symbol for the death surrounding her. The forest has death throughout.
When Phoenix reaches the city, she hears bells ringing, which naturally symbolizes her journey (Natural Symbols and Symbolism in Eudora Welty's A Worn Path). Seeing red, green and silver wrapping is opposite of what she’s used to back home. She journey’s through dark and dreary woods and enters a bright and lively town.
The idea of perception verses reality in “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, shows even though obstacles were put in front of Phoenix Jackson, she does not stop to interpret why these obstacles were trying to stop her. She only knew that they were there and no matter what it took or how long it took, she was going into town for her grandson’s medicine. Her love of life and her grandson keeps her trekking into town for the medicine. In her reality, she has a sick grandson who is back at home waiting for her and the medicine. The perception of her old age is not the case; in actuality her old age does not stop her in any way shape or form. Her eyesight changes her perception of the real world that is in front of her; “Her eyes were blue with age” (“A Worn Path”, Welty, 1).
“One” by the band Metallica, is lyrics that describe a man who had his life taken from him due to an outside force-nature of warfare, bombs being deployed and death surrounding. The nature of warfare, according to lines 33-39, has taken the man’s sight, speech, hearing, arms, legs, soul and according to him, his life. A natural symbolism in the text is when James Ulrich writes, “Back in the womb it’s much too real” (“One”, Metallica, 1). It’s a natural symbolism that explains not being able to walk, move your arms, speak and even see; it is representing how a baby feels in the womb. This is where an unborn baby does absolute nothing only receiving life through the tube/umbilical cord. Just like how an unborn baby is being kept alive through the tube, so is this man in Metallica lyrics. He is only alive due to the “machines that make me be” (“One”, Metallica, 1). To be kept alive only with machines is the torture to him, he’d rather let God take him then live the way he is.
“Landmine has taken . . .” is a lyric that refers to how nature of warfare is surrounded by pain, misery, and even death (“One”, Metallica, 1). A landmine has taken parts of him that he can never get back, except the landmine has left his life. Death is what this man wants God to do for him, “Oh God, Help me” . . . “Hold my breath as I wish for death” (“One”, Metallica, 1). He is not strong like Phoenix Jackson and his love for life is weakened as he thinks of how War has taken everything from him. With Phoenix Jackson, she knew that her grandson depended on her to make that long journey and return home with medicine, whereas this man has no love for life or anyone else, he would rather die than be kept alive through the machines.
Another natural symbolism is found within the text where James Hatfield writes, “That there is nothing left of me” (“One”, Metallica, 1). This is a symbol of his body being without limbs, his hearing, eyesight and even speech. According to this man, there is nothing left of him but a piece of meat that just lies there unable to do anything.
James Ulrich writes “Darkness is imprisoning me” representing that darkness is an absence of life (“One”, Metallica, 1). Someone would see darkness being portrayed in a movie as having a feeling of horror or something bad is bound to happen to one of the characters. This also represents that death is making itself known.
He perceives that the world around him is gone, but in reality the world is still there and he is not the only one (“One, Metallica, 1). The perception to this man is that his life is over, “Now that the war is through with me” (“One”, Metallica, 1). “Cut this life off from me” explains that he perceives his life should be cut off due to his loss of everything except his life (“One”, Metallica, 1). He feels that since he has no way of communicating to the outside, his life should just end. Reality of his condition is that the man needs to understand he is still living and can be a part of the world as long as he understands that his life is not over, even though nature of warfare has “Taken my sight, Taken my speech, Taken my hearing, Taken my arms, Taken my legs” (“One”, Metallica, 1).
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty and “One” by Metallica, have natural symbolisms found inside. Many are quite easily found while others may take time and a bit of understanding. The nature of a text is what the author wants the readers to find. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”, the nature of the text knows that love is stronger than any obstacle thrown at Phoenix. Phoenix is in touch with reality but at the same time, she perceives the natural surroundings as her reality. In Metallica “One”, the nature of the text lets us know that a man perceives his life as lost and wants God to take him rather than face the reality he is still living in with the help of the machines (“One”, Metallica, 1). He’d rather perceive his life as lost than continue to live the way he is.
The characters in the texts are being tested by outside agents. These are outside agents that are trying to stop the characters from moving forward with their journey/life. Within Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” old age and disease to her grandson is trying to bring Phoenix Jackson down. Old age is intertwining itself within her bones trying to make her journey on the long path as difficult as possible. Her grandson’s disease is an outside agent that forces Phoenix to make the long uneasy journey.
Within Metallica “One”, was the bomb and warfare. The bomb has affected the man whereas he can never hear, speak, see and move again. Warfare is a symbol of death. When people enter war the result is death. Each of these outside agents has caused darkness to all characters. Natural Symbolism and perception verses reality are all ways of understanding the true existence of nature in a text.

Works Cited
Hatfield, James and Lars Ulrich. “One” . . .And Justice for All. CD. Elektra, 1998
Metallica.com. 2008. 5 March 2008. Albums/albums.asp?album_id=5>.
Natural Symbols and Symbolism in Eudora Welty's A Worn Path." 123HelpMe.com. 24 Apr
2008 .
Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” 1940. An Introduction to Literature: Fiction, Poetry,
Drama. Eds. Morton Berman, et al. Addison, 1996. 105-112.

This analysis has been submitted to this blog because it is written about Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path”. This analysis looks into her story by perceiving the nature behind her text. The way Eudora Welty wrote her story has many symbolisms that relate to different things in the world. Within my paper I have examined many examples of her work and what they mean. I feel that my paper fits well under her heading because of the fact I wrote about her work and the fact that I took her writing and found the different meanings behind what she writes. I enjoyed her work and analyzing the true nature of her words.

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*NOTE* The deadline for this particular assignment has now passed. Any comments listed below are *ONLY* for the reposting of comments that I specifically asked to be revised or are ones from non-student posters. Any 'student' posts below that missed the assignment deadline will not get credit for the assignment. ~ Dr. Hobbs