Symbolism of the Journey Stories - Research Paper Example

Symbolism of the Journey Literary works are critically analyzed using diverse elements ranging from plot, point of view, tone, setting, character, and symbolism that contribute to the given theme. For the current essay, two literary works are analyzed focusing on content, form and style, where one is a short story (A Worn Path) and the other is a poem (The Road Not Taken). The short story, reported to be “first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1940, “A Worn Path” is perhaps Eudora Welty’s most prized piece of short fiction” [Ope10]. The poem, on the other hand, written by Robert Frost was first published in 1916 [Ame11]. The discourse hereby aims to proffer a comparative analysis of these two literary works with similar theme of exploring a journey with the disparity being one of an unknown and untrodden path and the other of trekking a familiar and regular expedition. A Worn Path The short story centers on the journey embarked by an old Negro woman named Phoenix Jackson. At the start of the story, the setting was depicted as a cold December morning when the main character initiated her journey towards a yet, undisclosed location. The description of the path that Phoenix took was vividly and slowly revealed through the choice of words and language used by the narrator. Told in a third person point of view, readers are informed of Phoenix’s encounters and challenges through the figurative illustrations and the characters she met along the way. The contents of the short story are diverse and intricate starting from being informed that the main character was in the midst of a journey; to encountering different challenges due to the landscape of the trail; and finally delving into the purpose of her journey. The end of the story revealed that the journey was specifically made to avail of a medicine for an ill grandson, whose throat was chronically damaged. The word count actually reached five and a half pages of single-spaced typed narrative discourse with approximately less than 3000 words. Its form, being a short story, confirms the contents as being illumined by defining that “a story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is” (Flannery O’Connor, American short story writer; cited in Chapter 4, p. 71). The revelation at the end of the story on the purpose of the journey unfolded only at the climax. The style is evaluated by looking into the point of view (third person), the setting (cold December morning trekking a familiar but challenging path) and symbolism (“a literal identity but also stands for something else” (Short Story: Theme and Symbolism, n.d., p. 108). The story unfolds different symbols, manifested by the main character and the events that she encountered. First, her name Phoenix, symbolizes the “mythical bird that never dies, the phoenix flies far ahead to the front, always scanning the landscape and distant space. It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it. The phoenix, with its great beauty, creates intense excitement and deathless inspiration”[Myt11]. The description and depiction of Phoenix’s character in the story parallels the vivid illustration of phoenix as a mythical bird with her colorful clothes, the red rag tied on her head, and a dark striped dress with a bleached sugar sack apron donned among her outfit. The physical traits, in conjunction with her acumen in scanning the challenging landscape beyond wild animals, thorny bushes, a barbed-wired fence, uphill and downhill paths, and encountering a stranger with fierce dogs, confirm her steadfast courage and determination to reach the planned location. The location was initially revealed as in town which was surmised to be far from her home. The bird was also used by the old woman as a symbol for her grandson, who she described as “(wearing) a little patch quilt and peep out holding his mouth open like a little bird” [Wel41]. In this way, the old woman views her grandson as resilient to his travails and survives beyond the illness he is afflicted with. The Road Not Taken The poem written by Frost contains a simple conflict in terms of depicting the traveller as being in a quandary as to which road to take. Written in 20 lines and using 144 words, the poem’s content focused on the narrator’s dilemma on trying to determine what is in store for him for trekking the road less travelled. Like any traveller who started the journey, the narrator reflected on traversing the other path when the time allows, only concluding that “I doubted if I should ever come back” (Frost, 2011, par. 3). The form, being a poem, manifests a rhythmic pattern of ABAAB with four stanzas and five lines each with four stressed syllables. The style is analyzed by looking into the point of view (first person), the setting (in the midst of two diverging roads within a yellow forest which could mean that is possibly the period prior to winder) and symbolism. For symbolism, the situation of being at a crossroad depicts that people are always faced with the situation of making a decision between two similar paths. Upon making the decision, based on whatever analytical tools one has at that point in time, the decision maker always takes time to reflect on what could possible have been the result if the other option or alternative was chosen. The description of the untrodden path in terms of indicating that it was “grassy and wanted wear” (Frost, 2011, par. 2) reveal that the challenging path chosen could have prompted the traveller to remunerate on the other path. The ending could be interpreted that the traveller was disappointed with the decision made due to the phrase: “I shall be telling this with a sigh” (Frost, 2011, par. 4) and could mean that despite the time that lapsed since the journey was made, the narrator never forgot the crossroads and would have wanted to know what the outcome would be if the more travelled road was taken instead. Comparative Analysis The two literary works are similar in terms of theme: that of trodding a path or embarking on a journey. The difference, as one has initially noted was that in Frost’s poem, the narrator took the unknown and untrodden path; while in the short story, the main character, Phoenix, took the familiar and regular journey to achieve the planned purpose. The narrator in the poem did not indicate the purpose for being at the situation one was in. The readers could surmise that the narrator was lost and when faced at the crossroad, had to decide which path was to be taken. On the other hand, in the short story, Phoenix travelled that route several times as revealed at the end of the story when she needed to avail of the medicine for her grandson who had been afflicted with a debilitating throat disease due to swallowing lye two or three years ago. In terms of form, one was a poem and the other was a short story. The poem followed a clear and patterned structure while the short story relayed the message using various literary elements as deemed necessary. For style, the points of views were different with the poem being told using the first person point of view; while the short story used the third person point of view. The setting was almost similar with the description of the paths being travelled as showing landscapes, wooden paths, grassy trails but the setting for the short story was clear: a cold December morning; whereas that of the poem, the reader could interpret the setting as autumn due to the symbolism of the yellow wood mentioned. The contents were fairly short and direct for the poem that contains only 144 words. The short story was longer and more comprehensive in content and information that could approximately contain less than 3000 words after having consumed more than five and a half pages of single-spaced typewritten format. However, despite the brevity of the poem, the message intended by the author was clearly relayed. For the short story, the purpose of the journey unfolded at the end of the story and left the readers to decide actually, on the authenticity of the purpose. One could reflect if indeed the grandson being mentioned as the purpose for Phoenix’s journey is still alive – or because of the main character’s old age, she could just be going through the journey out of habit as memory has led her to it several times. Under style, after comparing the points of view and setting, the symbolism as a literary element contained disparities in terms of contexts. For the poem, the crossroad symbolized dilemmas in decision making that faces everyone is the same situation. The universal feature of the theme facing any decision maker could actually opt to choose the same road or path taken by the traveller depending on the personality of the decision maker and various factors that led the narrator to decide. On the other hand, for Phoenix, the symbol of the mythical bird could be interpreted as providing both the purpose and the reason for the journey. By exemplifying characteristics and traits of the bird, the main character embarked on a regular journey to the doctor to avail of the much needed medicine for her grandson. Despite the difficulties and risked faced along the trail and despite her age, she remained determined and persistent to go through the journey to ensure that the medicine is availed to keep her grandson alive. The purpose is clear and the visual characterization provided by the supporting participants (hunter, nurse and grandson) contributed to the building of a determined main character who manifested strength, courage and steadfastness in her plight. In the short story, other than the theme of going through with the journey, other themes were touched such as the duty and responsibility of the grandmother to ensure the health of her grandson by securing the medicine despite the difficulties of the journey. Also, there was the issue touching on the controversial issue of racism and prejudice as depicted by the hunter who made fun of her by calling her granny and blurting “you old colored people” [Wel41]. Also, the hunter’s testing Phoenix’s courage by pointing a gun at her was also exemplary of the low stature seen by the hunter of the main character. When the hunter finally indicated that he would have given the old woman a dime, readers’ emotions were also stirred as it was previously revealed that Phoenix already secretly stashed a nickel that fell from the hunter’s pocket. The nickel could also symbolize the need for resources to enable Phoenix to support and sustain, not only her grandson’s needs but also her own. The nickel was again mentioned at the end of the story when the attendant gave her another nickel as a Christmas present. With this, her journey was concluded and her reflective words that she would buy her grandson a little windmill as a gift was heartwarming. With the little amount that she gained during the journey, the readers are again given a glimpse of the main character’s innate trait of generosity, love, courage and deep care for the grandson for whom the journey has been made. Further, as disclosed by Donlan, the story actually reveals a symbol of immortality, to wit: there are “three elements that substantiate the theme of immortality: references to death, references to time, and references to the Phoenix myth from Egyptian mythology. In this way, Old Phoenix is not a stereotype but a symbol of immortality”[Don73]. Through the perceived possible death of Phoenix’s grandson, the time spent in going through her journey, and the steadfastness and determination in the old woman’s character, the Phoenix thereby actually symbolizes immortality. Conclusion The comparative analysis of two literary works, a short story and a poem, with similar theme of exploring a journey was presented using literary elements of content, form and style. Despite the similarity in theme of exploring a journey, the disparity was expounded in terms of one following an unknown and untrodden path, and the other of trekking a familiar, determined and purposeful expedition. The comparative analysis has revealed that literary works, despite differences and similarities in identified elements, provide the readers with the opportunities to understand the message intended by the authors through the elements used. Like the journeys that the two separate characters trod, and despite the differences in embarking on separate paths, readers were brought to experience the emotions felt by the characters: the ambiguity, the anxiety, the fear for tredding new and unfamiliar paths and by sharing the determination, courage, and happiness for achieving the goal initially pursued. References Ope10: , (Open Culture, 2010, p. 1), Ame11: , (American Poems, 2011), Myt11: , (Mythical Realm, 2011, p. 1), Wel41: , (Welty, 1941, p. 5), Wel41: , (Welty, 1941, p. 3), Don73: , (Donlan, 1973), Read More