The author has embraced the use of dialogue in the short story extensively as one way of plot advancement. Throughout the story, we read the conversation between the man, the girl, and the woman. The author advanced his story by the creation of discussions among the three characters at the railway station while they were waiting for the train to arrive. Their communication develops from the time the story begins and continues through to the end of the story. This dialogue contributes to the development of the plot as it shows how their communication advances and how they can express their views and opinions.
Through communication between the girl and the man, we can perceive that the environment they are living in is hopeless and there is no brighter future ahead of them. The use of expressions like “hills like white elephants “enables us to realize there is desperation in the minds of the girl and the man. The expression implies that similar to white elephants, their hopes do not exist. The fact that the man and the girl are restless at the railway station and continue to drink while waiting for the train shows they are impatient due to delays in their transition to the next step. This shows they are tired of being where they were and need some changes.
The author has used dialogue in the short story as a way to break the monotony of narration hence making the story more interesting. If this story was to be acted, it would be entertaining due to the presence of the dialogue whereas if it were to be read, the conversation between the man and the girl would make it lively and entertaining.
Through the use of dialogue, we understand the characters in the story and we can predict their next behavior. We learn the girl as being short-tempered when she angrily asks the man to shut up by saying” Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”
The author has successfully portrayed the girl as being sarcastic in the way she answers the man. As compared to normal communication, it is great sarcasm to be answered the way the girl does to the man. She repeatedly gets back at the man using the same words the man uses. For instance when she says “I don’t care about me” she puts it in a way that sounds so sarcastic but with a great expression of her intentions that she does not care whether anything happens to her or not.
The girl is arrogant and seems to be so frustrated that she even feels there is no need to be humble and calm. She addresses the man with great contempt and also asks him to shut up. When she is told to do it, she seems to be on the defensive side and it looks like she has been greatly disappointed.
She is very temperamental towards the man and does not hesitate to express her anger and frustrations with the man. Even though they have spent many nights together she can not restrain from unleashing her anger at the man by asking him to do her a favor by shutting up. It is very unfortunate that instead of her enjoying the company of the man while waiting for the train, she feels he is a bother to her and deserves to keep silent.
The girl is inquisitive and does not let anything pass her notice without seeking clarifications when she keeps asking the man all sorts of questions about what she does not understand. For instance, she asks’ Then what will we do afterward?”, “What makes you think so?” and she seems not satisfied with any answer given to her.
Eudora Welty curved the figure of a real woman in the character of Phoenix Jackson, an old woman striving to take care of her grandchild. Her love is seen through her struggles to ensure she gets drugs for her grandson. Phoenix is courageous enough to go through the woods alone towards the drug store to get treatment for her grandchild. She encounters great threats like the hunter who threatened her with a gun. Despite the many animals she encounters in the woods like the wild dog, she does not retreat home but forges her way to make sure she gets to the drug store. Even though her grandson had been suffering for several years, she has the strength to attend to him and ensure that he gets treatment. Phoenix is an optimistic lady who even though her grandson is sick, hopes to get treatment for him. She leaves him at home and goes on a long journey to seek treatment and while there keeps hoping that the drugs will heal the child. Even though the grandson has suffered for a long time and struggled with the disease, she never gives up and continues to visit the doctor and the nurse to get treatment for him. This is not the first time she is visiting the doctor and keeps hope alive that one day her sick grandson will recover.
She is an illusionist and talks to imaginary creatures by warding off animals and talking to them as though they understand her. Her mind is preoccupied with images of ghosts and when she sees a scarecrow she thinks it is a ghost. The fact that she talks of the grandson who exists in her mind alone but is absent from the story, is a clear indication that either old age or senility has overcome her.
Eudora Welty managed to devise a critical approach to the use of symbols in her short story that has elaborate literal and practical illustrations. To her, the title “A Worn Path” is an image used to indicate that the story is about dejection and devaluation due to continued use. A path that is constantly used has to be smooth and easy to walk on but in this context, the path is torn due to long time usage and most importantly with total negligence. The author tries to explain how society has rejected and abandoned its responsibilities like parenting and provision of basic needs. The absence of the son’s parents without an explanation of where they are shows how careless and irresponsible they are to their duties. This symbolizes the abandonment of parental roles to other people while the parents are in pursuit of a professional career or income. The name Phoenix is about a tale of a sacred Egyptian bird that moved from Arabia every 500 years to Heliopolis and sacrificed itself then resurrected young and beautiful. Phoenix thus represents this bird that sacrificed its life for the sake of future generations. She can not walk without the use of a cane made from an old umbrella symbolizing how poor she was. The nickel that Phoenix picked from the man who dropped it and from the nurse which she gladly appreciates symbolizes desperation and poverty that has rocked society to an extent that a valueless item is magnified to have great value. The endless trips to the doctor to seek treatment for the grandson symbolize the constant attempts aimed at ensuring the future generations are protected and preserved at all costs by those who have these responsibilities.
The writer of this short story has managed to use language in a symbolic manner that has portrayed the real issues that surrounds the life of human beings.