A Worn Path

[kathleenmariekg]

I noticed that she is portrayed as an unreliable narrator early in the book, and I am not sure how to proceed after that.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

I noticed that she is portrayed as an unreliable narrator early in the book, and I am not sure how to proceed after that.

Not sure how to understand that. Welty is narrating; Phoenix Jackson is her main character. Whom do you mean by "she"? Where or in what way do you see unreliable narrating?

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Not sure how to understand that. Welty is narrating; Phoenix Jackson is her main character. Whom do you mean by "she"? Where or in what way do you see unreliable narrating?

Yes, the narration is throwing me a bit, and I just have not taken the time with this story that it will take for me to understand it. We don't get this close to any of the other characters: "She did not dare to close here eyes". I don't think we know what anyone else sees, do we?

But she sat down to rest. She spread her skirts on the bank around her and
folded her hands over her knees. Up above her was a tree in a pearly cloud of
mistletoe. She did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought
her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him. “That would be
acceptable,” she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand
in the air.​

If she is talking to a little boy that is not there, how do we know that anything else that she thinks she sees is real?

 

[kathleenmariekg]

I guess it is only through the implication that the boy with the cake is not real, that we think we are in the character's head? But we are not?

 

[JonC]

The interesting thing about these stories is how people relate to them. There is often no concrete meaning but themes which are touched upon.

Welty considered the Worn Path to be about the writing process (something with which most of us would not identify). But it is interesting to take the journey "in her shoes" as well.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

The interesting thing about these stories is how people relate to them. There is often no concrete meaning but themes which are touched upon.

Welty considered the Worn Path to be about the writing process (something with which most of us would not identify). But it is interesting to take the journey "in her shoes" as well.

I had wondered if the author somewhere revealed some of her musings behind the story. If that’s what she is writing about, then I must say I find it a-musing. Or should that be be-musing?

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Welty considered the Worn Path to be about the writing process (something with which most of us would not identify).

That fascinates me. I need to find the time to finish reading this story with my full attention, and I would like to read more about Welty's thoughts on the writing process.

I have enjoyed reading Hemingway's thoughts on the writing process.