Symbolism in A Worn Path and To Build A Fire
A worn path and to build a fire are two stories that revolve around the theme of symbolism. Through the symbols explores, one can tell that the authors of these stories wanted to depict the struggles and pleasures of life among human beings. Therefore, Welty and Jack employ symbolism to connect the readers towards the internal struggles and battles. Hence, it gives the two stories a deeper meaning than Chechaquo and Phoenix’s adventure towards nature (trans-versing through the harsh winter of Klondike landscape) and walks through the woods, respectively. Twists and turns characterize the life of a human. There are times when one faces unexpected obstacles and experiences that are difficult to forget. This paper explores symbolism as the common theme in A Worn Path and To Build a Fire.
Phoenix is the main character in Welty’s A worn Path. Welty depicts her as a character who wore ragged clothing, with a wrinkled face, to show that her life was an unforgettable experience. Similarly, Jack represents the unnamed man, a chechaquo, who has never experienced such an extreme winter, as he pursues his journey towards the champion camp. Thus, there is a common focus in the two stories, highlighting what life is towards the two characters. It is symbolic since their life is full of struggles, swifts and turns, which, to some extent, they led to the death of the man in to build a fire. In A Worn Path, Welty uses the thorn bush, the hunter, and the windmill paper to show how life is shaped through experiences regardless of whether they are major or minor experiences (London). Similarly, Jack uses the fire to show as a life-sustaining force to human life, without which, individuals cannot survive in shallow temperatures (Welty and Elizabeth). Struggle for life and its pleasures is a similar entity in both the stories, and it is symbolic in illustrating how human beings pursue life despite the hardships and challenges laid ahead of them.
When Phoenix walks through the bush, she is held back by the thorns. She spends some time trying to untangle the skirt from the thorns. While doing so, she makes remarks that help the reader to understand what the thorns symbolize. Symbolically, the thorns and how they tangled her skirt illustrates the struggles that Phoenix underwent throughout her life, meaning that in life, an individual will be held back in some point along the journey towards growth and pleasure. Phoenix says that the thorns were doing what they were meant to do when they held her back (London). This statement is also symbolic to indicate that inconveniencing times happen for a reason. Furthermore, while she was untangling her skirt from the thorns, she said that she thought the bush was pretty green, an indication that she thought the experience in the bush was to be somehow pleasant, and thus, the reader is propelled to understand that, experiences in life do not happen as we anticipate. Thus, the thorn bush was an obstacle in Phoenix’s life, which means that she was meant to struggle to overcome it and acquire her desires to safe her grandson.
This is quite similar to Jackson London’s To Build a Fire where the chechaquo man embarks on a journey towards the mining champions’ camp. A series of disasters characterize his journey since it was during the winter. He had never experienced such an extreme winter period and hence, that indicated that his anticipations were not as what he experienced. Jack tells the reader that there was an old-timer who warned him against his travel; however, he made up his mind to travel alone with a dog. As he struggles to survive in the wilderness, Jack says that he was walking on foot instead of a slide. He had been warned against travelling alone when the snow temperature is below fifty. However, he travelled with only his dog, which was not too affectionate to him either. Therefore, lack of imagination makes the man face the worst side of the winter since he never speculated what the universe entails during such times (Welty and Elizabeth). At first, he thought that he would pursue nature and survive through the extreme winter, however, when he sees how fast his hands and fingers nub after removing his gloves, his nose freezes and how his feet numb before he sits, makes him frightened. This indicates that even though a human can struggle against nature, it is good to heed towards advice since nature is powerful than a human. Heeding to advice is similar in both stories because even the young white hunter in A Worn Path advised Phoenix to stay at her home to avoid anything happening to her.
Another aspect of symbolism to build a fire is the use of fire. It is used to indicate a life-sustaining tool. When the man successfully puts up a fire, it is symbolic of serving a variety of purposes. Yukon was a dangerous and freezing place; therefore, the light was symbolic in warming and preserving the human body. Moreover, a continuous fire camp was vital in helping the man to sleep. Without the fire, the man was subjected to extreme cold and froze to death. Literary, fire is used for cooking, and food sustains humanity. Besides, fire also protects human beings from attacks from wild animals, but in to build a fire story, fire is used as an ideal source of heat, to thaw a frozen human. Therefore, since the Chechaquo man had realized the primary purpose of light during his circumstances, he used it purposely to melt the snow around him. However, putting off fire indicate the end of life. When the fire melted the snow in a tree, the melted snow fell on the surface hence putting off the fire. His struggle towards re-building the fire was in vain, and thus, he got frightened and ran. Therefore, the man froze to death due to lack of fire (Welty and Elizabeth).
The two stories have some differences in the characters symbolic struggles towards life. In a worn path, Phoenix embarks on her journey for the sake of her grandson. Buying a paper windmill for him symbolically indicates her everlasting love, selflessness and generosity towards her grandson. Welty says that she buys the windmill with her remaining two nickels. Thus, she cared more about her grandson’s happiness and endured all the thorny bushes and the racial prejudice from the young hunter, to ensure that she gets the paper windmill for him. He concern was to please her grandson, who thinks she was out to fetch medicine for him. Her experience through life made her push through despite the difficulties and the thorny experiences, which were the obstacles during her journey (London). This is different from the symbolic journey of the man to build a fire. He embarks on a mission to find life pleasures. He wanted to reach the champion camp for mining (Welty and Elizabeth). The snow and the temperatures during the winter season were so hostile that he found it unbearable to reach the expected destination. Opposed to Phoenix, Chechaquo man had not experienced such circumstances. He was warned against travelling alone when the temperatures were below fifty but did not heed to the advice even though he had no experience. That is why he could not survive in the wilderness because he was experienced enough to handle the challenges laid ahead of him, unlike Phoenix who was old to imply that she had experienced (Welty and Elizabeth).
In conclusion, the theme of symbolism is prevalent in both A Worn Path and To Build a Fire. The thorn bush, the young hunter and the paper mill are symbolic in Welty’s story. On the other hand, the fire, the snow and man’s struggle to sustain his life by building a fire is prevalent in To Build a Fire. The symbolic differences in both the stories emanate from the aim and objective of the two characters. They both struggle to earn life’s pleasure, with Phoenix struggling to please her grandson while the Chechaquo man struggles to please himself by meeting with champion miners in the mining camp. However, in summary, both Welty and Jack’s story revolves around how human being struggles in life, by enduring or encountering unforgettable memories.
Works cited
London, Jack. To Build a Fire and Other Favorite Stories. Courier Corporation, 2008.
Welty, Eudora, and Elizabeth Sarcone. A worn path. Creative Education, 1991.