"Your bird -- there was nothing I could do -- he just caught fire!"

"'I in the thorny bush,' she said. 'Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush'" ("A Worn Path," 8).

Here is my precise, well-developed sentence that states as fully as possible the theme of the story, avoiding cliches and oversimplification, which is probably inferior to the themes that other people find: "Persistence and courage, more than age and strength, can lead to a humble yet satisfying reward." And now, I will support that.

The first half of my theme: Phoenix exhibits "persistence and courage," even though her "age and strength" are serious obstacles. Throughout the story, Phoenix overcame several obstacles on her journey -- she persevered through a thorny bush (8), mounted a log (13), encountered a ghost-like scarecrow (24), faced a hunter's dog (35), and stared down the barrel of a gun (55). Her response to all of these situations was pure fearlessness. Phoenix is an "old Negro woman" (1), her eyes "blue with age" (2), but her endurance and fearlessness ultimately lead her to her reward. What a nice lead-in to the second half of my theme!

The second half of my theme: Phoenix's reward was "humble yet satisfying." According to the nurse, the old woman makes trips "as regular as clockwork" (78) because her grandson has a throat problem (84). With the two nickels she acquired along her journey, she decided to buy her sick grandson a little windmill (103). At the close of the story, Phoenix shows her appreciation with a "little nod" and amazingly continued on her journey (104). Something about going to Hell and back again for her grandson gives her a sense of satisfaction because she keeps doing it.

I feel I should add that the tears of a phoenix have tremendous healing powers, and the claws of a phoenix can gouge out the eyes of a basilisk. Fawkes is pretty humble, persistent, and courageous in Harry Potter. Maybe that's how Eudora Welty decided to name her character "Phoenix."