Conflict In “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is a short story about an old black woman who periodically makes a journey to town. In this story Phoenix Jackson faces many trials on her way to town. Many of the conflicts she faces seem insurmountable but her strength enables her to overcome them. Phoenix Jackson’s health, age, sanity, state of poverty are all conflicts in “A Worn Path.” Phoenix Jackson has many trials to overcome in “A, Worn Path.” One of them is her health. As Phoenix travels through the forest “she carried a cane which she tapped at the frozen earth in front of her”(Welty 1). There are two theories ab