Introduction
A Worn Path and A Rose for Emily are two short fictional stories that explore the sacrifices and struggles of two women in trying to overcome life journey obstacles.
In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”, the main protagonist is Phoenix Jackson, an old, poverty stricken woman who gives a description of her journey to the big city from the village in search of medicine for her grandchild. The story is narrated from a third person omniscient point of view that is also limited and omniscient.
The narrator of the story hears and sees all, but this is only from a single character’s point of view and this inadvertently allows the reader to understand the protagonist, Phoenix better. The effect of this point of view is that the reader is essentially able to sympathize with the protagonist because her thought and actions are explicitly shown and the audience is able to deduce her character firsthand (Charters 45). For example as she walks through along a worn path, her characteristics and traits are revealed slowly through her scattered thoughts. Here we learn that she is indeed a very wise and determined person.
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, the author uses an almost similar point of view and that is the third person limited point of view. This similar to “A Worn Path where the narrator is a third person. However, unlike in “A Worn Path”, the omniscience of the narrator is limited. This narrator is set up as member of the community, for example in the first line where he talks about “our whole town” (Charters 36).
This is indeed very logical indeed because of the post mortem nature of the story that means that it cannot be told from the point of view of the main character. Since the reader is never directly exposed to the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, Miss Emily, he or she therefore becomes subject to believing almost anything the narrator states and it is only form these statements that the character of Miss Emily can be deduced. This is also supported by the narrator’s lack of suing the word “I” which ensures that he builds a communal army behind all ideas and they therefore all appear as facts. One thing that the narrator tries to put forward is Miss Emily’s supposed arrogant attitude and secretive nature which are results of her lifestyle choices. The overall effect of this point of view is that is adds suspense and drama and enables the story to be told as mystery (Charters 50).
Works Cited
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print.
