Question

In “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, why doesn’t Phoenix answer the nurse’s questions about her grandson at first?

1. She has lost the money for the medicine.
2. She has forgotten why she came.
3. Her grandson has died.
4. She is embarrassed to ask for help

Answer 1

I would say the correct answer is 2. She has forgotten why she came. This is perhaps the most devastating and intriguing detail in the whole story. Phoenix has embarked on such a long and exhausting journey because she loves her grandson; but then her memory betrays her. Some critics even suggest the possibility that her grandson had died, which caused a trauma for Phoenix.