Ambiguity in Three Modernist Short Stories

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews three modernist short stories and looks at how ambiguous work is a significant mode of modernist art. The three stories this paper reviews are "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams.

From the Paper:

"Eudora Welty wrote her short story "A Worn Path" in 1941. It centers on "an old Negro woman" (795), as she makes her way slowly across the rural countryside toward the neighboring town of Natchez. It is a simple story, and told in a straightforward, matter-of-fact style. This simplicity however, is merely a veneer spread over innumerable underlying ambiguities. The canvas Welty paints at the outset is one of a stark frozen rural landscape. The only color that interrupts this cold early morning picture, is the bright red rag tied about the head of the main character: Phoenix Jackson. What is this old woman doing hobbling back and forth along a rural path in the middle of winter, in the early morning? This is a central question that essentially remains unanswered in any complete way.
Welty allows us to understand that there has been identical earlier journeys made by the old lady, as when Phoenix says to herself: "Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far [...] something always take hold of me on this hill - pleads I should stay" (795). This is the first of many passages that are conversations with herself. The author gives only the character's inner thoughts about things, thus leaving us deprived of any comfort in an objective reality. Phoenix is not a dependable witness by any means. She sees things symbolically, or historically or biblically, but rarely as things really are. Just as she has troubles finding her way through this landscape, so the reader also has trouble finding the truth or meaning of the narrative. "

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