As Kurt Vonnegut says in Breakfast of Champions, “Symbols can be so beautiful sometimes,” showing that without symbols, stories and even life are boring and not beautiful. (. Everything needs symbolic connections to become deep and beautiful. Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" shows how symbols help make stories very beautiful and symbolic for a person. In "A Worn Path" , an elderly woman, Phoenix Jackson, takes a trip to town to get medicine for her grandson. All the symbols in Welty's story help to grow and transform "A Worn Path" into a beautifully written short story. Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path” uses symbolism to show the true meaning of the main characters, Phoenix Jackson, the need for the journey as well as the true meaning of the name Phoenix According to Webster's Dictionary, symbolism is the use of. symbols to express or represent ideas or qualities in literature Symbolism is used in almost all written works of art and by almost all writers With the help of symbolism, authors are able to put images into. readers' heads and also help readers make their own connections to the stories. In fact, what a symbol means to the author may mean something entirely different to the reader. Thus, through symbolism, the reader is able to make the author's story their "own" story. Eudora Welty used symbolism through her connection to Phoenix Jackson as well as the journey she takes. Welty connects Phoenix to the well-known Egyptian mythology of the phoenix. She also connects the path Phoenix takes to the path needed to keep Phoenix alive. Another symbolic reference in "A Worn Path" is all the connections to Phoenix's death. So symbolism is very important to help the stories... middle of paper ... what he must continue to live. Finally, thanks to Phoenix tapping the ground with his cane and going down the stairs at the end of the story, Phoenix is ​​believed to die at the end of the story. Through symbols, Eudora Welty's story, “A Worn Path,” grows and becomes truly beautiful, just as Kurt Vonnegut says in Breakfast of Champions: “Symbols can be so beautiful, sometimes. » Works cited Bartel, Roland. “Life and Death in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path.” EXPLORE short stories. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Internet. April 21, 2014. Donlan, Dan. “A worn path: the immortality of the stereotype. » EXPLORE short stories. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Internet. April 21, 2014. “Phoenix (mythology). » Princeton University. Np, and Web. May 12, 2014. Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, nd Web. May 12 2014.