What is the "worn path"? Why is the story named after it?

The
metaphoric path that elderly Phoenix Jackson treads is long established. She is a woman who has
toiled throughout her long life, and the journey she takes in the story is common to many women:
she is looking after a childin this case, her grandson.

The path has deeper
symbolism because Phoenix is African American, elderly, and remembers the end of the Civil War.
She is...