Born in
Jackson, Mississippi,attended college in Mississippi, then went to the University of Wisconsin
in order to further her studies . In 1935, she began working for the WPA, the Works Progress
Administration, a bureau begun by the Roosevelt Administration during the Depression. In her
duty as a publicity agent, Welty gathered stories and interviewed people; in addition, she
snapped photographs of daily life in Mississippi. Thus, it was in her home state of Mississippi
that Welty observed the Southern life and human relationships so dear to her about which she
wrote in her short stories.
In Welty's "," anis made to Phoenix
Jackson's living "away back off the Old Natchez Trace." This particular area is
located in Mississippi, although the Old Natchez Trace finds itself extending to Tennessee.
However, because of Welty's background it is more likely, then that Phoenix lives in the area of
Mississippi.
Of course, the home of Phoenix is probably very humble and in a
rural site that is most likely off a nearby dirt road. Welty describes her walking in the
:
Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman
...coming along a path through the pinewoods....and she walked slowly in the dark pine
shadows....the woods were deep and still.
The path that
Phoenix follows goes deeply into the forest and is an arduous and long path as she must cut
through several fields. When she comes to the end, there are only wagon tracks. Phoenix's trek
takes her hours, and then she finally sees a steeple and cabins, knowing that Natchez and the
hospital are ahead.
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