A Worn Path

In Eudora Welty's A Worn Path, she uses a great amount of characterization to give us a clear image of Phoenix.  She mentions right off the bat that the old woman has a difficult time moving, as well as seeing.  Welty litters the short story with implications that Phoenix isn't completely sane in her old age.  She talks to inanimate objects more than she does humans; she argues, agrees, and converses with everything she sees.  While this is a little endearing, it also goes to show the reader that, if not slightly crazy, Phoenix is at the very least a rather lonely woman.  At one point, she thought she saw a little boy handing her cake, "but when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air" (Welty, 224).  Welty wants us as the readers to fully understand that Phoenix is a little crazy.  However, this characterization of an old, hallucinating, forgetful woman, just contributes all the more to the theme of the story. 
Whether her grandson is dead or alive, it is obvious that Phoenix has unconditional love for him.  She couldn't remember why she was going to town, she couldn't see where she was going, but none of that mattered.  It was instinct: she HAD to get the medicine.  She HAD to take care of her grand baby, even if that meant taking day-long, dangerous journeys in order to get it.