Theme 3- A Worn Path

"Without warning, she had seen with her own eyes a flashing nickel fall out of the man's pocket onto the ground." pg. 227

While I was reading this story, I sensed a very suspicious vibe towards Phoenix. I felt like she was a little crazy, but also a little scheming and devious. One of the questions from the story asks if Phoenix's grandson is dead. I think that he is. I have a theory as to what happened but I am probably way off. I think that Phoenix was a very concerned, good intended grandmother. She regularly would go get medicine for her sick grandson, but then he died. She probably didn't tell anyone about what happened. She was probably also very distraught over his death. Instead of dealing with his death, she continued on her normal routine as if nothing had happened. She probably began taking the grandson's medicine and began losing her mind. Through the author's diction, we can see that Phoenix is very uneducated, so she most likely is in desperate need of money. With her losing her mind, she takes advantage of every opportunity to get money. When the nickel fell out of the man's pocket, she intensely stared at it, then made a distraction so she could pick it up and keep it. I know that this is a really far-fetched idea, but I just have a feeling that Phoenix has an agenda.

Figurative Language 3- Toads

"But I do say it's hard to lose either, When you have both." line 35

In Philip Larkin's, "Toads," the speaker describes two toads or hardships in his life. One of these struggles is material and superficial, where as the other is spiritual and within himself. The first toad is material. The speaker describes his inability to attain material possession. He often refers to the shortcomings he is faced with financially. He describes this through lines such as "Eat windfalls and tinned sardines--They seem to like it." and "Their nippers have got bare feet." The speaker claims to work diligently but is forced to spend his earnings on necessity items. However, I think the speaker is lacking in quality education, making him unable to earn a sufficient salary. I came to this conclusion from the speaker's diction. He fails to use proper English lines such as, "Their nippers have got bare feet," and "Ah, were I courageous enough." Besides the speaker's material hardships, his spiritual relationship is challenged. I think the speaker is asking God why he isn't satisfied with what he's been given, when many others in his situation are seemingly content.