What’s Up With the Title?

No tricks or hidden meaning in "A Worn Path." In the story, Phoenix walks along a path to town that she has walked many times before. That's right—it's a worn path. No secret code meaning, no little-known allusions or other literary wizardry.

In a story in which all the characters are given only stock identifications—the hunter, the attendant, the nurse—save for the main character, whose name is loaded with history and symbolism, this kind of barebones title fits in. The title, like the character IDs, sounds basic and primal, helping create the mythic feel at work in the story.