How we cite our quotes: Paragraph
Quote #1
On she went. The woods were deep and still. The sun made the pine needles almost too bright to look at, up where the wind rocked. The cones dropped as light as feathers. (4)
Just a slice of the kind of detailed imagery Welty uses throughout the country portion of the story. There's plenty of danger in the country, but plenty of beauty, too, and the story is intent on pointing out both.
Quote #2
At last she was safe through the fence and risen up out of in the clearing. Big dead trees, like black men with one arm, were standing in the purple stalks of the withered cotton field. There sat a buzzard.
"Who you watching?" (16-17)
Can't you just imagine Phoenix jutting her chin out and giving an I-dare-you-to-make-a-move nod to the buzzard (which is a symbol of death)? Death is all around Phoenix in the setting of the countryside, and death is close by in her life, too, since she has a very ill grandson and she herself is quite old. But she doesn't let the threat intimidate her. Instead, she tells death off, hitches up her sassy pants, and moves on.
Quote #3
"Git on away from here, dog! Look! Look at that dog!" She laughed as if in admiration. "He ain't scared of nobody. He a big black dog." She whispered, "Sic him!" (49)
Here we have another example of Phoenix in a showdown with a threat. She's facing off with the hunter, and she has no qualms with ordering the black dog to attack. It's not clear if "him" means the hunter or his dog, but either way it is a move against the hunter. Phoenix is older than the hunter, she's weaker than the hunter, and she doesn't have gun like the hunter does. She is in the more vulnerable position, but she's going to stand her ground on the path no matter what.