Mortal Mayhem
Common among classic literature, the theme of mortality engages readers on a quest of coping with one of the certainties of life. Katherine Anne Porter masterfully embraces the theme of mortality both directly and indirectly in her story, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Understanding that all mankind ultimately becomes subject to death unleashes feelings of dread and anxiety in most people; however, Granny Weatherall transitions from rushing to meet her demise in her sixties to completely denying she is on her deathbed when she is eighty. Readers have seen this theme of mortality reverberated over and over in literature, but what makes this story stand the test of time is the author’s complexity. In Katherine Anne Porter’s
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Harry, and Cornelia. The most interesting ideas of mortality surround the main character, Granny Weatherall. Her character stops living life to the fullest at a young age when she is jilted at the altar by her lover. This tragic event kills something inside her, though she is determined to prove she is not affected by the event. A state of denial becomes her strongest characteristic as she denies her mortality throughout most of the story by talking about and planning life as if she will live forever. Even on her deathbed, she plans to see that things are clean, folded and dusted so tomorrow can “start without fuss.” (Porter). However, twenty years earlier, she was certain her death was impending and set about putting her affairs in order by “making farewell trips to see her children and grandchildren.” (Porter 85). Throughout the story, Granny’s young doctor, Harry, is a constant reminder of mortality. He is present to help her in her final hours, although she insists she does not need him. As he tries to make her more comfortable, she complains that he should still be in knee britches and should “Get along now, take your school books and go.” (Porter 83). Despite insisting she is fine, her vision becomes distorted, and she has trouble seeing Doctor Harry’s face, and his body seems to be floating; another sign that her demise is at hand. Lastly, her daughter, Cornelia, …show more content…
In her bedroom, Granny is literally confined to her deathbed, revealing to the reader that death is approaching. Granny speaks of a longer life from the place her life will end, emphasizing that death could come at any moment. As her mind starts deteriorating, she begins confusing the past with the present. At one time, she remembers having to dig hundreds of postholes after her husband’s death, and enlightens the reader with the fact that “digging post holes changes a woman;” (Porter 85). The change from a genteel lift to one of harsh labor representing another type of death. She worked hard for years, foreshadowing the time she will no longer need to work. Consequently, since she familiarized herself with hard work, accepting that her death is effortless is very difficult for Mrs. Weatherall. In the end, nighttime draws near, and Porter uses the time of day to symbolize mortality; the end of day is not only passing so is Granny’s life. Similar to the candle beside her bed, Granny draws her last breath to blow out light of her own life. Just as day has its end, so does every
To begin, Granny Weatherall is inherently a prideful controlfreak. Granny Weatherall is at her deathbed, facing everything she has staved off for so long. This and all other adversity she faces throughout the short story map out her true personality. For instance, she is full of pride. When that pride takes a hit, as it does several times throughout the short story she metaphorically hits back at whoever or whatever
In the story, The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, written by Katherine Porter, Granny Weatherall is a character of depth. Her name is synomonous with her character. Three main qualities of her character are her strength, her endurance, and her vulnerability. Her strength is not so much physical but mental. She lies upon her bed contemplating all that she needs to do. Her daughter Cornelia does not even come close to handling affairs as well as she does in her own mind. In addition, she tell the Doctor Leave a well women alone...I'll call you when I need you. She does not like the patronizing position that she finds herself in. The fact that she has already avoided death once seems to add to her image of strength. As we follow her mental ramblings we obtain insight to her character as a woman that has endured heartache as well as hardship.
Porter, Katherine Anne. “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 2000.
In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” the story is read in a lighter fashion. It involves the main character, Granny Weatherall, and her triumph through time and love. Granny fights for love and strength for her kids, despite being “jilted” by George at the alter and the issues and pains that come with that memory. Although Granny married, and had children, she never seemed to live up to the fact of her being “jilted” by George. Death is an idea that both stories start, and end with.
From the realization that Granny Weatherall doesn't have much time left, being eighty years old, it is easy to sympathize with her. Granny is an old woman who is constantly nagged by her daughter, Cornelia, about being old and not wanting her to do anything around the house. I can relate to that perfectly. My grandfather was very ill because of the chemotherapy he took when battling lung cancer in the summer of 1999. He ended up dying in August of that year, but he never thought of himself as being sick. On the contrary though, Granny sees this as a setback because she is not sick, even though she is on her deathbed, and feels the doctor should, "Get along and doctor your sick. Leave a well woman alone" (271). Granny also scolds Doctor Harry by saying, "Where were you forty years ago when I pulled through with milk-leg and double pneumonia?" (271). While being aware of her condition before, I feel it is simpler to understand why she didn't want Cornelia around because she was such a nuisance. Cornelia only made it worse for her, being her daughter, as she, "and Doctor Harry were whispering together" (271).
Ellen Weatherall from "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" suffers from a state of demension throughout the story. Her thoughts and memories grow tangled and confused with age, causing her to live in the dark. ""Here's Doctor Harry." "I won't see that boy again. He just left five minutes ago." "That was this morning, Mother. It's night now. . .""(779 -780). Ellen Weatherall's troubled mind can compare to the demented mind of Emily Grierson. Emily experienced a high status life, but that high status brought her down. Since Emily could never date or really experience a normal life, she surrounded herself with darkness and shut herself off from the world. Her mind slowly warped itself, clouding her morals and better judgment. Emily, like Ellen Weatherall, experienced mental trauma that tormented their thoughts. Ellen lost her child Hapsy and lost her fiance George, while Emily lost her father and eventually Homer Barron. While Ellen expressed her regrets during her mental turmoil, "There was the day, the day, but a whirl of dark smoke rose and covered it, crept up and over into the...
She is worried that the unstoppable persona she has presented to her children will be demolished if they find those letters. This is further proven in the short story when she scorns her daughter, Cornelia, for “thinking she was dumb, deaf, and blind” (454) after she overhears Cornelia telling her husband that Granny Weatherall was acting like a child and they would have to humor her for the time being. She is already beginning to live out her nightmare. Cornelia, Granny’s least favorite child, pities and tries to humor her. It is only logical for someone with as much pride as Granny to try to control the situation. To elaborate, Granny Weatherall is also a control freak. She beats every threat that comes her way into silence and throws it to the farthest corners of her mind. For example, when faced with the thought of her demise, she rationalizes, “thank God there was always a little margin over for peace: then a person could spread out the plan of life and tuck in the edges orderly” (453). Though on her deathbed, she assumes she cannot die because she is not prepared for death. Metaphorically, she is telling God that she is in control of her fate. Therefore, she believes she
The granny and the granddaughter often do not see eye to eye with each other and therefore it causes them to bicker and at times leave each other’s company abruptly. The granddaughter is the first to show how the lack of love, in her mind, from her father affects her. The granny was working in the church courtyard when crows flew over crying, to her it sounded as though they were saying mom. The granny has a flashback to a little bit after she gave birth to her daughter.
Katherine Anne Porter’s use of irony in “Old Mortality” serves to weave an image through the reader’s mind—an image that reveals the danger of romanticizing the past. In hindsight things always appear better, such as Harry’s recollection that all his female relatives are thin “thank god,” when there are several extreme examples of when this was not the case. In life, nobody can be as perfect as someone else is in death, even though things might not have been so at the time. It is a great difficulty to live up to people from the past, especially people who conformed so well, and never got the chance to lose what is loved most about them—their beauty.
Katherine Anne Porter's short story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" demonstrates the disillusionment that comes from a deeply personal rejection despite one's endurance over time through the author's use of characterization of the protagonist. Porter describes Granny as a fighter eighty year old lady who meditates about her life during her last moments. Granny is a character that at the age of twenty experienced the most devastating disillusion and rejection of her life. Her fiancé George jilted her at the altar making that moment “hell” (Porter). The dissolution and rejection Granny experiences helped her build character.
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall depicts a woman on her deathbed recalling all the events of her life. Ellen’s mind wanders through the story. Granny is jilted by the man she was supposed to marry. She is haunted by this memory of abandonment. She then marries John and has 4 kids. John dies, making her a single mother. Granny must take care of all her children by herself. As she took care of her kids, she still had to tend to her farmland. As a young widow, Granny reflected on how she had to dig postholes. Tending to the land and the kids is a hard task, but she is able to weather through it. This shows how strong she is and that she can take
In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Ann Porter, the name Weatherall is very much linked to Granny’s life story. Throughout her life, Granny lives up to her name by weathering all obstacles that face her with great strength and determination.
“Death, the end of life: the time when someone or something dies” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). The definition of death is quite simple, the end of life is inescapable. I chose to write about death and impermanence because it is something we all must inevitably face. People often deal with death in a number of different ways. Although it is something that we must eventually face, it can be hard to come to terms with because the idea can be hard to grasp. Some of us fear it, others are able to accept it, either way we all must eventually face it. In this essay I will look at two different literary works about death and impermanence and compare and contrast the different elements of the point of view, theme, setting, and symbolism. The comparison of these particular works will offer a deeper look into words written by the authors and the feelings that they experiencing at that particular time.
Jane presents one aspect of woman in The Waking collection (1953): Ross-Bryant views Jane as a young girl who is dead. The poem expresses concern with the coming of death. This poignant elegy is presen...
These unwanted events has led her to being hard headed and determined to not let her compassion come forth. Granny has never forgiven either John or George for leaving her alone in life. In Robert Sprich’s literary criticism, A Closer Look, “Yes, she had changed her mind after sixty years and she would like to see George. I want you to find George. Find him and be sure to tell him I forgot him”. Even in her last moments, she still has the need to announce that he did not mean anything to her. Going through this just made her personality slowly change. Everything she has been through has assisted in her personality until death. “Now, at the moment of death, she again asks God for a sign. “God, give a sign! For the second time there was no sign.” Until this moment we haven’t known that she turned to God at the time of the jilting and received no sign, thus in effect being jilted by God too”. (Sprich) This proves that everything that Granny endured has lead up to this final moment of never forgiving God for taking John away from her and not showing her a sign when her death was