ipl-logo

Analysis Of Katherine Anne Porter's The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

981 Words4 Pages

Katherine Anne Porter, originally Callie Porter, was born in Indian Creek, Texas on May 15, 1890 (Baym). Many events during her childhood were what influenced Porter’s writings. She was introduced to unforgettable hardships at only two years old with the death of her mother (Baym). After this tragedy, Porter and her siblings lived with their grandmother for 9 years, in extreme poverty, until she passed away as well (West). After her grandmother’s death, she attended many convent schools and ran away to get married at the age of sixteen (West). Her marriage failed, and she began “a life of travel, activity, and change of jobs” (Baym 2147). Throughout her struggles and rapidly changing life, writing was her escape from reality. From a young …show more content…

On her deathbed, Granny Weatherall recalls events from her life, unforgettably, her being jilted on her wedding day. In this story, the theme of rejection and loss is extremely prominent. Granny Weatherall is a depiction of the author’s own personal experience of rejection and loneliness (Baym). She is betrayed early in life but responds to her sorrow by taking action. Rejected at her own wedding, Granny Weatherall defies society’s expectations and finds a new husband who she “wouldn’t have exchanged…for anybody” (Porter 7). In this time, a woman is nothing without a man; however, Granny Weatherall perseveres, defies the odds, and makes a healthy and happy life for herself, her new husband, and eventually her children. An important symbol in this story is Granny Weatherall’s lighting of the lamps. As the fog “[swallowed] the trees and [moved] up the hill like an army of ghosts…it was time to go in and light the lamps” (Porter 4). This event is symbolic because the lighting of the lamp signifies the coming of darkness. On her deathbed, the lighting of the lamps, figuratively, paves a path for her children so they “didn’t have to be scared and hang on to mother anymore” (Porter 4). Granny Weatherall leaves a legacy behind for her children, just like Porter’s grandmother herself did for her children. Related to Porter’s own life, her short story uses a reflective style to explain her own experience with rejection and

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between My Bondage And My Freedom And The Story Of An Hour

    477 Words  | 2 Pages

    Her main character Mrs.Mallard was not very independent but not in a happily marriage. Women couldn’t do much without their husbands saying so. In the story, Mrs. Mallard's husband “dies” So she gets all happy and thinks she is finally free. The irony was when she thought she was free, her husband walks through the door.

    Read More

  • Everyday Use By Eudora Welty Compare And Contrast

    485 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story takes place at a time in the 1900s where racism still exists. Mama is the provider of the family. Mama’s younger daughter Maggie was severely burned in a house fire when she was a child. As a result of that incident, Maggie is a nervous and maladjusted girl. Maggies appearance from the fire hides her generous personality.

    Read More

  • Betty Friedan's The Importance Of Work By Betty Friedan

    1088 Words  | 5 Pages

    She composed a novel that urged women across the country to search for opportunities and discover their individual beliefs as endure everyday life. Throughout the novel, Friedan entwines work and identity by utilizing the methods of

    Read More

  • The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

    669 Words  | 3 Pages

    Granny Weatherall, the protagonist of Katherine Anne Porter's timeless American short tale "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," is a determined lady who has experienced a long and adventurous life. Throughout the story, Granny reflects on her life and struggles with the memories of being jilted at the altar, which continue to haunt her even on her deathbed. Porter examines a multitude of issues via Granny's experiences, such as the nature of memory, the passage of time, and accepting mortality. Porter examines a multitude of issues via Granny's experiences, such as the nature of memory, the passage of time, and accepting mortality. Granny's recollections of being abandoned at the altar serve as an example of the strong influence that the past

    Read More

  • Alienation In Katherine Anne Porter's 'Flowering Judas'

    1399 Words  | 6 Pages

    Stanford Mary Kathryn Stanford Hensley English 11/ Fourth Period 05 March 2018 Part 14: Rough Draft #2 In Katherine Anne Porter 's ¨Flowering Judas,¨ Porter writes, ¨She draws her strength from this one holy talismanic world which does not suffer her to be led into evil. Denying everything, she may walk anywhere in safety, she looks at everything without amazement.¨ (Porter 316).

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of We Were The Mulvaneys

    721 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the following passage from the novel We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates laments that even though most everything in one’s surrounding is dying, not everyone has managed to find the adequate amount of maturity to accept the fact that they are not immortal, even though the idea of death is difficult to come to terms with. Oates conveys this universal idea and characterizes the narrator through the usage of a depressing tone and dismal imagery. The tone set in the passage is fairly dark and depressing. An “eleven or maybe twelve,” year old child should not be fixated on the idea that “every heart beat is past and gone.”

    Read More

  • Beauty In The Short Story Marigolds By Eugenia Collier

    707 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story, “Marigolds,” the author, Eugenia Collier, acknowledges the universal theme that people can create beauty in even the most dreariest of places. The story takes place in Maryland during the Great Depression. Lizabeth, the main character, is an adult looking back to the time when she had transitioned from childhood to womanhood. Miss Lottie, an old woman who lived in a shabby, broken down house, planted marigolds. As a child, Lizabeth had thought Miss Lottie to be a witch and despised the marigolds because it did not match the poverty and sadness that surrounded her.

    Read More

  • The Lamp At Noon Sinclair Ross

    1187 Words  | 5 Pages

    Whereas Ellen, on the other hand, kept the lamp lit the entire time she was at the house but when she fled the house, “the lamp was blown out.” Thus indicating her feeling of lingering hope has dimmed along with the

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis On To Kill A Mockingbird

    691 Words  | 3 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Analysis Throughout To Kill A MockingBird, by Harper Lee there are many acts of courage. This is shown in Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Atticus shows the most courage in the book but all three of these characters show true courage in some way, shape, or form. Boo Radley showed a lot of courage, but he was not in the storyline as much as Atticus. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, courage is defined as standing up for people and doing what’s right.

    Read More

  • Porter's Allusion In The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

    422 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” Porter uses multiple allusions to three of Emily Dickinson’s poems to show the change from total, unwavering Christian faith, to the absence of Jesus as Granny dies. In the story, Porter describes Granny stepping into a cart, whose driver Granny knew by his hands, and whose face she did not have to see, because she “knew without seeing” (Porter). This scene is almost identical to the scene in Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death-.” This allusion aids in conveying the Christian idea of death as Granny has come to accept it: a tranquil figure, Death, calmly and peacefully carries one’s soul to an eternity where centuries feel like days.

    Read More

  • A Literary Analysis Of Katharine Brush's Birthday Party

    496 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes the things we do for others don’t always go as planned. That was the case for the innocent wife in “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush, as what was thought to be a nice gesture by the wife, was viewed as a crime by her husband. This small event can be an indicator of a crumbling relationship, and through literary devices such as diction and shifts to portray this deeper meaning. The harsh adjectives used throughout this piece paint a story much darker than simple botched celebration.

    Read More

  • Internal Conflict In Cathedral By Raymond Carver

    1522 Words  | 7 Pages

    In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator struggles with an internal conflict that involves him never being able to be in a vulnerable or sensitive state, especially when he is with his wife. The narrator creates suspense by having the reader wait until the end to realize what the blind man was referring to when he states, “From all you’ve said about him, I can only conclude—” (Carver 35). The reader can observe that the blind man was explaining that the husband was missing out on all aspects of life and the little things the world has to offer. The husband was so closed-minded, that he was missing out on having a deeper connection with his wife.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Analysis

    875 Words  | 4 Pages

    Essay 1 Date Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird “To kill a Mockingbird” is a novel in which Harper Lee, the author, presents forth various themes among them the unheard theme of social molarity. Harper dramatically uses a distinctive language through Scout, who is the narrator of the story to bring out the difficulties faced by children living in the southern Alabama town of Maycomb. Harper has dramatically displayed use of bildungsroman throughout the story; this helped to give the story a unique touch of a child’s view to bring out a different type of humor and wit. It has also used to develop and thrive the theme of morality in the society.

    Read More

  • Emotions In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    953 Words  | 4 Pages

    Further, situational irony is present through the reaction that Louise Mallard has after learning about her husband’s death. Upon first learning of her husband’s death she is very devastated and distraught. As soon as she is alone in the bathroom however, it is clear to the readers she is not as upset. In fact she is slightly relieved in that “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (235).

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of A Room Of One's Own By Virginia Woolf

    1248 Words  | 5 Pages

    She finds that women are currently writing nearly as many books as men, on all kinds of subjects, such as economics and philosophy, “which a generation ago no woman could have touched“. So, to explore current novels and to see what kind of changes occurred in

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Katherine Anne Porter's The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

Open Document