Figurative Language In The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

“Jilting” Essay

In the short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, Porter uses imagery, dialogue and figurative language to show the reader the development of the complex emotions of Granny as she is dying. Porter does this by using descriptive language, different tone of voices, and similes.

Porter uses many examples of imagery in this story. For example, Granny thought “It was good to be strong enough for everything, even if all you made melted and changed and slipped under your hands,”. This quote shows how Granny is a strong woman and knows it. It shows that she has been through a lot and despite her terrible past experiences, she hasn’t become emotionally weak because of it, yet. Another example of Granny’s complex emotions is when Porter writes, “When she thought of all the food she had cooked, and all the clothes she had cut and sewed, and all the gardens she had made

One example of this is when “The children huddled up to her and breathed like little calves waiting at the bars in the twilight.” This simile shows that Granny’s children truly looked up to her and idolized her, but Granny never truly felt the same way about them. Her emotions over Hapsy and her love for her over the other childern shows that Granny doesn’t care that her children were all huddled around her and were looking up to her. Another example of Granny’s complex emotions is “she saw it marching across the creek swallowing the trees and moving up the hill like an army of ghosts. Soon it would be at the near edge of the orchard, and then it was time to go in and light the lamps. Come in, children, don’t stay out in the night air.” This metaphor and simile could show Granny’s fear of death. The fog that is being described here could represent death and because Granny says that when the fog comes they have to leave and go inside it could indicate fear. She is avoiding her death and hiding from