Analysis Of The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” rather uniquely utilizes a third-person stream-of-consciousness point of view to convey its theme. The stream-of-conscousness puts the reader into the thoughts of the main character, Granny Weatherall (henceforth “Granny”), though from a third person perspective. Therefore, if one considers the characterization of Granny, it would become immediately obvious that only indirect presentation of details is used, through her thoughts as opposed to a direct presentation of Granny, would immediately put distance between her and the reader. It’s through the contiguous thoughts of her that the reader can begin to characterize her: her repeated references to a favorite child, her memories of being jilted, her opinions of other characters such as Father Connolly or Doctor Harry. Throughout the story, the reader learns Granny’s character through her thoughts and words, as she struggles and complains and contemplates the past. Though some points are obviously conveyed, such as

She can undoubtedly be considered a “round” character, with the reader privy to her every thought and consideration. For example, Granny makes repeated statements that “it was Hapsy she really wanted” (Arp 291). She also makes references to not only events of the past, but also feelings of the past. Both of these help convey a sense of authenticity about Granny. Other characters, though, are not so deep. In fact, other than Granny, all other characters are shown as flat and two dimensional. In many ways, though, this simply conveys a general truth about people: they rarely form more than a flat picture of anyone mentally. Even close friends or family members are generally painted with a flat brush. This lack of depth within the story can, in many ways, be attributed to the direct presentation of details from the mind of