Analysis Of The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

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“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter is about the last day of Ellen Weatherall’s life. Granny is being visited by the doctor. She denies being sick but feels her bones floating. Granny remembers the past but at times confuses it with the present as she wavers in and out of reality and consciousness. The hard work of life reminds her of the letters in the attic that she does not want her children to find and that she took great pains to keep a tidy house. Readers learn that she had prepared herself for death at sixty, and then “got over the notion” after she actually became ill and recovered 78). Cornelia’s attentiveness makes Granny feel old, but her other children, Jimmy and Lydia, still ask her advice, reminding Granny …show more content…

Granny Weatherall has weathered all with more than her fair share of life’s adversities. The oldest adversity Granny recalls is George’s jilting. Joseph Wiesenfarth declares the jilting is the “central fact of her life,” (“Internal Opposition” 107). Anyone is hurt by being left at the altar and would have thought about it over the years. Granny wishes to forget the jilting because she is self-disciplined with no desire for self-pity. The internal quality of self-discipline is a means of standing firm through adversity. Granny states she is on intimate terms with “a few favorite saints” and mentions St. Michael (81). St Michael is a warrior. Granny views herself as a warrior and has fought and conquered her adversities. A fighting spirit is a means of persevering through suffering. Joseph Wiesenfarth insists that after George’s jilting Granny never risked loving again (“Internal Opposition” 108). This fallacy implies Granny felt no real love for John. Granny wishes to show off the children to John, not George. Granny remembers her appearance and youthful looks when remembering John, not George. Granny has not forgotten the pain of the jilting and that painful memory serves to contrast and enhances her love for John. Granny knows true love because she has known true sorrow. Granny’s true love for John is what carried her through the hardships of life, and John is the bridegroom she looks for at death. Love is a powerful means of dedication through

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