Katherine Anne Porter's The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” was first published in 1930. The story is about an elderly woman named Granny Weatherall, who is on her deathbed. On her deathbed Granny remembers her life and what she went through. Granny was surrounded by her family and friends as she takes her last breath. Many scholars dispute the theme of “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” One of the most arguable themes is that the story is about heaven being real and that Granny being saved.
Even though she had a mind of her own. Granny Weatherall, who is Catholic, tries to walk in Jesus’s footsteps. On her deathbed Granny thinks back to the days when her children were young. She recalls that “there was always so much to

be done” and that “tomorrow was far away and there was nothing to trouble about. Things were finished somehow when the time came; thank God there was always a little margin over for peace; then a person could spread out the plan of life tuck in the edges orderly” (Porter 84). What Katherine Porter is trying to say is something that I truly do believe in. What I think that she is saying is that everything happens for a reason and that God does not give you anything that he knows you cannot manage.
Another point that Granny states that causes me to agree with the scholars that this story’s theme is about God and making it into heaven is “God, for all my life I thank Thee. Without Thee, my God, I could have never done it. Hail, Mary, full of grace” (Porter 86). To me this says that Granny even though she went through hardships, she is grateful for everything that she has in life. Without God she could have never accomplished the great things. Granny also believes that she will get stronger even on her deathbed. “She was strong, in three days she would be well as ever. Better” (Porter 87). I see this in two ways one that Granny dies and that she goes to a better place where she feels stronger than better than ever. The second idea is similar to the first but, relates to a bible passage. The passage is Mark 9: 31 which states “For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.’” This is saying that he will die and that three days later he will ascend into heaven. Just like Jesus, Granny is nearly in a better place, heaven.
Throughout the story there is a blue light that is frequently brought up.

The blue light is mentioned when Granny is thinking of her past. The light is also mentioned to be illuminating from Cornelia’s lampshade. Catholics often perceive Mary, Jesus’s mother, in blue. I believe that there is a connection between the color blue and Mary. In Catholicism blue symbolize heavenly grace “Hail, Mary, full of grace.” If the blue light that Granny sees does symbolize Mary it would mean that Mary was there in the room. Also, this would mean that Mary is there to watch over Granny as she takes her last breath. Just like she was there to watch her own son Jesus take his last breath on the

cross.
Another thing that leads me to believe that the theme of “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” is about God and making it to heaven happens towards the end of the story.

“Granny stepped up into the cart very lightly and reached for the reins, but a man sat beside her and she knew mans by his hands, driving the cart. She did not look at his face, for she knew without seeing” (Porter 88). Granny knew the man by his hands. She did not have to look at his face because just by looking at the man’s hands she knew who he was. This man that Granny knows is Jesus. When Jesus was crucified on the cross nails were driven into the center of his hands and into his feet. After his death Jesus appeared to his disciples and said “‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). Granny just like the disciple knew who he (Jesus) was by his hands. After Granny looked at his hands she looked down the road. “Down the road where the trees leaned over and bowled to each other and a thousand birds were singing a Mass. She felt like singing too” (Porter 88). The trees are bowing to Jesus as he makes his way down the road. Just like Catholics, do before entering the pew. This is a way of showing our respect of Jesus and what he did for us. Psalm 104:12 states “Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches”. A heavens dwell is a heavenly home, meaning God’s kingdom, Heaven.

As Granny is in the carriage she is receiving her last rights. She is preparing to go to heaven. As she is receiving her last rights, she is seeing the tree bowing and hearing the birds sing. As if they were starting the process of welcoming her soul into heaven.
In the last few minutes of her life Granny thinks that God has jilted her. The line reads “For the second time there was no sign. Again no bridegroom and the priest in the house” (Porter 89).This is similar to one of the last things Jesus said on the cross. The bible verse says “about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?” (Matthew 27: 46) This actually means “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” In the last sentence of the story the narrator say that Granny “stretched out herself with a deep breath and blew out the light” (Porter 89). Before Jesus died on the cross “Jesus said ‘it is finished.’ With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). Jesus saying “it is finished” means that his job on earth is done. He did what he had to do to change the world. He was not giving up on his life and neither was Granny. Their time on earth was simply over. They were at that moment they were called up to heaven.