26 pages • 52 minutes read
Katherine Anne PorterA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter is a short story that delves into the complex inner world of its protagonist, Granny Weatherall, as she reflects on her life and impending death. Written during the Modernist period, the story employs many literary devices common to that era, which attempted to lean away from traditional literature written at the time. The narrative explores themes of denial, religious faith, and mortality while using stream of consciousness, symbolism, and imagery to enhance those themes.
The story opens with 80-year-old Granny Weatherall lying on her deathbed. As the narrative unfolds, the reader gains insight into Granny’s internal monologue. This narrative technique allows the reader to intimately experience Granny’s thoughts and emotions, providing a deeper understanding of her character and the complexities of her life. Her memories convey the key life events that have shaped her character. Readers learn that Granny’s jilting at the altar 60 years earlier remains an unresolved trauma. It also emerges that her daughter Hapsy died, most likely in childbirth. Granny’s reluctance to remember either of these incidents speaks to the theme of Denial and the Human Tendency to Avoid Painful Truths.
Porter’s use of stream of consciousness attempts to realistically represent both the nature of memory and the experience of dying. Granny’s thoughts and narrative drift back and forth between the present and the past. Her memories emerge in a fragmented and disjointed manner, reflecting the nonlinear nature of memory itself. Meanwhile, the intrusion of confusion and hallucinations into Granny’s mind convey the sensory effects of approaching death.
Another central narrative theme is the Contemplation of Mortality. In her final moments, Granny Weatherall tries to make sense of her life and grapples with the idea of her impending death. Her journey becomes a reflection of the universal human experience of facing one’s mortality and the introspection it brings. Porter demonstrates how Granny’s character traits affect how she views her imminent death. A hardworking and resilient woman, she gains comfort from reflecting on how she rose to life’s challenges, including losing her husband at a young age and raising a family alone. At the same time, Granny’s desire to impose order and control conflicts with the acceptance that a peaceful death requires.
Porter’s expressive language enhances the emotional depth of the story. The imagery and symbolism woven throughout the narrative add layers of meaning to Granny’s journey. For example, the wedding cake serves as a reminder of Granny’s past and the emotional wounds she carries. Images of light and darkness also pervade the story. Granny Weatherall’s references to fog and a “whirl of dark smoke” (Paragraph 28) represent the emergence of traumatic memories and her unresolved disappointment with life.
Porter’s narrative does not strictly follow a linear structure, and the boundaries between the different elements of the plot are blurred. The story’s fragmented narrative style and stream-of-consciousness technique add to the complexity of the structure. Nonetheless, the elements mentioned can be discerned to understand the overall trajectory of the story.
The exposition of the story occurs at the beginning when Granny Weatherall is introduced as an elderly woman lying on her deathbed. Readers learn about her background, her relationships with family and friends, and her current state of mind. The rising action comprises Granny’s fragmented thoughts and memories as she lies on her deathbed. She reflects on her life, her past experiences, and the unresolved issue of being jilted by her former lover, George. The rising action builds tension and highlights Granny’s internal conflicts and anxieties.
The story’s climax occurs when Granny Weatherall confronts the ghost of George, her former fiancé, in her mind. As she nears death, her memories and emotions converge, and she tries to reconcile her feelings toward him. This intense moment represents the culmination of Granny’s internal struggle and unresolved emotions as she wishes for her children to find and tell George how she survived.
The falling action begins after the climax when Granny starts to regain her composure and focuses on the present moment. She shifts her attention to her surroundings, interacting with her family members and attending to the final details of her life. At this point, the action becomes present and becomes easier to follow to the resolution of the story.
In the concluding moments of the story, Granny Weatherall’s physical decline parallels her emotional journey. As her life draws to a close, the story reaches another climactic moment. Granny’s consciousness narrows to a “point of light” (Paragraph 57), and she waits for a sign from God to indicate the end of her earthly life and the beginning of the next. God’s failure to do so prompts a familiar feeling of betrayal in Granny that equates to her second “jilting.” In the light of God’s absence, she is forced to reassess her belief in an afterlife in the last moments of her life. The realization underlines The Empty Comfort of Religious Faith. Granny’s decision to blow out the “light” of her life marks her final act of control and defiance.
By Katherine Anne Porter