Katherine Anne Porter's The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" depicts the story of a dying woman's life. Throughout her eighty years of life Mrs. Weatherall has had her fair share of disappointments, heartaches, and unfavorable outcomes. This short story is written in a manner that allows the reader to get an outside view looking in; similar to looking at the story through a window as if being acted out in front of you in the theater. The story is eloquently written and leaves the reader with a sense of familiarity towards the family. The populations of readers who have had the pleasure of experiencing this pathetic story have come to relate their own experiences and disappointments towards the story and have empathetic feelings towards the main

In the world today, women have a say in what they want to do and things that they desire to do. Back in the day, before the 1800’s, women had to be submissive to their male counterparts and do according to what was required of them. In the end, this led to the demeaning of the woman and the concept that women were inferior to men. Even though this concept and perception changed, there have been some countries and regions of the world that have not yet recognized the equality that women deserve. Such areas do not allow women to vote, attend school, have a say in the community, and the women are at the mercy of their husbands, fathers or male superiors (Hartmann, Susan M).

While social change has brought on more changes than what women are a custom too, at one point in history women actually felt a form of importance in fulfilling their roles not only in the home; but outside as well. “These demographic shifts account for many new or altered roles, such as increased number of duel-earner families, later and fewer marriages, fewer children, increased life expectancy, and the massive migration shifting employees across a nation and across the globe” (Lindsey, 2011, pg. 275).

Not everyone’s life is filled with happiness. Granny Weatherall, in “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” by Katherine Anne Porter, and Addie Bundren, in “from As I Lay Dying ‘Darl’,” by William Faulkner, are two dying poor women who recall their lives in their minds when they are laying in beds. Their tough and harsh lives are similar in several ways. Granny Weatherall and Addie Bundren both had two men in their life. Granny loves her husband, John, and George.

Elements within literature make a story unique and admirable.. In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, the short story exemplifies several usages of literary elements. The author of the 1930 classic, Katherine Anne Porter, made irony very prevalent throughout the story. For instance, Porter’s masterpiece includes an immense percentage of it being written around an ironic situation. In this essay, I am going to elaborate with you, the reader, examples and the premises as to why the author used literary elements in her work.

Often, we think of older people as being smarter, wiser, and generally more mature, but this is not always the case. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger gives a number of examples that shatter this generalization, offering an alternative to age as the primary factor in one’s level of maturity. Ordinary Grace shows how maturity is a result of circumstance and does not necessarily correlate with age.

     In "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," Katherine Anne Porter gives readers a glimpse of the thoughts of a woman about to die.  Lying in her bed in her daughter Cornelia's house, eighty-year-old Granny Weatherall drifts in and out of consciousness.  Through her thoughts of events both current and bygone, it is learned that Granny has worked hard all her life, and frequently tells herself that she did a good job.  She thinks of events that made her stronger: digging holes for fence posts, "riding country roads in the winter when women had their babies" (311), taking care of sick animals and sick children.  Though Granny Weatherall tries to assure herself that her life has been

“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” is a short story written by Katherine Anne Portier about an elderly woman on her deathbed. Granny Weatherall is a very interesting character and the story describes her last thoughts and memories as she lies there taking her last breaths. Granny Weatherall is perceived as an independent and strong-willed character that has lived a full life. As she lies on her deathbed, she drifts in and out of consciousness and seems to not have a full grasp on reality. As she nears the end of her life, the reader is able to understand her thoughts and feelings, and feels how the elderly woman is struggling with coming to terms with dying. The themes in this

The following passage is an excerpt from Katherine Anne Porter’s short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how such choices as figurative language, imagery, and dialogue develop the complex emotions the character is feeling.

The short stories, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Catherine Anne Porter and “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, have many similarities as well as differences. Both stories have a simple plot with a theme that is symbolic of their lives. These stories include great characterization, description of elements in the stories, and the point of view.

The year is 1828 and Andrew Jackson has beat Adams in the campaign for presidency, ultimately leading to the creation of “The Jacksonian Democracy.” Jackson, who came from nothing in comparison to the wealthy, well-educated Adams represented the “common man” and fought for their rights. Looking at America in this light, we see an equalized democracy growing in America, however America seems to have forgotten about the women and blacks that make up more then half the population of the common man. Therefore, America is not growing into a democratized nation, but a nation that favors the white man.

Another supporter of changing the way aging is conveyed is author, Margaret Cruiksbank, of the book, Learning to be Old. In her book she is a proponent of changing the way the aging process is described. Her position is that the underlying meaning of popular terms to describe aging weakens its value. She denotes that the term “successful aging” is a false phrase for the elderly as it “masks both the wish to continue mid-life indefinitely and the white, Middle-class, Western values of researchers, causing them to emphasize productivity, effectiveness and independence” (Cruiksbank, 2009, p. 2). She also concludes that the term “productive” aging symbolizes “economic usefulness and social conformity” (Cruiksbank, 2009, p. 2), especially for the female gender. More importantly, these terms can be used to measure. This ability to measure is subjective to the questioner and an individual’s self-worth. She suggests the term “aging comfortably” as it signifies easiness, and a “faint hint” of pleasurable self-indulgence which may not have been possible in younger years (Cruiksbank, 2009, p. 3).

The sorrowful and unpredictable realization of denial and loss can slowly tear down even the strongest willed individuals. In the twisting tales of “A Rose for Emily” and “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” the recurring theme of denial continuously reminds the reader that life is precious and to never take anything for granted. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” focuses on the life and death of Emily Grierson. Although the story begins with her death, the details of her life are revealed through several elements. Emily is ultimately “jilted” by the man she falls in love with, Homer Barron, and poisons him to ensure a lifelong commitment. A similar theme appears within Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” Ellen Weatherall, is on her deathbed as the story begins. The narrator discusses Granny’s life and the struggles she faced in the past. As Granny lays upon her deathbed, she recalls all the things she has to do and all the chores she has left undone. She also remarks the element of surprise at the fact that death has come upon her. Not only do these two stories repeatedly use elements such as symbolism and foreshadowing the authors create a relatively similar theme that not only delivers a powerful message but is a timeless classic.

Aging is described as a sequential, irreversible, progressive, and non-pathological process of maturation in an organism and that translates to a gradual decline in the ability to perform activities optimally. Aging is an individual process that can be a period of stress for individuals especially following their retirement (Hiller & Barrow, 2015). The current study sought to understand the process and experience of aging from the perspective of elderly individuals. In discussing matters of aging and retirement, many assume that women are always eager to retire, and adjust well, as compared to their male counterparts (Bauger & Bongaardt, 2016). Many people assume that since women are generally made as homemakers, they are willing and happy to retire while men, whose nature is to be the main source of family income, find it hard to be out of work (Moody & Sasser, 2014). Indeed, there exists very little literature that sheds some light on this area, particularly on the attitudes of each gender towards retirement and process of aging. Given the significance of retirement to this life stage, the study sought to understand the emotions and views of individuals regarding their retirement through the lenses of (1) Physical health and wellbeing, (2) Friends, Family, and Community, (3) Work and leisure, (4) Finances and lifestyles, and (5) Living

However, women’s roles were somewhat influential in their families as well as in society. For instance, wealthy women had complete control over every detail of the house. They had the opportunity to socialize with their friends, do the shopping, and sometimes go to a theatre show. And unlike American culture, older women were treasured and had the authority to speak their minds.