The Jilting of Granny Weatherall P. 260 By Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980)

Katherine Anne Porter http://www.famoustexans.com/katherineanneporter.htm Born in Texas Started writing stories as a child Regarded as a superb short story writer Praised for her psychological insight

Katherine Anne Porter Often based stories on her own experience Portrayed strong women whose idealism is challenged by life’s hardships Won Pulitzer Prize for The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

Katherine Anne Porter “ For this vocation [writing] I was and am willing to live and die, and I consider very few other things of the slightest importance.”

My whole attempt has been to discover and understand human motives, human feeling, to make a distillation of what human relations and experiences my mind has been able to absorb. I have never known an uninteresting human being, and I have never known two alike; there are broad classifications and deep similarities, but I am interested in the thumbprint (K. A. Porter).

Conflicts in “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall Plot Conflicts in “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall Person vs. self Granny tries to forget George Person vs. person The jilting by George Granny against Cornelia and Doctor Harry Person vs. God The second jilting at death Person vs. environment The fence posts Granny against life

Movement of Plot The plot does not move sequentially because of the stream of consciousness style. The events of her life, when sorted out, happen in this order: Granny’s first jilting at age 20 Birth of Hapsy, milk-leg, and double pneumonia at age 40 Farewells and fever at age 60 Real death at age 80 Granny’s Death She fails to see “a sign” Feels she has been jilted a 2nd time Loses faith in her religion Dies without God

Natural and man-made Cornelia’s house Setting Granny’s own house and yard are the setting in her flashbacks. Heaven and Hell were there for her. Cornelia’s house She dies here, but she keeps confusing it with her own house.

Granny Weatherall Characterization “On [her] feet…morally speaking” (p.260) Strong willed Hard-working Raised large family alone Cared for livestock Cared for sick Worked for church Kept letters to and from George Has suffered—“Something not given back” (p. 265)

Protagonist = Granny Weatherall Antagonists = Life and Death Granny = developing character

Jolting Epiphanies 3 Main Events in Her Life: 1. At 20, jilted 2. At 40, bore last child At 60, prepared to die At 80, loses faith Significance of events: Lead her to redefine her life and faith

Other Characters The children— Doctor Harry The Priest Hapsy Like calves in the lamplight Dutiful (Cornelia) Doctor Harry young Stock character The Priest present at both jiltings Hapsy Last born child Favorite Not living Died in childbirth?

Stream-of-consciousness Title and pt. of view Title Provides clues to the theme Focus is on Granny Her name is a play on words Pt. of View is a combination of limited omniscient and interior monologue Look for evidence of each type Stream-of-consciousness The confusion in the plot reflects her mental state

Images of light, fog, and darkness Symbolism Name symbolism “weathered all” Images of light, fog, and darkness The children in the lamplight The ending pinpoint of light Others? Religious symbols Rosary Crucifix Hapsy with child = Madonna and child Other symbols?

Granny was able to weather all except death Theme Granny was able to weather all except death Denial can only serve to control for so long. In the end there can be no denial Life is beautiful and hard Death is harder Who can really prepare for death?