In Katherine Ann Porter's short story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," a dying woman lays on her deathbed, considering her life and living in a great deal of denial about whether or not she will pass away. The short story is a wonderful example of literature as a 'patterned' experience; the repeating of these types of events reveals much about her character; in this case, she is an extremely prideful but traumatized woman who has had to endure much in her life thus far. One of her basic character traits is her need to hold on to certain events, which prevent her from reexamining her life and making peace with herself. In short, Granny is someone who has been jilted and abandoned by many people over her long life, and these events have taken their toll on her. Through her abandonment by her first love, her husband, and God, among others, Granny Weatherall has endured the loss of several relationships that leave her dramatically affected.
First, Granny was abandoned by her first love, George; at the time, she was incredibly fond of him, but she was jilted at the altar after a great deal of trouble and expectation on her part: "She put on the white veil and set out the white cake for him, but he didn’t come" (Porter). This disappointment and pain caused her to strengthen her resolve, because she decided that George leaving was due to some weakness on her part. Also, she became someone who would be suspicious of anyone close to her; after George's jilting, she began to fear that anyone she became fond of would eventually leave. Excessively good behavior annoys her, because she seems to resent anyone else having a good life; also, she sees it as being patronizing. Cornelia, for instance, is always nice to her to her face, but after Granny overhears Cornelia talking about her behind her back, she intensely distrusts her motives.
After the jilting of George, Granny becomes enamored with, then marries, John. John was a wonderful man, and a kind father, but he died very young, leaving her to take care of the children on her own. This forces Granny to be both mother and father, which led her to be more and more assertive and aggressive in her behavior. She tended to impose hardship on all those around her, making her unpleasant to be around because of her denial. Granny's work on the farmland, by herself, has taken a physical toll on her, to the point where she fears that, if John saw her again, he would simply expect a “young woman with the peaked Spanish comb in her hair and the painted fan”, something she can no longer live up to (Porter). This sense of regret at losing a truly good man makes her resent her life even further, while at the same time denying that anything at all is wrong.
The last, and arguably most significant, jilting comes from her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - throughout the short story, she is thanking God for what little she has, and the strength that she Osed to take care of herself and her family: "God, for all my life, I thank Thee. Without Thee, my God, I could never have done it. Hail, Mary, full of grace" (Porter). on her deathbed, she asks for salvation and help, but she receives nothing. "God, give a sign!For a second time there was no sign" (Porter). This was the most significant jilting, because it took away every bit of strength that she had left; ultimately, she felt as though absolutely everyone abandoned her, and she could not fathom anything being worse: "She could not remember any other sorrow because this grief wiped them all away" (Porter). This one is worse than anything else, because she has nowhere else to turn. After that, she finally passes away, unloved and uncared for.
In conclusion, Granny Weatherall has, indeed, weathered all, as she has adjusted her priorities and considers herself to be just fine. She has survived the emotional torment of these three people or forces abandoning her, and so she thinks she will endure her other ailments. Like her illness, Granny just pushes away everything that makes her feel bad, like her numerous occasions of being jilted; as a result, they continue to haunt her even decades later. With her death, the author presents a very nihilistic view of life, as not even God is there for her; she dies rejected even by the Almighty, with so much she feels she has left to do. Porter uses this sense of repetition to establish a pattern, which then conveys the meaning of the work (the meaninglessness of life, and the foolishness of denial and pride when one needs help) (Becker, 1966). Granny has to endure tragedy after tragedy, until she can simply no longer deal with it, and then she passes away.
Works Cited
Becker, Laurence A. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall': The Discovery of Pattern." The English
Journal vol. 55, no. 9 (Dec. 1966), pp. 1164-1169.
Porter, Katherine Anne. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall." in Flowering Judas, and Other
Stories. Rutgers University Press, 1930. Print.
