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Post by ellenpark on Aug 21, 2021 14:11:25 GMT -8
Symbols leading up to Weatherall's death could be found even at the beginning of the story where she explains the topic of tomorrow. She even says, "Tomorrow was far away and there was nothing to trouble about." Although it doesn't seem to be concerning on the surface of this text, you can see that the symbol of tomorrow foreshadows a tragic event that would occur. Worrying about the problems tomorrow adds to the point of Weatherall looking for some form of control in her life again as well as not accepting her future passing, showing that she was a stubborn minded character that refused to pass away but later we can see that she had no choice but to let go of her life.
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Post by ellenpark on Aug 21, 2021 14:49:00 GMT -8
Chapter 23 of HTRLLAP fits almost perfectly with this short story, not in the way that Granny Weatherall has a specific illness or heart disease, but in the way that the author always has a reason for an "illness". In this case, Granny Weatherall slowly dying drives the entire storyline. The short story begins with Dr. Harry visiting her, which then leads to Granny's children coming to visit. Through her sickness we also get the opportunity to read her inner dialogue, which slowly turns from her being bitter towards all of the other characters to transforming into a kinder woman who accepts her own death. This is a good point as I also saw that the author used "illness" for a specific reason. The "illness" that Weatherall has is death and it creates a major impact on the story and causes Weatherall's character development. The reason for the "illness" in the story was to create a dynamic character development for Weatherall through a time where she is near death. |
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Post by carlyin on Aug 21, 2021 14:54:56 GMT -8
It is clear to see that granny's characteristic is very stubborn throughout her attitude towards other characters. In the beginning of the story, granny's first line is that "Get along now, take your schoolbooks and go. There's nothing wrong with me" (80). Granny is annoyed about the health checks that Doctor Harry did to her. She claims that she's fine and healthy, which shows her stubbornness. Moreover, granny's stubbornness is being emphasized in the following paragraphs. In page 81, granny says that "I do. I want a lot of things. First off, go away and don't whisper" (81). Granny uses a demanding tone to let her daughter, Cornelia, and Doctor Harry stop whispering about her health issues. Granny keeps her stubbornness even her condition gets worse. In paragraph 82, she says that "I'm chilly, Cornelia. Lying in bed stops the circulation. I must have told you that a thousand times" (82). Granny's stubbornness makes her denying that her illness is killing her, so she finds an excuse to explain why she's chilly. Even in the end, granny still keeps this attitude. In page 88 where granny realizes that she's dying, she says that "I'm not going, Cornelia. I'm taken by surprise. I can't go" (88). Granny is still trying to be tough and stubborn here by the way she says that "I can't go". Stubbornness would be the most unique trait that granny has and this trait has been emphasized throughout the dialogues and being kept into the very end.
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Post by carlyin on Aug 21, 2021 14:59:02 GMT -8
Granny's stubbornness is shown when she talks about how she has to take the role of her dead husband, fulfilling both parent figures in the family. She kept up this idea in her head for a very long time. Her stubbornness is shown when even as her body is deteriorating she still wants to fulfill the position of being a parent figure even as she knows her body is getting weaker and older. Her stubbornness is also shown when she says "I pay my own bills". This shows her stubbornness because it demonstrates how she wants to do everything herself especially paying for her own things and how her point of view or attitude towards has not changed at all as she believes she that these things are still her responsibility. I totally agree with you. I think granny's stubbornness is a clear characteristics that she has throughout the story. Her bitterness towards everyone and her denying of death both emphasized her stubbornness very well. |
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Post by carlyin on Aug 21, 2021 15:05:50 GMT -8
Symbols leading up to Weatherall's death could be found even at the beginning of the story where she explains the topic of tomorrow. She even says, "Tomorrow was far away and there was nothing to trouble about." Although it doesn't seem to be concerning on the surface of this text, you can see that the symbol of tomorrow foreshadows a tragic event that would occur. Worrying about the problems tomorrow adds to the point of Weatherall looking for some form of control in her life again as well as not accepting her future passing, showing that she was a stubborn minded character that refused to pass away but later we can see that she had no choice but to let go of her life. I agree with you. There're a lot of details in the story that hint granny is dying. Even though the author didn't state clearly that granny has some sort of "illness" which is killing her slowly, we as the readers, could figure it out that granny is dying throughout the details. For example, in page 82, granny says that she's "chilly". This is a clear symbol that shows granny's condition is getting worse. And in page 87 where granny is talking nonsense, that's the plot where readers know that granny is dying. |
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Post by Samantha Olivar on Aug 21, 2021 16:49:47 GMT -8
Granny Weatherall’s deteriorating health is partly represented through her scattered and nonsensical outer dialogue. While her inner dialogue may have a more logical and reasonable flow in terms of relevance and storytelling, her outward dialogue portrays her dismissiveness and inability to focus. In the beginning, Granny can reply to Cornelia and even scolds the doctor for fussing over her. However, as the story progresses, she is unable to communicate what she really wants to say. For instance, her daughter tells her about a hypodermic and Granny replies “’how do ants get in this bed? I saw sugar ants yesterday.’ Did you send for Hapsy too?” (85). Granny talks about ants which is unrelated to the conversation, but it is most noticeable that her inquiry about Hapsy, someone Granny wants to see, is left out of the quotations, excluded from her external dialogue. These details can be interpreted to define the development her psychological character as increasingly confused over the course of the story. Her inability communicate what she truly wants to say is a consequence of her deteriorating health.
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Post by Lilith Zapata on Aug 21, 2021 17:44:21 GMT -8
It is clear to see that granny's characteristic is very stubborn throughout her attitude towards other characters. In the beginning of the story, granny's first line is that "Get along now, take your schoolbooks and go. There's nothing wrong with me" (80). Granny is annoyed about the health checks that Doctor Harry did to her. She claims that she's fine and healthy, which shows her stubbornness. Moreover, granny's stubbornness is being emphasized in the following paragraphs. In page 81, granny says that "I do. I want a lot of things. First off, go away and don't whisper" (81). Granny uses a demanding tone to let her daughter, Cornelia, and Doctor Harry stop whispering about her health issues. Granny keeps her stubbornness even her condition gets worse. In paragraph 82, she says that "I'm chilly, Cornelia. Lying in bed stops the circulation. I must have told you that a thousand times" (82). Granny's stubbornness makes her denying that her illness is killing her, so she finds an excuse to explain why she's chilly. Even in the end, granny still keeps this attitude. In page 88 where granny realizes that she's dying, she says that "I'm not going, Cornelia. I'm taken by surprise. I can't go" (88). Granny is still trying to be tough and stubborn here by the way she says that "I can't go". Stubbornness would be the most unique trait that granny has and this trait has been emphasized throughout the dialogues and being kept into the very end. I agree with you. I think her stubbornness sets her apart from most 80 year olds. Usually when we think of an 80 year old woman we picture someone who is frail or usually quiet and at the end of their life. Granny, however, is vehement in her stubbornness. This is especially seen towards her attitude towards the young doctor that takes care of her. She views him as inexperience even though he is taking care of her. Granny's pattern of stubbornness is consistent throughout the story and we are able to see this character of strength and yet a subtle weakness (fear of death) at the same time. |
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Jianan (Sunny) Chen
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Post by Jianan (Sunny) Chen on Aug 21, 2021 18:18:00 GMT -8
In the work "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" written by Katherine Anne Porter, there were many literary elements and techniques used to bring out the contradiction of the actions and speeches, and the complexity of the character, of Granny Weatherall. During the writing, Granny Weatherall is in constant denial over the fact that she is slowly facing the end of her time in this world. Her children, along with Doctor Harry, are over in her antique home taking care and preparing the significant objects and events for the life she will enjoy after, but throughout this process, Granny Weatherall is very stubborn on following and insists that she is indeed in fact, very much alive and living, but she is also confused at the same time with what she will and should do, so she turns into finding a distraction, which there is one- napping, as a way out from all the worries and problems. On pages 82 and 84, the constant mentions of a bed and napping state something about the complexity of Granny Weather, she is looking for a way to escape the regret and remorse she had through the span of her long life. The author writes: "Now, don't let me get to thinking, not when I am tired and taking a little nap before supper..." (Porter). When she dived deep into her memories, she suffered from the pain of overthinking and worrying too much, so she seeks a place of comfort, her bed, which is the part where she finds her way of relief and into the afterlife, with connections with the reflection to the mentions of "God", another symbol for the realization of Granny Weatherall. With God symbolizing a way of desperately looking for a chance at "rebirth", relating back to the relevance of "How To Read Literature Like A Professor", she eventually gives in and puts her trust and life into her children and husband, as the author wrote towards the end of the story: "She stretched herself with a deep breath and blew out the light." (Porter). All of the nuances indicates although Granny Weatherall may seem like a stubborn person within the story, the contradictions and complexity being brought out show she is a well-rounded character as she thinks and cares deeply for her loved ones, although she overthinks and worries too much, leading to the "stubborn" and "in denial" character trait when she just doesn't seem like to let go of them.
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Jianan (Sunny) Chen
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Post by Jianan (Sunny) Chen on Aug 21, 2021 18:21:25 GMT -8
Granny Weatherall’s deteriorating health is partly represented through her scattered and nonsensical outer dialogue. While her inner dialogue may have a more logical and reasonable flow in terms of relevance and storytelling, her outward dialogue portrays her dismissiveness and inability to focus. In the beginning, Granny can reply to Cornelia and even scolds the doctor for fussing over her. However, as the story progresses, she is unable to communicate what she really wants to say. For instance, her daughter tells her about a hypodermic and Granny replies “’how do ants get in this bed? I saw sugar ants yesterday.’ Did you send for Hapsy too?” (85). Granny talks about ants which is unrelated to the conversation, but it is most noticeable that her inquiry about Hapsy, someone Granny wants to see, is left out of the quotations, excluded from her external dialogue. These details can be interpreted to define the development her psychological character as increasingly confused over the course of the story. Her inability communicate what she truly wants to say is a consequence of her deteriorating health. Hello Sam! I completely agree with you as the structure of the short story continues to serve as evidence for your point, as the story progesses, the dialougues changes from the short and direct sentences into a long and more detailed, dragged out sentence that shows the slower process of movement and speech by Granny Weatherall and her health. Very good points and commentary provided that carefully and cleverly answers the prompt, the evidence was also very supportive of the ideas being presented. Have a good night! |
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Post by Samantha Olivar on Aug 21, 2021 18:45:50 GMT -8
Towards the middle of the story when Granny describes the surroundings and environment as she lays on the bed, she provides descriptions of the environment around her which shows a comparison to her health condition. Although her will power to fight through such medical problems is so extreme, as seen in her interactions when describing her independence and ability to live on her own, she begins to deteriorate as the text is less concentrated on her disagreements in the worlds and more of her acceptance of the future. This is shown especially in the descriptions of the setting. At first, the descriptions of the comforting breeze dictate her feeling of tranquility when laying on her bed, but toward the end, her descriptions become more grim and the setting is described through thunder and dark skies. I agree with your interpretation of Granny’s descriptions of the weather depicting her deteriorating health condition and her weakening resistance to death. As an addition to your discussion of the thunder and dark skies, I would like to add that the Granny describes the thunder at the end of the short story, asking “Cornelia, is that lightning? I hear thunder. There’s going to be a storm” (88). Since there is no confirmation from the other characters or the narrator that there is a storm, it can be inferred that Granny is imagining the impending storm that is the end of her life. The darkness she sees is her slowly approaching death. As you said, Granny slowly loses her will to fight death, but her last few efforts to resist death can be seen as she asks her daughter to close the windows to try to block out the storm. |
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Post by Christine Gu .-. on Aug 21, 2021 20:19:42 GMT -8
From the beginning of the story, granny feels her bones are loose and floated around her skin, and the doctor floating around like a balloon, contrasting how her physical body is breaking down, yet her mind is complex, in terms of expressing emotions and describing what she perceives. Granny Weatherall is no longer in control of her body as if her mind and consciousness is drifting away from her physical body. This already signifies that her health is severely bad, yet she acts stubborn and childish. This is what she shows on the outside, to lighten up the mood and act like she is fine, but in reality on the inside, her feelings and flashbacks, she is in a state of turmoil with her loss of control and eventual death. The contrast, or contradiction serves to illustrate granny’s denial of death. That dismissive attitude explains why she had flashbacks to reassure herself. Overall, her complex character is composed of many layers: from a psychodynamic approach, her flashbacks can reveal her unconsciousness, her deep desires, her consciousness, which was how she was thinking and feeling in her inner dialogue, and her persona of acting stubborn and childish (even her daughter sees her as childish).
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Post by Alysha Lee on Aug 21, 2021 20:33:35 GMT -8
We first meet Granny Weatherall as an 80 year old in her deathbed snapping away her doctor and resenting her daughter. We immediately label her as a feisty and clearly rude character as she wants nothing to do with her doctor as well as calling Cornelia a "brat who deserves to bee in knee breeches". Her deteriorating health comes with the disadvantage and impact of accurate memory but the way she gets treated by other characters around her is a direct cause of Granny Weatherall's character because she ultimately reflects her attitude from her surroundings. Doctor Harry talks to Granny Weatherall in a babying manner saying things like, "Now, now, you be a good girl" despite the fact that she even reminds him that she is 80 years old and should not be treated in such a demeaning way. Cornelia also whispers in front of her mother saying to be kind around her because is 80 years old. The fact that Granny is 80 years old is extremely relevant pattern throughout the text and it almost defines who she is as a character because others focus on it so much despite how accomplished and independent she was in her youthful days.
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Post by Alysha Lee on Aug 21, 2021 20:47:37 GMT -8
The contrast between reality, what others are saying and Granny Weatherall’s actions, and what Granny thinks, or believe, adds to Granny Weatherall’s characterization as it reveals what others view her as, as well as what she views herself as. The view her kids have of Granny is that she is childish, and requires assistance ( Porter 82). Her children and her doctor view Granny as someone who is elderly and sick, meaning she needs help and may not be in her mind mind. Furthermore, the actions that Granny Weatherall do, reveals a lot about the reality of the character. The clear contrast between Granny’s actions and her thoughts are shown when she wants to lower the shades: “ She must get up and pull the shades down or she’d never sleep. She was in bed again and the shades were not down. How could that happen?” (Porter 84/85). Weatherall fully intends on shutting the shades, and while she thinks she does, in reality, she does not. This inability to close the shades represents how Granny Weatherall is losing her capabilities, as the rest of the short story, it is evident she is an accomplished, independent woman. The juxtaposition of Granny Weatherall’s actions and beliefs about herself reveals that while she still has her stubbornness, she may not have her independence as much as she used to. This is because, as the first paraphrase shows, Granny depends on her children as she gets older and cannot necessarily do everything herself. The character of Granny that can be illustrated through these realizations is that she is a woman who is very stubborn, used to independent, and is currently reliant on others due to her age and illness. Building off of what Anuthmi said, Granny Weatherall truly represents what happens in reality because her character is so authentic to reality. She truly has weathered through it all the bumps in the road from losing a child to being stood up at the altar, she represents the realities of life. Her losing her independence and abilities to be in complete control really challenge her as a character because she feels that she is losing a part of who she is and when the people around her treat her as someone who is incapable, she is gets extremely upset. However, this behavior is understandable because in the end as she says for Corniela to wait and see when her children treat her the way she is being treated then she'll understand, it represents how one day this will all happen to us and this is the sad truth is that others treat your age as the true you; but Granny Weatherall is misunderstood. |
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Post by celinaespanta on Aug 21, 2021 21:44:56 GMT -8
Granny Weatherall's attitude is the first thing the reader notices at the beginning of the story as she bickers with Doctor Harry and expresses freely how much she dislikes her daughter, Cornelia. At the end of the excerpt, it is shown that Granny begins to pray for God to give her more time and begs for help despite profusely refusing Cornelia and Doctor Harry's aid during the majority of the story. In this scene, her attitude and behavior changed as she's come to the realization that she might be living her last moments. Granny holds a rosary as she prays desperately but as an answer from above, the rosary fell out of her hands which foreshadows that nothing can help her now. In contrast to her snarky attitude in the beginning of the story to the way she acted toward the very end, it shows that she has the same bitter feeling as Granny expresses how "...there's nothing more cruel than this" and that she will "never forgive it" as she is laid on her deathbed and sees darkness then passes away. Throughout the story, it is evident that Granny likes to be in control, and becomes helpless when she begins to lose that power and control.
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Post by celinaespanta on Aug 21, 2021 21:50:42 GMT -8
We first meet Granny Weatherall as an 80 year old in her deathbed snapping away her doctor and resenting her daughter. We immediately label her as a feisty and clearly rude character as she wants nothing to do with her doctor as well as calling Cornelia a "brat who deserves to bee in knee breeches". Her deteriorating health comes with the disadvantage and impact of accurate memory but the way she gets treated by other characters around her is a direct cause of Granny Weatherall's character because she ultimately reflects her attitude from her surroundings. Doctor Harry talks to Granny Weatherall in a babying manner saying things like, "Now, now, you be a good girl" despite the fact that she even reminds him that she is 80 years old and should not be treated in such a demeaning way. Cornelia also whispers in front of her mother saying to be kind around her because is 80 years old. The fact that Granny is 80 years old is extremely relevant pattern throughout the text and it almost defines who she is as a character because others focus on it so much despite how accomplished and independent she was in her youthful days. The way Doctor Harry speaks to her in a condescending tone despite Granny being much older than he is, explains why she has a big attitude and refuses his assistance. Cornelia also adds onto this when the texts exposes, "The thing that most annoying was that Cornelia thought she was deaf, dumb, and blind. The people who surround Granny underestimate her which hurts her pride and contribute to her rudeness, especially since she loves to have power. |
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