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Post by Christine Gu .-. on Aug 21, 2021 23:16:02 GMT -8
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall obtains strong patterns of literary elements that coincides with the real life comparisons of ordinary people and Granny's physical health. Towards the beginning of the short story, Granny perceived herself to show no empathy for anyone other than herself based on her failing condition. In her age, Weatherall's body has deteriorated extensively to the point where her peak condition no longer resides with her. Attributes that are not equal to the social normality is considered imperfect and frowned upon, even in our real world. People's traits feel judged by other people constantly throughout their life, that several reactions may take place. Depression and even frustration could result from the feelings of being inferior to other people's attributes, as Weatherall portrayed. For instance, in the beginning, Weatherall was frustrated with other people viewing her as frail and weaker than she used to be, which conflicted with her perception of being an unloving grandmother. Then, Weatherall faces a crisis where she obtains elements of a depressive disorder. She starts pondering death after realizing her life was not complete (in her standings). She states she had more to live for, and also wondered if her life and her decisions was what she actually is contempt with. The diction especially was relatable to the audience as we ourselves are influenced by other people, and view ourselves to be less fortunate than others around us. This idea that Granny Weatherall creates of herself, as a person who lost the ability of youth, is systematic and very complex in its understanding, for frustration can only exist through an alternative source. By this understanding, Granny Weatherall is misunderstood, and faces symptoms of depression and a natural response to human judgement that caused her behavior to act in this manner. Yes, I agree with this approach of the humanistic perspective of Granny Weatherall's characterization. The resentment of loss of control over her life and pondering her life after her flashback/memories. Within her last moments of life, her flashback to the past reveals her desire to regain control over her past relationships and to cope with this loss of control over her life, and her memories of when she was younger to reassure herself. Death is something that we as humans, all have to eventually face, but when are are near this experience, it is said that "your life flash before your eyes." We have control over our lives (not complete control), we have our proud moments and we also have our regrets. This concept is reflected in Granny Weatherall's experience. She was prepared for death, yet she was not ready because Granny worries about what will happen if she can’t find Hapsy as she looks for a sign from God (but she did not get a sign). As a result, she feels has been jilted again, she dies. There are feelings of frustration and bitterness left behind. The past is something we can't change, and death is out of our control, it will come to us whether we are ready for it or not. Granny Weatherall's transition illustrates what it means to be human that is near the end of their lives. |
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Post by Madison Zhuang on Aug 22, 2021 0:53:01 GMT -8
Throughout the story, Granny Weatherall alternates between her current situation, lying in her deathbed, and reflecting on her past. It is clear that Granny Weatherall is a strong-headed woman who thrives on independency. The contrast that is developed between these scenes show how Granny's deteriorating mental health is affecting her character. When she reflects on the past, she describes how productive she was around the house, exemplifying her determination. When the story shifts back to the present, Granny's attitude has changed as a result of her illness taking a toll on her, as she always thinks "That's tomorrows business" (Porter 82). Despite not being able to attend to herself, she is still insistent on not requiring the help of others. Cornelia, her daughter, and Doctor Harry often fall prey to Granny Weatherall's stubbornness. They take care of Granny by treating her as a helpless child, speaking in condescending tones and often reminding one another of how old Granny is. Though their actions of wanting to help are not malicious, from Granny's point of view, it is as if they think she is incapable and child-like. Being treated like this is an insult to Granny because she seems to pride herself on being someone who is not reliant on the help of others. Ultimately, Granny Weatherall's deteriorating health is reflected in her shift in attitude, yet simultaneously, her health has not completely erased who she was in the past.
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Post by Madison Zhuang on Aug 22, 2021 1:03:25 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. The evidence you provided is a good example of intent versus action: she wants to close the blinds, but due to her bed ridden state, it is not possible. I agree that this demonstrates how her independence has not faltered because she cannot physically act on her wishes. This can translate to being stubborn when being reliant on others, though it is not for Granny's lack of determination, but illness. |
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Post by Gianna Samayoa on Aug 22, 2021 9:34:44 GMT -8
As we know, the name of the character is Granny Weatherall. She did in fact weather through it all. She mentions having been left at the alter, digging post holes by herself, getting milk-leg and double pneumonia. Granny constantly talks about the past and all that she overcame and that what she is going through now is nothing. She also mentions hearing thunder and seeing lightning adding to the fact that she overcame the storm.
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Post by Emily Willett on Aug 22, 2021 9:41:02 GMT -8
One thing that really emphasizes Granny Weatherall's character is her continuous thoughts and denial of her own death. On the second page of the scene, the author writes that Granny fell asleep, and yet afterwards it seemed as if she was still awake and aware of what was happening around her. She tried many times to speak but nothing actually came out. Her family even started mourning, which indicates that Granny Weatherall had died at the beginning of the scene. However, it shows her character as being determined and not giving up on life as she continues on as if she isn't dead in her mind. She is still trying to be present, be a part of her family and when her thoughts shifted to accepting death and going through her regrets, most of her regrets were that she didn't get to do all the things she wanted to do for her family. This reveals that she was very devoted and cared a lot about her family.
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Post by Gianna Samayoa on Aug 22, 2021 9:46:07 GMT -8
The theme of denial is recurrent throughout the story. We see Granny Weatherall put on a facade of being a tough older woman but behind that mask is a woman who has experienced a great amount of hardship. She lost her husband John and was jilted at the altar. Perhaps the title itself relates to the idea of death. Jilted at the altar but also jilted by death at times. When she was 60, she describes preparing for death, but she did not die. Now that she is actually dying, there is a sense of fear which is a natural response to death. Also adding to that, her second jilt is that she is dropped by God. On one occasion she mentions that she knows what hell feels like adding that she was dropped down to hell. The whole story is about her being jilted by man, self, supernatural and the overcoming of it all. |
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Post by Emily Willett on Aug 22, 2021 9:48:41 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 this meaning that Granny was trying to let go of some control over her life and I think this also foreshadows her death. Her saying that there was "nothing to trouble about" tomorrow can be taken literally here in that she literally did not have any problems the next day because she wouldn't be alive. It also really shows that she was moving on from this life because we can see that she is very stubborn and so the fact that she is not worried about this means that she is moving on even from her own ways in this life. |
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safi
New Member
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Post by safi on Aug 22, 2021 10:59:52 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 have to agree that Granny's stubbornness is present throughout the story until the end where she is pleading for her life. We see that she is bargaining and is in denial that she is about to die. We can see the five stages of grief throughout the story is clearly present. |
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Post by amayawilliams on Aug 22, 2021 11:09:02 GMT -8
Grannies death shortly coming up was very inevitable, especially when granny stated, “ she was so amazed her thoughts ran round and round. So, my dear Lord, this is my death and I wasn’t even thinking about it. My children have come to see me die”. this quote shows that she had understood her death was approaching her, and knew that her children were there to comfort her and her final moments. this also reveals that though she has gone back-and-forth with the idea of death, she still wanted to be surrounded by those she loved before she crossed over
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Post by joshuaisinvalid on Aug 22, 2021 11:14:15 GMT -8
One thing that I have found recently is that Granny Weatherall feels betrayed by her own children, and this may contribute to her lonely feeling. Weatherall follows a pattern of throwing her stress at someone to blow off steam, hurting that someone and ruining her relationship with them, in turn making her more stressed, or lonely. It begins when she once again begins to think about her death, now that she is likely becoming more ill; She had thought about and prepared for it back in her 60s, but the thought left her mind until now, in her 80s, (Porter 82). We can correctly assume, through empathy, that thinking about your imminent death is a scary and stressful thought, and Weatherall may be dumping her stress on someone to cope, particularly Cornelia who she intends to bother towards the end of the 2nd paragraph. Later on in the page, readers can see how Weatherall feels betrayal, she thinks to herself, “The thing that most annoyed her was that Cornelia thought she was deaf, dumb, and blind… Wait, wait, Cornelia, till your own children whisper behind your back,” (Porter 82). This feeling of betrayal, that your own children think badly of you going beyond just being annoyed at their mother and into thinking that she is only a shell of what she once was, will most definitely hurt Weatherall. Her belief that Cornelia thinks lowly of her won’t help her stress. As time goes on, if her health deteriorates more, the pattern will repeat and become worse persistently.
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Post by joshuaisinvalid on Aug 22, 2021 11:49:42 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. Weatherall blowing out the light can also symbolize or imply that she has given up on her situation. Before the blows out the light, she sees the candle and says that the candle is her. In that part, it seems more like she's falling into desperation, as she's calling for God to give her a sign. The desperation may not be a dramatic one, but it is a silent one, where she gives up because she is stuck in an emotional state where stress has caught up to her and tired her out. |
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Post by ryankuo on Aug 22, 2021 12:56:23 GMT -8
In the story of granny weatherall, there are many allusions used that describe granny’s personality and character development. Granny starts in the beginning of the story as a hard women who doesn’t want pity for her age and wants her daughter to stop bothering her. A bit later in the story she talks about how she used to work so hard to raise her children and how she thought she would die at 60. Now she is 80 and because her father lived till over 100 she doesn’t think she will die anytime soon. Near the end however, she starts to notice that she might die soon and becomes nicer. She wants to see her family and doesn’t want to die even though she said she wasn’t afraid of death. In the end her death is symbolized by the blowing out of the candles in the last sentence. The candles in the rest of the story is proven to be an allusion to get life at this point as the candles had flickered when she began to start dying as well as the Thunder and lighting. This all commentates into a description of her character up to her last moments.
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Post by ryankuo on Aug 22, 2021 13:19:49 GMT -8
Building off of eriiic's initial comment, we could also look at Granny's changing character in a different way. From another perspective, we can observe Granny Weatherall's recollection of two different parts of her life, one in which she was full of vigor and had to rely on herself, and another in which she had to be taken care of. From this view, it could also be argued that Granny Weatherall was so immersed in her youth and how she used to take on the world, that she was unable to cope with the reality that she could no longer do anything but accept her fate. This is enforced by the speed of the story, as things moved faster and faster as the story progressed. At first, every emotion of Granny's was focused on: "Her bones felt loose, and floated around in her skin, and Doctor Harry floated like a balloon around the foot of the bed" (Porter). This is one of many details that focus on every instance of Granny's encounters with the doctors and nurses. Later, things became very quick and sudden: " Light flashed on her closed eyelids, and a deep roaring shook her... 'I'm not going, Cornelia. I'm taken by surprise. I can't go'" (Porter). There is a significant shift in sentence formation that defines her character as it emphasizes her deteriorating health and her startled mind as well. To add on to this, the time when she was young and full of vigor she had to take care of her self because she was stiff up at her wedding and her husband died early. It was only her that took care of all her kids as well as doing both the man and women’s jobs of taking care of the home, earning money, fixing the home, as well as other things. I don’t think she minded being taken care of at the end like how she was in the beginning because she wanted to still be with her family. |
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Post by Lorraine Anderson on Aug 22, 2021 13:34:50 GMT -8
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall obtains strong patterns of literary elements that coincides with the real life comparisons of ordinary people and Granny's physical health. Towards the beginning of the short story, Granny perceived herself to show no empathy for anyone other than herself based on her failing condition. In her age, Weatherall's body has deteriorated extensively to the point where her peak condition no longer resides with her. Attributes that are not equal to the social normality is considered imperfect and frowned upon, even in our real world. People's traits feel judged by other people constantly throughout their life, that several reactions may take place. Depression and even frustration could result from the feelings of being inferior to other people's attributes, as Weatherall portrayed. For instance, in the beginning, Weatherall was frustrated with other people viewing her as frail and weaker than she used to be, which conflicted with her perception of being an unloving grandmother. Then, Weatherall faces a crisis where she obtains elements of a depressive disorder. She starts pondering death after realizing her life was not complete (in her standings). She states she had more to live for, and also wondered if her life and her decisions was what she actually is contempt with. The diction especially was relatable to the audience as we ourselves are influenced by other people, and view ourselves to be less fortunate than others around us. This idea that Granny Weatherall creates of herself, as a person who lost the ability of youth, is systematic and very complex in its understanding, for frustration can only exist through an alternative source. By this understanding, Granny Weatherall is misunderstood, and faces symptoms of depression and a natural response to human judgement that caused her behavior to act in this manner. Yes, I agree with this approach of the humanistic perspective of Granny Weatherall's characterization. The resentment of loss of control over her life and pondering her life after her flashback/memories. Within her last moments of life, her flashback to the past reveals her desire to regain control over her past relationships and to cope with this loss of control over her life, and her memories of when she was younger to reassure herself. Death is something that we as humans, all have to eventually face, but when are are near this experience, it is said that "your life flash before your eyes." We have control over our lives (not complete control), we have our proud moments and we also have our regrets. This concept is reflected in Granny Weatherall's experience. She was prepared for death, yet she was not ready because Granny worries about what will happen if she can’t find Hapsy as she looks for a sign from God (but she did not get a sign). As a result, she feels has been jilted again, she dies. There are feelings of frustration and bitterness left behind. The past is something we can't change, and death is out of our control, it will come to us whether we are ready for it or not. Granny Weatherall's transition illustrates what it means to be human that is near the end of their lives. I agree with both of these points and to add on to the idea that Granny's life is "flashing before her eyes", we see her reliving specific moments from life from when the doctor first visits in the morning, up until her death. She recalls memories from her young adult life to motherhood and then to when she was sixty years old and originally preparing for her death. Near her death when the doctor comes back to see Granny, she believes that only five minutes has passed, but Cornelia tells her that was in the morning and that it is night now. This reinforces the idea of Granny's "life flashing before her eyes" and in consequence she realizes it's too late for her she she will never resolve her guilt or do all the things she wished to do before dying. |
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Post by Lorraine Anderson on Aug 22, 2021 14:03:29 GMT -8
Throughout the story Granny Weatherall experiences the five stages of grief, but in reverse. She tells us in the beginning of the story that she has been over the idea of dying for a long time now and "Now she couldn't be worried." She has been accepting of her death for the past twenty years and feels prepared. The next stages she experiences are depression and bargaining, she becomes more hostile towards Cornelia and starts to reminisce about her past. Next she experiences anger as she says, "You waste your life when you waste good food. Don't let things get lost. It's bitter to lose things" and recalls her jilting at the alter. This leads into her death and the final stage of grief, denial. At the end of Granny's life she is taken by surprise when she realizes she is dying. "So, my dear Lord, this is my death and I wasn't even thinking about it. My children have come to see me die. But I can't, it's not time. Oh, I always hated surprises," she says at the realization. She begs to Cornelia that she is not going, she can't go. This is the final stage of her grief and she dies overcome with grief from the shortcomings of her life. The purpose of her going through the five stages of grief in reverse is to mirror her character development as she goes from a bitter old woman to a remorseful one.
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