Alone Again in the End
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 rewarding, she is in fact unsatisfied in her last hours because of things left undone, being treated like a child in her old age, and loved ones she has lost.
�When it becomes apparent to her that her time is running out, Granny realizes there are many things left undone that she meant to do.� Granny thinks of tomorrow, a time that is "far away" and "nothing to trouble about" (310).� Ironically that brings her to remember letters stored away in the attic, correspondence between Granny and her past lovers.� She tells herself that she must go through that box, because the thought of her children finding out "how silly she had been once" (310) disturbs her.� She never specified what was to be done with the amethyst set or her land.� She had six bottles of wine that she intended to give to Sister Borgia "for her dyspepsia" (314).�� Granny begins to panic when she becomes aware that although "she had spent so much time preparing for death" (310), it took her by surprise.
By the time her final hours arrive, Granny Weatherall has grown tired of people treating her like a child.� Cornelia constantly whispers to people about her as if she cannot hear.� Cornelia warns people that Granny is "getting childish and they'd have to humor her" (310), and she often reminds anyone within hearing distance of Granny's age.� Doctor Harry is also prone to speaking to Granny in a tone that she interprets as condescending, prompting her to reprimand him to show some respect for his elders.� The type of behavior displayed by Cornelia and Doctor Harry leaves Granny terribly annoyed.
Between all the other odds and ends that come to her mind, Granny most often thinks of those she loved who were no longer with her.� She thinks of John, the father of her children, who "would be a child beside her if she saw him now" (311), indicating that he had died at a rather young age.� She remembers Hapsy, her daughter, who appears to her during her last hours as a blurred vision "standing by her bed in a white cap" (313).� Hapsy was Granny's youngest child, the one who made her the happiest, "the one she had truly wanted" (313), and losing her had been devastating.� However, losing George had hurt her more than any of the others, for she didn't lose him to death, something she could understand.� George had jilted Granny, left her at the altar.� It hurts Granny terribly to remember him, but she cannot forget how he hurt her.� In the end, she wants him to know that her life has been good without him and that she "was given back everything he took away from her and more" (313).� But Granny has trouble convincing herself that her pride is no longer wounded from his actions.
As Granny begins her "long journey outward, looking for Hapsy" (314) and the darkness starts to fold in around her, she realizes it has taken her by surprise.� She received no sign, "again no bridegroom and the priest in the house" (314).� She forgets all her other woes in the last few seconds of her life because nothing is more merciless than her death.� She vows she will "never forgive it" (314) as she surrenders to it, leaving her more sorrowful in her death than she had been in her life.
Work Cited
Porter, Katherine Anne.� "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"� Literature and the Writing Process.� Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk.� 5th ed.� Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1999.� 309-314.