The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

7 Pages 1686 Words

“A Test of Character” “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” a short story by
Katherine Anne Porter, describes the last thoughts, feelings, and memories of
an elderly woman. As Granny Weatherall’s life literally “flashes” before her
eyes, the importance of the title of the story becomes obvious. Granny
Weatherall has been in some way deceived or disappointed in every love
relationship of her life. Her past lover George, husband John, daughter
Cornelia, and God all did an injustice by what Porter refers to as “jilting.”
This unending cycle of wrongdoing caused Granny to be a mixture of
strength, bitterness, and ultimate fear as she faces her last moments in life.
Granny gained her strength by the people that she felt jilted by. George stood
Granny up at the altar. He never showed at all and it is never stated that she
heard from him again. The pain forced Granny to be strong as is proven by
her thoughts when she is asked if anything could be done for her. “ I want
you to find George. Find him and be sure to tell him I forgot him. I want him
to know I had my husband just the same and my children and my house like
any other woman… Tell him I was given back everything he took away and
more” (Porter 584). Granny did marry a man named John, but her strength
was again tested when he died at a young age, leaving her to raise their
children on her own. “Sometimes she wanted to see John again and point to
them and say, well, I didn’t do so badly did I?” (582). She had been...