Symbolism In The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

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Death is everywhere even when people least expect it. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Anne Porter is about a sick, eighty year old woman named Ellen Weatherall. She is in denial of her actions and past until she realizes her life is ending. Ellen Weatherall's traits of childlike behavior, remembrance, denial, and dying affect her situation because they all connect to Granny's acceptance of her sickness.
Granny Weatherall is introduced with Doctor Henry checking up on her. Porter describes Granny as a childish, old woman in the beginning. This shows how Granny feels about the doctor and the need for help. When Granny flicks away Doctor Henry's wrist, he tells her, "Now, now, be a good girl"(Porter "Jilting of Granny). Granny …show more content…
One of her biggest denials was forgetting her ex fiancé, George. She tells Cornelia to get him and tells her to tell him she has "forgotten him and she was given back everything he took away" from her(Porter "The Jilting"). Even though it took sixty years for her say this, it shows that Granny always remembered about George and what happen between them. Granny has sought to escape her painful loneliness in the past in which that has kept her busy. It symbolizes this anguishing knowledge because it is life-denying(Estes "Granny Weatherall").
Unaware that she is dying, her thoughts through her last hours are of life, not death(Harder "Granny & Ivan"). Granny does not think of her death, but of everything around her. This is the part of the story where she her mind is taken to a different place. She feels that she is not ready and states, "I am taken by surprise. I can't go,"(Porter "The Jilting") to Cornelia. Granny feels unprepared, but tries not to think about.
Granny Weatherall is a very strong, but yet stubborn old woman. She has gone through many things in her life to get where she was. Her traits of childlike behavior, remembrance, denial, and death all brought together on how she dealt with her
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