Throughout "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," Katherine Anne Porter makes Granny sound like she has not done poorly for herself. In reading the first couple of paragraphs of the short story, Porter makes it known that Granny doesn't have it easy. Life is hard on her. On the surface, there is a woman who thinks that she hasn't done so terribly for herself considering the hardships in her life, but there is definitely more underneath. Looking more into the Granny's life, the truth emerges from below the top layers. Porter uses events like jilting at the altar, the early death of her husband, the death of Hapsy, and getting no sign from God on her deathbed to show the disappointments in her life.
[...] She survives all the disappointments in her life, but this one Granny cannot survive. This was the final betrayal that she cannot recover from. Granny can bear being jilted at the altar by her first love, losing her husband at an early age, losing the one child that she could not save, but not seeing or hearing anything from the God that she had faith in and loved, destroys her. Granny finally gives up and let herself go. Why live if God won't answer or help you? [...]
[...] As her other children enter the room, Granny finally realize that this is her death, the end of her life as she knows it. Granny ignores looking to her children for strength. Instead she relies on her faith in God for strength and some answers about her life and where it is going from here. She asks God for a sign to answer these questions she has. When she dies is she going to go to heaven or go to hell? [...]
[...] Did Granny fail Hapsy by not making it on time for the birth of her unborn grandchild and not being able to save her own child from death? Was Hapsy waiting for Granny who never showed up? Even though Granny seems proud that she “hardly ever lost there is definitely dissatisfaction within her soul about letting down Hapsy and not being there when Hapsy needed her (K. Porter). Her children are her soul and losing Hapsy was like losing part of it. [...]
[...] Even if none of these things happened to Granny, she still has the disappointments she has put upon herself. Disappointments are there for people to learn from and get over them, not to dwell. Granny makes a mistake. Instead of spending her last moments with her children, Granny dwells on the past and the disappointments. Granny may have not brought on several disappointments within her life upon herself, but Granny does bring on the last one which happens to be the most important one of all. [...]
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