"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" - Katharine Anne Porter

Analysis-

The majority of the story takes place is Ellen's room. She has flash backs to the past, of her children growing up and even some painful ones such as being stood up on her wedding day. The era in which the setting is placed is back in the 1930's. Ellen is the progtagnist and also an extremely strong woman. She was stood up on her wedding day, did work most men did, and raised her children. I would say that the antagnoist would be her illness because it keeps fighting against her and she keeps fighting back. The irony in the story is that she wants so bad to see her children one last time before she dies and she keeps having flash backs to when her children were growing up. In the end, her children arrived just has she was passing away. In the introduction she takes of the doctor checking her and Cornelia seems to be the nagging child, she is trying to help her mother but in turn is annoying her. The rising action is unclear to me. The climax is when she is in her room and talks of the light from the lamp and the father arriving to be with her in her last minutes. Again the falling action was unclear to me. The denouement is when she finally lets go, "She stretched herself with a deep breath and blew out the light" (247). Ellen kept thinking of tasks that needed to be taken care of but she kept saying, "tomorrow". But unfortunately sometimes tomorrow doesn't always come. This also gives me my theme for this story, What if tomorrow never comes?

Response-

The first page or so was unclear to me of what was happening. Then it finally "clicked" that she was passing away and having flash backs to the past. How sad would it be if some of your final thoughts were of being stood up at the alter. I really felt for Ellen when she spoke of the letters she had written to both George and John letters and the letters that they had written to her. This story really made me think about the death of my Great Grandmother only 6 months ago. She was a strong woman, worked and lived on the farm, married her high school sweetheart, but then I think what were her final thoughts before giving her last breath and blowing out the light. I'm thankful in so many ways that I was able to be there with her when she passed. She will always be in my heart and some of my favorite memories.