“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, is a story of a woman who is old and on her death bed. When she was a young woman she was jilted by her fianc’e and now fears she is going to be jilted again on the day of her death only this time by God. She lies in her bed reflecting back on her life, seeing her life passing before her like in a movie film. Haunting memories are only part of the things she needs to come to terms with before she is ready to face death. +Katherine Ann Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” can be compared to the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 10: 25).
Granny Suffers pride in regard to her ex-fianc’e and husband, her children and God. Granny suffers pride in regard to her ex-fianc’e George. George was Granny’s first love. At one time she was ready to marry him, complete with cake, priest and dress. She was waiting for her beloved bridegroom to appear and fulfill her dreams. In the parable of the ten virgins, the virgins are dressed and waiting for their bridegroom.
Neither Granny nor the 10 virgins fully understood why they were left waiting. Granny goes on to love again but the tragedy of being jilted is haunting her to her death bed. “For sixty years she had prayed against remembering him.” She tells her daughter Cornelia to “find him and be sure to tell him I forgot him.” She wants George to know that she had the type of life every young girl dreams of in spite of the pain he caused her. She is desperate to have the love letters from George destroyed. She doesn’t want anyone to know “how silly she once was.” Her disparity reminds me of the disparity of the five foolish virgins who told the wise ones “let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.” They were desperate to find oil to prepare for the bridegroom. It is ironic that both Granny and the virgins think others can solve their problems rather than finding solace within themselves.
The Essay on Death of a Salesman 21
The purpose of this brief essay is to examine Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, with respect to its reflection of the impact of American values and mores as to what constitutes 'success' upon individual lives. George Perkins has stated that this play has been described as 'possibly the best play ever written by an American (Perkins, p. 710).' The play marks a brilliant fusion of the ideas ...
Granny suffers pride in regards to her husband, John. John was a young man when he died. Granny’s vanity had taking a prideful turn because she was old now and didn’t think John would recognize her. John would be looking for a young woman with the peaked Spanish comb in her hair.” She was embarrassed for him to see the toll the years had taken on her. She recalls a time when she had to fence in 100 acres, digging the post holes all by herself. She recalls sitting up late nights with sick horses and children.
Her life had been a hard one, raising the children by herself. In Granny’s mind, she finds the rearing of her children to be a turning point that would cause her husband to reevaluate his feelings concerning her fading looks. She wants to point to the children and say “Well I didn’t do so badly, did I?” Granny suffers pride in regard to her children. Cornelia is the daughter with whom she lives. Cornelia takes excellent care of Granny but there is a resentment found in Granny because this is a constant reminder that she can no longer care for herself. Granny is strong of mind but weak of body.
She can no longer roll up her sleeves and “put the whole place to rights again.” Granny was proud of the days her son would ask her for business advice. He would tell her that she had a good head for business. Lydia, another daughter, would ask her advice “when one of the children jumped the track.” Hapsy was her favorite daughter who died at a very young age. Granny’s mind hallucinate to the point of having Hapsy present in the bedroom. At times, Granny and Hapy’s personas inter mix and even trade places for a time. Granny is pleased with the outcome of her children’s lives but longs for the days when she was the care giver and they needed her.
The Essay on Meaning of Life by John Cottingham
Every person has questioned the meaning of life; It is an idea that can be traced through out the history of mankind. John Cottingham, author of “The Meaning of Life” is just one of the many who have tried to explain and simplify this complicated question. “The Meaning of Life” is a short but informative book that attempts to breakdown the meaning of life with as little religious intervention as ...
Now those days are gone and a deep void is left where her children have moved on leaving her lonely. Granny suffers pride in regards to God. As the story unfolds, Granny was confident that she was going to heaven. She was comfortable that she would meet God just as the virgins in Matthew were comfortable they would meet the bridegroom. So confident in fact that “they began to nod and fall asleep.” Granny was so bold as to ask God for a sign that she was going to heaven. The 5 foolish virgins were bold enough to cry out “Sir Sir! Let us in!” The bridegroom tells them “Certainly not! I don’t know you.” For sixty years Granny had prayed not to lose her soul and end hell.
The priest in the room only served to remind her of another time when he was present and she was jilted. Granny blows out her candle and lays in the dark with a heart full of grief. Granny is an impatient old lady, wanting things to happen in her time frame. She doesn’t want to be surprised by death. Life was good to her even through the adversities she encountered. Heaven was to be her next home.
In her aged state, impatience turns to resentment though. She should have listened to those words the priest once spoke to her “don’t let your wounded vanity get the upper hand of you.” The foolish virgins were told by their bridegroom, Jesus, to watch out because “you know not when I come.” In both case scenarios, life could have ended peaceful and serene yet pride and impatience entangled with fear and resentment kept that from happening.
