Question

3. Short-response prompt (15 points)

Read the following excerpt from Katherine Anne Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall":
"Mother, Father Connolly's here." "I went to Holy Communion only last week. Tell him I'm not so sinful as all that." "Father just wants to speak with you." He could speak as much as he pleased. It was like him to drop in and inquire about her soul as if it were a teething baby, and then stay on for a cup of tea and a round of cards and gossip. He always had a funny story of some sort, usually about an Irishman who made his little mistakes and confessed them, and the point lay in some absurd thing he would blurt out in the confessional showing his struggles between native piety and original sin. Granny felt easy about her soul. Cornelia, where are your manners? Give Father Connolly a chair. She had her secret comfortable understanding with a few favorite saints who cleared a straight road to God for her. All as surely signed and sealed as the papers for the new forty acres. Forever . . . heirs and assigns forever. Since the day the wedding cake was not cut, but thrown out and wasted. The whole bottom of the world dropped out, and there she was blind and sweating with nothing under her feet and the walls falling away, His hand had caught her under the breast, she had not fallen, there was the freshly polished floor with the green rug on it, just as before. He had cursed like a sailor's parrot and said, "I'll kill him for you." Don't lay a hand on him, for my sake leave something to God. "Now, Ellen, you must believe what I tell you. . . ."

Identify two themes that are clearly developed in this excerpt of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall." How does the author develop the two themes over the course of the text? Be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

Two themes that are clearly developed in this excerpt of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" are Granny's preoccupation with her own mortality and her unresolved feelings of abandonment from being left at the altar.

The theme of mortality is developed through Granny's interactions with Father Connolly. She is dismissive of his concerns about her soul, indicating that she feels comfortable with her own understanding of her relationship with God. She also reminisces about her life and feels secure in her beliefs that she has "a few favorite saints who cleared a straight road to God for her." These thoughts show that Granny is very preoccupied with her own mortality, especially as she ages and becomes more aware of her own mortality.

The theme of abandonment is developed through Granny's memories of being left at the altar. She recalls the wedding cake being thrown out and wasted, and the whole bottom of her world dropping out. She feels blind and sweating with nothing under her feet, and the walls falling away. Her sense of abandonment is also reflected in her request to "leave something to God" and not to lay a hand on the man who jilted her. This shows that despite the passage of time, Granny has never fully resolved her feelings of abandonment and betrayal.

Overall, Porter uses Granny's interactions with Father Connolly and her memories of being left at the altar to develop the themes of mortality and abandonment. These themes help to deepen the reader's understanding of Granny's character and her emotional state