Question

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

The themes of Spirituality and Hospitality are developed in this excerpt.

Step-by-step explanation:

The themes in a literary work are the central subjects discussed in the text. Granny Weatherall displayed spirituality and innocence when she explained that she was up-to-date in her consumption of the holy communion. This shows that granny was deeply involved in religious matters and wanted the salvation of her soul.

She also showed hospitality when she welcomed Father Connolly, offered him a seat, and even urged her granddaughter to welcome him warmly.