In Katherine Anne Porter’s story “The Grave,” she explores one of the inescapable moments in all living thing’s existence: death. Through the story of the two protagonists, she shows that our innocence is truly gone once it clashes with the end of life. Once we are exposed and accept the existence of death and allow it to defeat our purity, then we are truly adults exposed to the realities of this world. Paul and Miranda are two young siblings living their lives as they always do. Their family has had to deal with relocations of deceased family members’ graves, leaving empty holes in the ground where their relatives once peacefully rested. Upon exploring the former graves, the two discover two trinkets inside their grandparents’ graves:
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The dove he now possesses was the screw head from his grandfather’s coffin, a direct object from his final resting place. This is ironic since the siblings are out hunting this very species of bird. Doves symbolize innocence itself, as doves are pure and gentle birds that are often associated with life. Hunting these birds is almost like saying you are out to destroy life and only wish to find death. Unlike his sister, Paul is very interested in killing instead of fooling around. He shows more matureness than Miranda who only enjoys “pulling the trigger and hearing the noise,” the pistol makes upon use, further showing her more present innocence. Hunting is a sport always resulting in death for the targeted victim and having such young kids go through such a task is rather odd in today’s society. Paul is out to kill doves like the one from his grandfather’s grave and “he [wants] to be certain he…[makes the kill].” When Paul took this trinket from his grandfather’s grave, it was almost an omen from the deceased man. That omen being that upon prying the dove from the dirt of the dead, you will soon realize that when you kill a creature in real life, it’s death will show you that now that you’ve witnessed and interfered with death yourself, you will no longer be a
The dove he now possesses was the screw head from his grandfather’s coffin, a direct object from his final resting place. This is ironic since the siblings are out hunting this very species of bird. Doves symbolize innocence itself, as doves are pure and gentle birds that are often associated with life. Hunting these birds is almost like saying you are out to destroy life and only wish to find death. Unlike his sister, Paul is very interested in killing instead of fooling around. He shows more matureness than Miranda who only enjoys “pulling the trigger and hearing the noise,” the pistol makes upon use, further showing her more present innocence. Hunting is a sport always resulting in death for the targeted victim and having such young kids go through such a task is rather odd in today’s society. Paul is out to kill doves like the one from his grandfather’s grave and “he [wants] to be certain he…[makes the kill].” When Paul took this trinket from his grandfather’s grave, it was almost an omen from the deceased man. That omen being that upon prying the dove from the dirt of the dead, you will soon realize that when you kill a creature in real life, it’s death will show you that now that you’ve witnessed and interfered with death yourself, you will no longer be a