Jilting Of Granny Weatherall Compare And Contrast Essay

The short stories “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter and “The Storm” by Kate Chopin both contain similar themes such as the wisdom gained throughout life, but they are overall much more different than they are alike. The different ways the authors use their narrators dictates how we learn about the characters and what we do and do not learn about them. The main character and protagonist in the story by Porter, Granny Weatherall, goes through a ‘weathering’ process in her life containing lessons from love and hate, a feeling of being adrift, and conflict. While Calixta, who is the protagonist in Chopin’s story, also faces challenges of devotion, a feeling of wandering, and contention. Which of the two characters is more …show more content…
Granny is on her final deathbed and tells the doctor to “Leave a well woman alone. I’ll call for you when I want you” because she does not believe she is sick (Porter 1). She also keeps telling herself that it worked for sixty years to pray “against remembering him and against losing her soul in the deep pit of hell”, but she clearly has not forgotten being that she is still talking about it and how much it affected her life (Porter 4). It is very clearly portrayed that Granny is in such denial throughout the story because the type of narrator used can show what events go on and Granny’s thoughts about them, as well as in depth details about the past events in her life. We are so inside her head that using the details of surrounding events we can analyze and know her better than she knows herself. One element readers do not get to know is the thoughts of all the other characters, particularly living ones, and their true roles and influences in her life. Granny’s denial is both a blessing and a barrier to her; it protects her from the pain and sadness, but also forms her to be a harsher person on those who live around