Brigham Young University Brigham Young University

BYU ScholarsArchive BYU ScholarsArchive

Student Works

2014-12-12

“Readers’ Disappointed Expectations: Religious Symbols in ‘The “Readers’ Disappointed Expectations: Religious Symbols in ‘The

Jilting of Granny Weatherall’” Jilting of Granny Weatherall’”

Rachel I. Gessel

Brigham Young University - Provo

, rachel.ishoy@yahoo.com

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studentpub

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studentpub/135

This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for

inclusion in Student Works by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please

contact [email protected], [email protected].

Gessel 1

Rachel Gessel

Professor Ford

English 35

12 December 2014

articles about this short story suggest or acknowledge that the jilting also refers to Christ jilting

Granny on her deathbed, and I concur that the title certainly refers to Christ’s jilting of Granny as

well. For example, Elizabeth Piedmont-Marton explains that most scholars have come to believe

that the second jilting of Granny Weatherall at the conclusion of the story refers to Christ as the

bridegroom: “Just as Granny herself had thought that being left at the altar was the worst thing

that could have happened to her, as readers we have believed until now that the jilting in the

story refers to that horrible day sixty years ago. Several critics have pointed out however, that in

this second jilting, the absent bridegroom is not the hapless George, but the Christ of Matthew

25:1–13 in the New Testament” (116–17). Even though many scholars acknowledge that the

ending of this story alludes to Christ’s absence when Granny dies and how disappointing this

Gessel 2

following their religion, then it seems that God has let them down. As a result, when Christ does

not come to visit Granny on her deathbed, readers often feel disappointed because they feel she

deserved to have him be there. Though scholars acknowledge that Christ not coming to Granny

as her “bridegroom” causes the reader to feel disappointment, what makes this story’s ending

references in “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” in order to show how a reader would believe

Granny to be a religious woman and then be disappointed by her non-reward at her death.

An element of religiosity used in this story to show how devoted Granny Weatherall is to

her religion is the references to Catholic Saints and the Virgin Mary. Granny has practiced her

religion of Catholicism during her lifetime enough to feel comfortable declaring that she is sure

of her relationship with certain Catholic Saints: “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” (Porter 84). Granny also exclaims, “Hail, Mary,

full of grace” in the story, further illustrating that she feels comfortable with the Virgin Mary

(82). This relationship with some saints that Granny feels can make a way for her to get back to

Gessel 3

herself a staunch, respectable Christian” due to her relationship with these saints. However, the

idea that Granny can get to God through her relationship with these saints illustrates that she is

more than just a “respectable Christian.” She is a very devoted Catholic with a deep connection

to the saints she knows, which will lead her to God. Therefore, Porter seems to have placed this

heaven in the end. She will be able to do this because she is a good Catholic that has worked out

her way to God through her favorite saints. When Granny realizes in the end that there is “again

no bridegroom,” and that the relationships she had formed with her favorite saints and the Virgin

have failed her, the reader’s expectations of Granny being saved are disappointed. This

disappointment comes because Granny is set up as a religious woman with a clear way to God

through her relationships with her favorite saints and the Virgin. Thus, it is likely Porter has

placed references to Catholic saints and the Virgin in order to raise the reader’s expectations and

then fails to meet them with the ending of the story.

Another religious element that Porter seems to have purposefully placed in the story to

show Granny’s extreme devotedness to Catholicism is the allusions to religious rituals,

Gessel 4

Granny mentions the ritual of Holy Communion in particular right after Father Connolly arrives:

“I went to Holy Communion only last week. Tell him I’m not so sinful as all that,” (84). By

having Granny Weatherall declare that she just attended Communion the week before, Porter sets

up Granny Weatherall as a religious woman because she attends her church meetings. Porter also

Communion and that she has received her final religious rites, Porter illustrates that Granny is an

extremely devout Catholic. She has taken the necessary steps to receive important ritual

ordinances to prepare her for death, most likely by attending mass weekly and by letting her

children know she wanted to receive her last rites on her deathbed. Eleanore Britton has pointed

out that Granny Weatherall is religious in that she attends church meetings and that she has

received her saving ordinances: “She has observed the traditional practices of the church, has

gone to confession, and received the last rites” (39). However, she fails to acknowledge that

Porter creates the expectation for the reader that Granny is prepared for death because she has

performed all the necessary rituals. Thus, when Christ fails to meet Granny at her deathbed, the

reader is disappointed because they have been led along to believe that Granny was prepared for

Gessel 5

A reader simply cannot read this story without noticing how many references there are to

religious objects and how these objects truly add a religious feeling to the story. Porter seems to

have purposefully placed many references to religious objects in Granny’s possession in this

story in an effort to set up Granny Weatherall as a dedicated Catholic woman. The text refers to a

religious object that she intends to donate to the church: “I meant to finish the altar cloth . . .”

(85). This object of the altar cloth is significant because it shows that Granny not only possesses

religious objects for herself, but she is also interested in sharing them with others, including the

congregation at church that would see the altar cloth every week during mass services. This

interest in sharing religious items for the benefit of others has not been addressed by scholars and

demonstrates that Granny is a more religious woman than she has been given credit for. Thus

Porter has carefully crafted her story to show that Granny Weatherall is a very Catholic woman

because she owns religious objects and is also disseminating them amongst others.

Granny’s possession of religious objects not only demonstrates that she is a religious

woman, but also that she wants to outwardly show that she is a religious woman. Porter seems to

Gessel 6

who should be prepared for death because she even owns all of the right religious items that

prove her inward religiosity. By creating this expectation for the reader, the ending of the absent

bridegroom is even more disheartening because Granny Weatherall seemed so prepared for death

by possessing so many Catholic objects.

because she is afraid of dying, which is a natural human instinct. But she resolves that she should

not be afraid of death. She hopes that “she had better sense now” because she “has already “spent

so much time preparing for death there was no need for bringing it up again” (81). But the reader

really sees Granny as a religious woman when she expresses true concern for the well-being of

her soul when thinking about George leaving her at the altar years before: “For sixty years she

had prayed against remembering him and against losing her soul in the deep pit of hell” (82). In

this moment, it is clear that Granny does express concern for her soul, which is what any

religious person would do that has held a grudge against someone. She hopes she is going to

heaven in the afterlife, despite her negative feelings against George. However, Granny seems

resolved by the end of the story that she has nothing to worry about concerning the state of her

Gessel 7

order to demonstrate that Granny is more religious than just a confused old woman on her

deathbed. This concern about the state of the soul illustrate that Granny Weatherall was a

religious woman because she worries about whether or not she has done well enough in this life

to merit going to heaven.

not acknowledge that Porter has purposefully placed yet another religious element in the story to

show how truly devoted Granny is to Catholicism. Porter has added Granny’s thoughts about the

state of her soul after death to create the expectation in the reader that Granny is on solid moral

ground on her deathbed. By being concerned about the bad feelings she had harbored against

George, the reader sees that Granny is trying to be a religiously strict woman because she is

concerning herself with the state of her soul and what she deserves after her death. When the

reader discovers that this faithful Catholic woman, who did her best to preserve the welfare of

her soul, is jilted by Christ at the end of the story, the reader is disappointed to a greater degree

because Granny herself has reassured the reader that “[she] felt easy about her soul” (84).

Finally, Porter shows that Granny is an unusually religious woman because there are so

Gessel 8

shows that Granny Weatherall is more than average in her faithfulness to Catholicism because

she has relied upon God to get her through her difficult life. Porter has even carefully placed the

word “my” in this sentence to show that Granny feels a special connection with God that allows

her to claim him as her own. Another important reference to God demonstrates that Granny trusts

order to make the absence of the bridegroom a disappointment so great that “she could not

remember any other sorrow because this grief wiped them all away” (85). Granny Weatherall is a

woman who is so religious that she thanks God for sustaining her through everything. This is the

ultimate display of faithfulness. The trust that Granny has in God causes the reader to expect that

Granny will be accepted by God on her deathbed. This especially seems likely since she even

calls out to God to give her a sign when she is afraid on her deathbed: “Her body was now only a

deeper mass of shadow in an endless darkness and this darkness would curl around the light and

swallow it up. God, give a sign!” (Porter 85). Instead, God does not give a sign, and she and the

reader are sorely disappointed after the buildup of religious elements that seem to define

Granny’s character: “For the second time there was no sign. Again no bridegroom and the priest