This story from Katherine Porter describes the disoriented thoughts and recollections of a feisty eighty-year-old (Granny Weatherall) as she lies dying in the house of one of her daughters. Satisfied with her life, she awaits a sign from God to say that her time has come. In her last moments, she likens the absence of such a sign to being left standing at the altar sixty earlier. Major themes are perseverance, motherhood and faith. Other themes: aging and death, loss (over the death of husband John and daughter Hapsy), betrayal and repressed anger (over being jilted by George).
A lot has been written about the story’s denouement. Granny’s likening the absence of a ‘sign’ from God to being jilted by George, coupled with her earlier thought that she had an understanding with a few favorite saints who cleared a straight road to God suggests a haughty, self-righteous side to her character that isn’t evident from the rest of the story. Could this be what drove George away?.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (3,950 words)