Granny Weatherall, the main character in Katherine Anne Porter's The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, is an 80-year-old elderly woman who is at the doorstep of death. There is a sense of disillusionment with Granny that leads readers to develop their own interpretation of her relationship with Cornelia, her daughter. As the narrator, Granny unknowingly would paint the picture of Cornelia as nuisance and bothersome. In fact, the reader can rationalize that it is just Cornelia's concern for an ailing mother that creates the situation of her seemingly being there all the time. Granny is having mental flashbacks as death approaches like "a fog rose over the valley- (1296). Granny recalls events throughout her life, from being left at the altar on her wedding day, to losing a child, to coming to grips with her own death as the story reaches a close. All of these recollections and the realization of her death bring together the great ironies of the story, ironies which cause not one, but two jiltings for Granny. .
As you read the story, the first irony becomes apparent. On her deathbed, the memory of a love lost which has been suppressed for 60 years resurfaces. It is magnified in such a way showing that though she had tried to forget George, her former fiancée, she had never actually forgotten him. "Find him and be sure to tell him I forgot him- (1298), are the words Granny speaks to create the irony. She reminisces about the wedding day and being left standing at the altar. This recollection causes her to start making profound statements about, "Don't let things get lost- and "it's bitter to lose things- (1297). Though she never says directly why she has these thoughts, the reader understands that she has this appreciation because of her loss, which was not marrying George. Yes, she had a nice life with John, whom she married and had children with, but there was always the thought of what might have been had George been the spouse.
