The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

A candle can always be rekindled, while the part that was burnt can never be replaced. Life runs the same course where as our souls are burning the sweet smell of life; we are also deteriorating as our flame burns freely. And we each hold our last flame as it finishes us off and we are no longer a candle, but a spirit; no longer burn of fire, but of passion; and no longer stand as a candle, but a spirit. Granny Weatherall is the burning essence of Katherine Anne Porter's work and gives off the thoughts and feelings of the fire that burned within her.

With the intensity and feeling that is incorporated into the works of Katherine Anne Porter, it allows the reader to step inside the character's shoes and see life through their eyes. She expertly develops her characters so that they can be understood as a real person, and gives a sense of color to black and white text. Granny Weatherall can be understood as an irritable old woman whose life flashes before her in an intricate stream of consciousness. You find that she is slowly losing her mind as she also loses herself within this stream that is filled with her painful and joyful memories, along with many symbolism.

The symbolism in this story indicates that the Granny's deepest thoughts are provoked and brought out by the sight of candles or light. Her thoughts of candles or lights were brought out frequently including "blew out the light", "watched the flame rise and settle in an blue curve",
"the lamp was lit", and "it flickered and winked like an eye, quietly it fluttered and dwindled". This informs the reader of how Granny Weatherall views her life considering that it is often when she is happiest that the candle or light is brought to be, and when her thoughts become morbid the light is weak. As her life begins to die off, so does the light in her life.

Granny Weatherall claims that she can no longer be afraid of death because she had gotten over it many years ago. She claims that she is "afraid" of the light for no significant reason. However if you study the character well enough, a reasonable answer to why she would be afraid of the light is because all things can be seen best in the light. It would only magnify and direct attention to the otherwise non-prominent blemishes and faults that made a place for themselves in her face. She was afraid to confront her aging and the fact that she had been running from death for years and it was catching up. She still had yet to accept the fact that her candle had burned, and it was time to blow it out.


In a sense, everyone has to blow out their candle when their duty is done, and in their place is the smoke resembling the life that they lived. As Granny Weatherall had her life flash before her eyes, she realized that her duty was done and her candle was burnt. She could accept the fact that death could have her, for she had had life. As she lay content in bed with a candle at her side she "drew in a breath" and "blew out the light". Although her fire may not burn on the candle, it will forever burn her soul.