The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

Every time you recollect a moment that occurred in your life a ball of furry rises urgently in your skull. When you hear the name your bones tremble in madness and you feel as though you got cheated out of life. This is what Granny Weatherall goes through in the simply perfect short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall by Katherine Anne Porter. When gazing into Katherine Anne Porter’s tremendous tragedy, the reader is flooded with meaningful symbolism.

When lurking into the depths of Katherine Anne Porter’s text it becomes known that a clear-cut tragedy is lying in front of your eyes. Starting this masterpiece the conflict becomes immediately apparent to the mind that Granny Weatheral has become afflicted with illness. She does not actually listen to the doctor and even denies his suggestions, which would be offensive to most. Everything seems to be going picture perfect when all those younger than her obey her command. Every time she tells someone to do something, they do it like when she wants them to “Pick all the fruit this year and see that nothing is wasted.” In power there is flaws, like the government of the U.S. and this hold true to Granny Weatherall because she can’t stop remembering the horrifying day that she was abandoned like a homeless child at the altar. The thoughts going threw her mind are gruesome and ones that children could not bear. To blame a few events on someone else is one aspect, but blaming everything is another. With a flaw there is a fall and Granny Weatherall goes insane like a mom getting ready for special guests; everything has to be perfect. She plummets like a free-faller off the Empire State Building when she is venting to herself about all her horrible happenings. Finally death occurs at the end when Granny Weatherall descends into the sky and will never step foot on earth’s beautiful surface again; death.

Symbolism seems to seep out of the pages in Katherine Anne Porter’s tragedy like water out of a cracked glass in this astonishing short story. When Granny Weatherall walks between the wall of the church it symbolizes as a sanctuary of her sins. This is because when opening her heart and mind in church she realizes all the sinful acts she has brought upon herself. In blaming everyone else for getting left at the altar she realizes that it was her fault because it was her flaws, not others. To get away from life and blaming others Granny Weatherall lays her head into the powerful pillow. As the pillow rises she ventures further and further from the outside world and its devil like flaws. She lays her head down whenever she just needs to break away from everything else. When “Lighting the lamps” Granny Weatherall realizes all the beautiful joy that exists in the atmosphere, like a bookworm in a library. Realizing this occurs because she realizes all the children and the joy that they can bring to the world and everything in it.

Porter’s tragedy flooded with symbolism may seem pointless at first pass by an adequate reader, but when reading into the depths of the symbolism Porter’s work a lesson becomes present in the mind of all. Which is, enjoy life while you can and cherish every moment . As an un-know author once said “Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

The Wisconsin Dells Mini Golf

“3, 2, 1.” The crowd counts down as we have just won the championship in the “Jimmy V Classic,” in the Wisconsin Dells. Our whole team is overwhelmed with emotion and joy and you would think that we just won the state championship. As we file out of the gym one by one with smiles from ear to ear; we all decide that a celebration is needed. People blurt out idiotic ideas and we converse and decide that we are going to go mini golfing at “Pirates Cover Mini Golf” in the Wisconsin Dells.
We all arrive as a group and get a one dollar discount because there are so many of us. This is when the brutal beat down game of mini golf started. From the beginning you knew that the game was not going to turn into a nice friendly game because the first things that we all did was put in a five dollar per person bet on the game. Starting off the nine hole course was what was supposed to be, a hole that even adequate golfer could conquer. Although the first hole was like a crash course gone wrong from everyone in our group because we were cracking out fours and fives with great disappointment. To the next hole we went and the heated battle started, when Parker hit a hole and one, which turned him into his usual self dancing and bragging towards the next hole. Giving people hard times was what Parker did and people right away where getting angry with his tactics and someone took a swing at him with their putter. Onto the tunnel hole we went, where you had to hit the ball around a rough rock and in a hole that lurked in the distance. Everyone got about the same scores and the people behind us started giving us devil like scowls that could burn through rubber because we were taking too long. After the cave hole we ventured to the hill hole, where you had to hit a ball at just the right speed and get it to rocket of the brick in the hardly visible vicinity where the hole calmly sat.
Although the first few holes where important, the last few almost started a ruthless riot between players that could have been disasters. The fiasco started on the eighth hole when Trevor and Bennett were clearly out of the running and the people who were still in contention where treacherously taunting them every chance they got. Right after Parker got a two and Trevor got a four the flood of criticism came and Trevor took a swing with his golf club trying to take off Parkers head, like trying to hit a home run in baseball. Of course Parker ducked and the putter went right into the kidney of a hippo that just happened to be standing right behind him. Down, Down, Down went the hippo and everyone around us heard the bang of the hippo hitting the now punctured pavement. Next was the final hole, which was the hole on the course that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was clearly the hardest hole on the course from its tunnel that the ball must go through, to the bunkers that flooded the edges. One mistake and you would get penalized with a two stroke water hazard. Matt was trailing Parker by one for the lead, along with feeling the pressure of having to go last with astronomical pressure building up each stroke. Parker went first because he was the leader and hit the ball safely though the tunnel without it going into a bunker. Finishing off the hole with a score of four, which wasn’t bad compared to some of the sixes and sevens of the other people, He felt very confident in his chances. Matt was being heckled by Parker and now had to put his money where his mouth was and receive a two to win or a three to tie. His first stroke was about the same as Parkers, which left him with a horrible lye because he was setup with the decision to go for the tie or win. Of course he went for the win, which meant that he had to try and hit the ball through the water or get the ball to curve somehow; both options seemed nearly impossible. He lined up to take his shot, and surprising everyone he skipped the ball over the water and it slowly rolled its way towards the hole. Parker started jumping up and down with excitement as the ball came to a halt nearly millimeters from the hole. Everyone was in shock when Parkers motion into the ground effected the ball just enough to trickle its way into the cup as if it was meant to be there. Joy overwhelmed everyone that witnesses the spectacular scene, but Parker.
This was clearly a crazy day of mini golf from the last second shot to the crying of Parker after he lost. Just remember that next time you go mini golfing that anything is possible and don’t get too excited while mini golfing.

Tell-Tale Heart

Every time you see someone your blood turns cold and sweat fills your hands. The sight of the person sends chills down your sweaty spine. You can’t stand the bone-chilling vulture eye of someone you see every day. In the memorable short story “The Tell-Tall Heart” , by Edgar Allen Poe this is what the main character goes through. Time simpley seems to come to a stop when you lurk into the depths of Edgar Allen Poe’s mind-blowing symbolism, which lies inside a picture perfect tragedy.
Reading Edgar Allen Poe’s masterpiece of a tragedy is like hitting a home run in baseball; perfect. In the beginning of the story the main characters world is in a confusing conflict because he is traumatized by the skin piercing gaze of the old man’s eye. When the main character is silently stalking the elderly man and then cautiously kills him he feels like his power is untouchable. This is because he thinks he has nothing to worry about and he even lets the police men sit down and talk over the three boards where the very conscious of the dead body silently sat. To keep the wheel going the flaw in the character's world occurs when he hears the hideous old man’s heartbeat. After the pounding beat picked up the main character went insane and felt the consequences of his action when he said “I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer!” He shows in this quote that the heartbeat made it impossible for him to not show his urge to leave, like a three year old in a nursing home. No longer could he bear the noise of the pounding heart and see the police men not show any knowing of the happenings. Falling into despair, he confesses to the crime that he committed and shows the very point where the old man lay. The main character gives in and plummets downward faster than a brick off a ten story building, when he finally confesses. Symbolism of death finally occurs after the main character confessed and gets thrown into jail for his actions.
In a tragedy there is usually simple symbolism, but “The Tell-Tall Heart” is flooded with thought provoking symbolism. Starting with that the terror filled vulture eye symbolizes death and evil because the eye was the single aspect that led him into craziness. Also the heartbeat of the old man’s heart is a clear symbolism of karma and guilt. When he heard the heartbeat he finally came to recollect the significance of his action and realizes karma along with guilt for having to tell someone face to face his actions. Using the lantern to look at the old man makes him realize reasoning and does not kill the man because he cannot see the man’s eye that haunts him day and night. Without the light the old man would’ve killed the man without thinking and seeing the reasoning that the light brought him and his decisions. To go on the black shadow of the man in the light represents the bad side of the man because when you can see his shadow he is carefully waiting for the right moment to attack the old man.
Poe’s symbolic tragedy is full of lessons that will last lifetimes, but there is one real lesson that Poe wants the readers to realize. Which is, think before you act and make sure that you can live with the guilt and despair of your actions. It is like taking a piece of steak that is too big to handle. You will eventually choke and pay for your actions.