To live or not to live
Death is an event that is seemingly impossible to prepare for. It may spread its shadows over one for a long period of time, or it may creep up upon one with quickness. But in either circumstance death boils down to one last breath, one last thought, one last minute. That grand finale is what one’s entire life has led up to, but somehow the time itself is too distant and unfeasible. It is undoubtedly a concept one can never grasp even when they have stumbled upon it. Through literature, authors often try to capture the eeriness yet peacefulness of one’s final moments. In Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” two characters, Granny Weatherall and Louise Mallard, are faced with death in two different forms, and as in most stories, these character’s outcomes carry a twist. In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” Granny Weatherall is an eighty year old, sickly woman. She has been faced with illness before, but somehow escaped death. But this time her doctors and family know that she is in her last few days and have come to care for her and give their goodbyes. Granny is well aware of this, and lying in her bed all day, she has a great deal of time to think about what is happening to her.