One of the most of import facets of a narrative lies in the dynamic interactions of the different characters in it. Specially, it is on the chief character that the narrative chiefly revolves around and therefore, it has the power to direct readers ‘ attendings. The chief character of a narrative is called supporter and there can be more than one chief character in a narrative. The things happen to the chief character, the manner they are being reacted and the effects or effects they bring are of import factors for pulling readers ‘ attendings. Katherine Anne Porter, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Zora Neale Hurston on their narratives “ The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, ” “ Young Goodman Brown ” and “ Sweat ” are able to take their readers all the manner down to the terminal by injuring the supporters ‘ amour propres through interrupting what they value most: promise, trust and forbearance.
Porter ‘s “ The Jilting of Granny Weatherall ” present the chief character, Ellen Weatheral, besides called Granny Weatheral, as a ill eighty-year-old adult female who has been through up and down of life and now puting on her deceasing bed. On this last twenty-four hours of her life, flashes of memories “ [ squeezes ] out ” from her heart-both to fulfill and to thwart her ( Kennedy 82 ) . Porter moves back and Forth freely from the present worlds to the past memories without seeable clip boundaries and confuses readers so that to demo the confusions in the Granny Weather ‘s head. As the rubric itself foreshadow, Granny Weatherall had been jilted. Sixty old ages before, she was being left entirely at the communion table sudating inside a “ white head covering ” and in forepart of an untasted “ white bar ” ( 82 ) . By so her hubby to be, George, did non demo up at all. The feeling of ‘being jilted ‘ was so annihilating and it has been impacting her throughout her life-time.
However, as clip base on ballss, she is able to travel through alterations that to some extent heal parts of her hurt amour propre. Even if he is non alive today, she wishes to allow George cognize that she is “ ‘given back everything he took off and more ‘ ” ( 83 ) . Somehow, she is satisfied in her achievements in life. After he jilted her, she married another adult male called John and bore four kids with him. Even though John died at a younger age, she was successful to raises the kids entirely. She fantasizes the memories and “ [ wants ] the old yearss were back once more with the kids immature and everything to be done over ” ( 81 ) .
Some twenty old ages before, she was presuming of deceasing shortly. However, decease had ne’er come by. Now, at the clip she less think of it and unprepared for it, it comes to her as an eternal mass of darkness. Even thought she hates the surprise, she believes that she has already secured “ a consecutive route to God ” ( 84 ) . Her life, as a point of visible radiation in the bottomless of the darkness, is waiting mark from God so that to be taken to heaven. God might be late or does non come at all. Nevertheless, Granny Weatherall, as a individual who had been jilted before, has no bravery to defy the feeling and to wait. She one time once more feels ‘being jilted. ‘ However, this clip it is by what she value most and “ ‘there ‘s nil more barbarous than this- [ she ] ‘ll ne’er forgive it ‘ ” ( 85 ) . With this interruption of the promise of ageless life, her self-importance become for good lost and she ‘decide ‘ to stop her life by blowing out the topographic point visible radiation.
On the 2nd narrative, the “ Young Goodman Brown, ” Hawthorne presented a immature adult male called Young Goodman Brown who is freshly married with a immature adult female, called Faith. Hawthorne used such symbolic calling so that to amplify the functions of the characters. The narrative opens with Young Goodman Brown go forthing to a wood at dark with a funny “ evil intent ” -a cryptic journey to see the Satan ( 420 ) . When he leaves place, he feels sad for abandoning Faith at dark and promises for himself that this will be for one time and for all. However, what he is traveling to see at this dark would alter him far more than what he imagined.
While Brown fearfully hurries into the wood, he encounters an old adult male who seems the Satan himself. Soon after, Brown feels bad and begins cussing himself for being the first to take part in such evil in his household line, whom he assumed them as “ ‘a race of honorable work forces and good Christians ‘ ” ( 421 ) . The traveller argues by attesting himself as confederate of Brown ‘s ascendants while they were perpetrating offenses of persecution and race murder. Subsequently on, Brown noticed an old adult female, who had thought him catechism as young person and who presently is his counsellor, continuing into the darkness. Even though this tempted him for a piece, he realizes that this adult female ‘s pick to destroy her life has nil to make with him and decides to halt to travel forward-hoping to return place. However, before long he hears Equus caballuss ‘ riders and acknowledge “ the voices of the curate and Deacon Gookin, ” discoursing about the exciting meeting and the attractive immature adult female they are traveling to see ( 424 ) . Even subsequently, he recognized the voices of his small town ‘s peoples whom he presumes them as good peoples. The whole thing shocked him to decease! However, even with all these, he is still determined to defy the wicked: “ ‘ [ with ] heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand house against the Satan! ‘ ” ( 424 ) .
However, after a piece he hears the voice of his beloved Faith and sees the pink thread, which was in her caput when he left place, winging down to the tree in the wood. This collapses him ; he loses his trust in world wholly and acknowledges, “ ‘ [ at that place ] is no good on Earth ‘ ” ( 425 ) . This is the turning point where he rejects the amour propres of the universe and his moral codification becomes wholly paralyzed. In bitterness and heartache, he rushes to the fold. At some point after he reached, when he was non able to happen Faith at that place, he was trusting that his lapse would mend. Yet, the “ one expression at his pale married woman ” makes the alteration irreversible ( 428 ) . This fearful experience, whether it was dream or world, make him to take a distrustful and glooming life afterwards.
Last, in her narrative, “ Perspiration, ” Hurston present the chief character, Delia John, as a suppressed and exploited washwoman who is married to an oppressive hubby, Skyes Johns. Even if she has been in this opprobrious relationship for 15 twelvemonth, they had different outlooks from the beginning: “ [ she ] had brought love to the brotherhood and he had brought a yearning after the flesh ” ( 531 ) . Throughout their life together, he has been maltreating her both physically and mentally, blowing her money and rip offing often on her. However, still she is seeking to get by with the state of affairs by pretermiting him and by “ [ avoiding ] the villagers and run intoing topographic points in her attempts to be unsighted and deaf ” ( 534 ) Even if she tried to convey peace back piece many times, he refused to make so as he has now another purpose.
Now, he wants to throw out Delia as “ ‘sugar-cane ‘ ” and lives with another adult female at Delia ‘s house ( 533 ) . While he knew that she has an utmost fright for serpent, believing it would assist him to force her out, he allows a rattler to remain at the house. One clip, when she complains that she is hungering, as she is non able to travel to the kitchen for fright of the serpent, he affirms her that he has no program to acquire rid of the serpent at all. At that minute, her love to him turn blurred- ” ‘Ah hatred you tuh de same grade digital audiotape Ah useter love yuh. Ah done took an ‘ took boulder clay mah belly is full up tuh mah cervix. ‘ ” ( 535 ) However, it seems that he is non yet thrown out wholly. She still hopes that he might experience sorry: “ [ possibly ] he was regretful ” ( 536 ) .
On the following twenty-four hours, while she comes place with relaxed temper from church and after she began working inside the house, she finds out that the serpent is indoors. Frightened to decease, she is manages to get away and to lie on the barn of the house. While she is at that place, “ coherent idea ” comes toward her head and she begins to do introspections ( 536 ) . She realizes that, her life is now endangered and it is graphic that Skyes wants to kill her. She besides becomes witting that, it is ineffectual to contend for this unfortunate matrimony and there will nil she will repent about: “ ‘Well, Ah done de bes ‘ Ah could. If things ai n’t right, Gawd knows tai n’t mah mistake ‘ ” ( 536 ) . After that, Skyes entered to the house and attached by the serpent. As she is already utterly broken and wounded, even though she can hear his atrocious shriek, she does non hold the intestine to assist. Even at the terminal, she instead wants him to recognize she had been at that place the whole clip he was being attached.
These three narratives are similar in that they all have a turning point in which the chief characters wholly wounded their amour propre. However, each was used for different intents. Porter used that point to reason the narrative as a also-ran, Nathaniel for brining lasting behaviours alterations and Hurston for stoping suppressions and wretchednesss.
