Free Essays on The Grave

in her sentences to charm her readers into the understandings of life, death, and rebirth. How she uses symbolism to put life and death into perspective is both original and thought provoking. We begin reading her story in the history of the children's family past. The beginning of the story sets the tone more so than it gives us a concrete setting. The tone is dark and disturbing as we are told that "The grandfather has been dead for more than thirty years," and the grandmother moved his body with her as she traveled. The only reference to setting in the first paragraph is in the telling of the grandmother's final move. It was in Kentucky that the grandmother at last settled into her first farm and was finally laid to rest. Also in the first paragraph, there is the moving of the family plot to the new public cemetery. Here we recognize that the grandmother failed to let the dead stay buried because of her own selfish desires. Death seems to be an inconvenience for the family, rather than something to be revered and respected. The story is set with positive and negative descriptions about the family cemetery. Katherine describes the cemetery as having been a "pleasant small neglected garden of tangled rose bushes and ragged cedar trees and cypress, the simple flat stones rising out of uncropped sweet-smelling wild grass". At first the cemetery is "pleasant" which is positive. Then, it is negative with the descriptions of the "tangled rose bushes", and the "ragged cedar trees". Lastly, Katherine mixes positive and negative with the description of the "uncropped sweet-smelling... Free Essays on The Grave Free Essays on The Grave The Grave Katherine Anne Porter's short story is a third person narrative called The Grave. This piece is about the sweetness of adolescence and the corruption of innocence as a young girl uncovers the realities of life and death. As one reads the story they can get caught up in Katherine's web of descriptions. She uses a mixture of negative and positive words in her sentences to charm her readers into the understandings of life, death, and rebirth. How she uses symbolism to put life and death into perspective is both original and thought provoking. We begin reading her story in the history of the children's family past. The beginning of the story sets the tone more so than it gives us a concrete setting. The tone is dark and disturbing as we are told that "The grandfather has been dead for more than thirty years," and the grandmother moved his body with her as she traveled. The only reference to setting in the first paragraph is in the telling of the grandmother's final move. It was in Kentucky that the grandmother at last settled into her first farm and was finally laid to rest. Also in the first paragraph, there is the moving of the family plot to the new public cemetery. Here we recognize that the grandmother failed to let the dead stay buried because of her own selfish desires. Death seems to be an inconvenience for the family, rather than something to be revered and respected. The story is set with positive and negative descriptions about the family cemetery. Katherine describes the cemetery as having been a "pleasant small neglected garden of tangled rose bushes and ragged cedar trees and cypress, the simple flat stones rising out of uncropped sweet-smelling wild grass". At first the cemetery is "pleasant" which is positive. Then, it is negative with the descriptions of the "tangled rose bushes", and the "ragged cedar trees". Lastly, Katherine mixes positive and negative with the description of the "uncropped sweet-smelling... Free Essays on The Grave Katherine Anne Porter’s â€Å"The Grave,† Uses The Symbols The Dove, The Ring, The Rabbit, And The Grave To Express The Main Character’s Journey From Innocence To Knowledge. The process of maturing and gaining knowledge is a long one. Each person reaches a time in their life when they have reached adulthood, maturity, and the knowledge that comes with it, but the journey requires â€Å"going through a kind of initiation into the mysteries of adult life.†(Brooks 3136) Katherine Anne Porter’s â€Å"The Grave,† uses the symbols the dove, the ring, the rabbit, and the grave to express the main character’s journey from innocence to knowledge. From the innocence of the dove, the luxury of the golden ring, to the mystery of birth and death through the many â€Å"graves,† Miranda loses her innocence and becomes a knowledgeable young woman. Miranda at the young age of nine is as innocent as can be. She has no realization for the criticisms upon her family for the way she has been raised, wearing her â€Å"summer roughing outfit: dark blue overalls, a light blue shirt, a hired-man’s straw hat, and thick brown sandals†, (Porter 364) running around the woods hunting rabbits and doves with her twenty-two Winchester rifle. On one excursion through the woods, she and her brother stumble upon the old family cemetery and decide to explore. After rummaging through the empty graves, â€Å"she saw a silver dove no larger than a hazel nut with spread wings and a neat fan-shaped tail.†(Brooks 3135), â€Å"Miranda’s brother recognizes what the curious little ornament isthe screw head for a coffin.†(3135) This small silver dove was, in a sense, Miranda’s soon to be shed innocence. Paul also made a discovery of his own while searching through the emptied graves; he had found â€Å"a thin wide gold ring carved with intricate flowers and leaves.†(Porter 363) Miranda is enamored at the sight of it and wishes to have it, and her brother is more please...