Question

Read the following excerpts in which Granny Weatherall, from Katherine Anne Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," and J. Alfred Prufrock, from T. S Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, assess their pasts:
God give a sign! For a second time there was no sign. Again no bridegroom and the priest in the house. She could not remember any other sorrow because this grief wiped them all away. Oh, no, there's nothing more cruel than this I'll never forgive it. She stretched herself with a deep breath and blew out the light.
-The Jlting of Granny Weatherall"' by Katherine Anne Porter

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?. I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot.

Which best states the theme that is developed in both excerpts?

A. Some grief must be endured.

B. Live life to the fullest.

C. Forgive and be happy.

D. Peace is in the present tense.

Answer 1

Answer:

A

Explanation:

Whatever answer you pick cannot suggest happiness or contentment.

Prufrock is singularly lonely and so he observes loneliness around him. He thinks himself useless and ordinary so that's what he sees when he looks up at the windows and sees lonely men smoking their pipes.

Granny Weatherall (look at the name -- is it not symbolic of someone who endures all while wishing for something that seems never to be hers?), is every bit as Prufrock. She wants marriage and it is so deeply within her soul that all other grief is wiped away from her.

So what's the answer. Granny can't live life to the fullest; she simply exists and waits, and wants. Prufrock seems to be the same way. B is not the answer.

Forgive what? Achieve what kind of happiness? No C is not the answer either.

Neither one is at peace either with themselves or the world. It's not D.

That means only A is possible. It's not the best answer, but it is the best of this lot.

Just as an aside, a lot of problems would be solved for these 2 if they could just get together.

Answer 2

Answer:

A. Some grief must be endured.

Explanation:

As you read both paragraphs you will notice that both narrators are melancholy and sad. Although the paragraphs do not talk about what happened, something happened that left the narrators in deep sadness and disappointment. They are enduring a severe pain that bothers them greatly, but they must endure to continue their lives. For this reason, we can say that the correct answer to your question is the letter A.