Two themes that are explored in the story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" are the themes of the usefulness of denial and the importance of self-knowledge.
In terms of the usefulness of denial, we see that one of the reasons why Granny Weatherall has been able to get through her life is because she clearly denies her situation, as well as many aspects of her life in the past. The most obvious example is that of her "jilting." It is clear that Granny Weatherall never got over the fact that she got left at the altar. However, instead of accepting this, she has deceived herself her whole life by pretending she does not care.
Another theme in the story is that of self-knowledge. We see that Granny Weatherall does not know herself, and therefore, has no understanding of how others perceive her. An example of this is the relationship with her children. We see that she is mean to them, and that their relationship is clearly strained. However, she refuses to see this, which makes her unable to apologize or to fix the situation in any way.
