We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)
(5) Tree Line
"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" does not feature a complicated plot or an overdose of polysyllabic words. Rather, what makes this story a little more difficult than average is the fact that it takes place within a dying woman's mind, which presents its own kinds of challenges.
Since the focus is mainly what's going on inside Granny's head, it's kind of hard to picture where the story itself takes place. This may leave us feeling a little disoriented, but then again, maybe that's the point. Spending so much time in Granny's head may take some getting used to if we haven't read many other stories that are centered around what a character is thinking and feeling, as opposed to what a character is actually doing.
On top of that, since Granny isn't in the greatest mental condition, her thoughts at times can be kind of incoherent and thus difficult to follow or make complete sense of. Don't let us scare you, though—once we get into the groove of the story, there's plenty of insight and even a few laughs to be found.