Katherine Porter\'s \"The Grave\" Many

¶ … Katherine Porter's "The Grave"

Many people read Katherine Anne Porter's short story, "The Grave" and realize it is a coming of age story. In this tale, Miranda crosses the threshold into womanhood during a brief and seemingly innocent with her brother. Miranda becomes aware of the delicate nature of life when she sees and touches death with her own hands. When her mind makes the connection between death, giving birth, and motherhood, she realizes her place in the scheme of things. Art reflects life in many ways and, upon closer inspection, this story exposes several intimate details about Porter's life. First, her mother died in childbirth and the incident with her brother actually occurred. In coming of age stories, the protagonist usually experiences an epiphany of some sort and this story is not different. Miranda's innocence is shattered when she sees the wonder of life and death in one fail swoop. Symbolism helps Porter emphasize the importance of the occasion, reaching from curiosity to crushing reality. This story is coming of age story for the little girl and the grown author. Finally, the truth is set free upon the page and the truth of the matter is that there is sometimes no blame in this world.

Real life often influences art and this aspect makes "The Grave" more compelling. The event occurred in Porter's life and she did not remember it until years later when a random event triggered it. The memory is triggered by many things and the story illustrates the power of memory. It is reported that in the real life version of this tale, Porter's brother did warn her not to tell but she did not listen to him and he "received a savage beating" (Givner). Her reason for diversion in the story we will never know but we can certainly know it was "an act of betrayal the recognition of which cannot have escaped her" (Giver), says Givner. Regardless if she never consciously thought of the situation again, she was "always troubled by any act of betrayal, and her deliberate or accidental betrayal of her brother and his suffering as a consequence must have added considerably to her sense of horror at the entire incident" (Givner). Furthermore, the fact that he brother reminded her of the real events that took place left Porter "furious and unbelieving" (Givner). Here we something almost unrelated to story occurring. Human nature has a way of repressing dreadful thoughts and actions and this incident in Porter's life demonstrates how this happens. The entire event was frightening for the little girl. We can assume when she went home, she was troubled by the image of the bunnies in such a way that she could not let go of and eventually exposed her brother's secret. Porter's retelling of the story is her way of perhaps reconciling things even if it was subconscious. Givner writes that story and the events linked to it illustrate how incidents, regardless of how small, are "neither trivial nor transient and that the past is not easily sloughed off" (Givner). The memory that floods her mind "horrifies her and the horror reinforces the frightening nature of the incident and shows the capacity of past experiences to lie dormant and make a sudden unexpected ambush" (Givner). This is a phenomenon that cannot be readily or efficiently explained, except to say this is how the mind works. We can opt to believe that Porter blocked the memory because it was so shocking for her as a child and Brinkmeyer thinks may be the case. He writes, "So disturbing were Miranda's thoughts about what she had seen and felt that after a few days of 'confused unhappiness' she let her memories of the day's events sink quietly into her consciousness where they became lost amidst the vast accumulation of other impressions" (Brinkmeyer). Miranda becomes Katherine Anne Porter in this story if for no reason other than to clear the mind.

Childhood innocence is lost in a variety of ways. For Miranda, it occurs when life and death converge for a few seconds. The sight of the baby bunnies is the pivotal moment when Miranda's life changes. Suddenly, she sees the awesome power of death. Like a child might be expected to do, she is mesmerized and frightened by the scene at the same time. At first, she wants to see. We read she is "excited but not frightened" (Porter 366). They bunnies are pretty and she wants to touch them. When she does touche them, she is reminded of the face that they were alive not long ago while the blood runs over them. She trembles "without knowing why" (366). She is struck with a feeling of wanting to know something without knowing exactly why. Human beings to this all the time: they want something, want to do something, or want to know something without considering the unintended consequences. Miranda was accustomed to keeping a distance from animals and seeing dead babies so close to being born was unbelievably shocking and impossible to predict. We had all heard the adage about curiosity killing the cat and this circumstance illustrates how this can occur. Rooke agrees, writing, "Seeing these creatures whose tenure upon earth has been so dramatically foreshortened, Miranda loses her innocence in fact rather than in symbol" (Rooke). Miranda cannot erase the image from her mind. It shocks her and is exciting because she has never seen anything like it before. The sadness emerges when she realizes she cannot make the memory go away.

Miranda's coming of age is quick but not painless. In fact, the event turns out to be one she forgets for two decades because it is so shocking. She did not simply see dead bunnies that day; she saw the cycle of life. In this sense, we see how the story can be viewed as a girl's "stifled fears about her womanhood" (DeMouy). Porter asks a questions about "raising a simple story about sexual knowledge to the social and philosophical level" (DeMouy). "Miranda's dim awareness of sexuality and fertility among the farm animals expands to include an understanding of the reproduction of human life" (DeMouy). Up until this point, birth has been a "forbidden knowledge" (DeMouy). Now, after "carelessly intruding on this mystery they both feel guilt and shame" (DeMouy). The shocking truth is something Miranda could have never guessed and that is "Giving life means risking death. This is her true legacy from her grandmother and her society" (DeMouy). The truth of life and death became visible to Miranda. Suddenly she saw what death meant when looked at through the prism of being born. Life has a beginning and that life can be taken away, like her mother's life was taken away from her. In addition to this, Miranda becomes aware of what it is women do; they bring life into the world. They give life and there in the sight of the dead bunnies, life was taken for the pure pleasure of a boy playing a game.