The Grave Literary Analysis

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Puberty for most is a confusing time. For Miranda, it was traumatic. Through the narrative of hunting and killing a pregnant rabbit, Miranda comes to term with her future as a woman. Not only was it savage but also she first became aware of her sexuality through her brother. Miranda was so traumatized because she had to learn about her sexuality and womanhood through a brutal image. This short story is a tale of life and death as well. The Grave tells the dynamic of a young brother and sister who learn the fragility of sexuality and life. Although The Grave focuses on the discovery of womanhood, there are themes of the complexity of life and death. It starts in a grave and ends in pain. In the beginning death is described with naivety…show more content…
The details of the gruesome image are intricate, yet still innocent with lines like “baby’s just washed heads”, “small delicate ears folded close”, and “little blind faces” (1007). When she sees the rabbit’s offspring’s she still finds beauty. It is not until she looks closely that she understands birth. In this rabbit’s death she understood the miracle of life. It becomes frightful when she learns this is her future. Miranda now becomes aware of her budding sexuality “so steadily she had not realized that she was learning what she had to know” (1008). Before womanhood was luxury and material items. Now it is the ability to create life. Her original interest in the skin for fur has disappeared. She is now scarred by the “bloody heap” (1008). This is a stunning change for a little girl to see in a harsh way. Her life would never be the same from this…show more content…
The images of the grave from the beginning are not as sweet anymore. Miranda sees how vicious life and death can be. She did not learn about childbirth from an understanding mother. She had to learn it from a brother who simply kills her youth. Twenty years later, Miranda is still troubled by her past. She created a grave for the memory and buried it away. The “mingled sweetness and corruption” (1008) from the original cemetery was not attractive anymore. The idea of death being peaceful was gone and was replaced with “raw flesh and wilting flowers” (1008). Miranda hid the memory for so long because it was a reminder of her innocence dying. Since Miranda lived in the 1900s her role as woman would be a mother. It is interesting she is so traumatized by pregnancy when it was something representative of her future. She I still haunted by the fact that pregnancy is her responsibility. Besides womanhood and pregnancy. The Grave tackles the issue of children learning about life and death. It looks at how death can be viewed as peaceful, the dove in the grave, or horrific and scary, in the pregnant rabbit. Porter captures the naivety of youth and how it can struggle to learn difficult

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