Ann feels like she is left on her own far too often and would rather be enjoying the time she has with her husband. Ann loves her husband but has grown tired,…
The short story, The Painted Door, deals with two characters with antithesis traits: John, who is a dedicated farmer and providing husband, and Steven, who is the unmarried, flirtatious neighbor. Ann, the protagonist, struggles with a dilemma between the two men. Although Ann feels conflicted, dramatic irony is present as the reader is well aware that John is the better man. Despite John’s dullness “his devotion [is] baffling” (Ross 51). First, he slaves “away fifteen hours a day to give…” (Ross 51) Ann the life he believes she deserves, full of pretty clothes and endless love. With great intentions, John labors his life away. He repeatedly reminds her that he has never abandoned her and never will. John’s loyalty and dedication confirms his…
While John’s treatment of his wife’s depression is wrong, he does not necessarily do anything to make it worse. Just by ignoring her he is mistreating her. The problem with John in the story is that he holds all of the authority. He is her doctor as well as her caretaker. He is also stubborn and so sure he knows what is best for his wife that he disregards her opinion as just a symptom of her illness. His overly rational disposition and ignorance towards her proves him to be dangerous. John treats his wife more as a medical case than a person. He wants her to get better but ends up just making her situation a lot worse. It is this counterproductively that makes John’s character ironic.…
Ann dwells on the fact that her husband is not an intellectual companion whom is engaging and captivating towards her. She has no more motivation to initiate conversation with her husband, making her dwell the time she spends with him. She has all these past memories in her head that shine a false negative light on her husband. Her past memories are blinding her of the virtuous and giving person that her husband really is. She is relying falsely on the past to interpret how she wants to live in the future. She is scrutinizing John for the little things he does that are wrong but does not focus on the bigger picture, as he makes sure “ she should have the clothes... should slave away fifteen hours a day to give them to her”. John makes many sacrifices for Ann and always puts her first. However, Ann does not see this as she is fixated on a delusional reality of what she wants her ideal husband to be. At this moment in the story her ideal husband is not John, by the time the false expectations that she has formed from the past have faded away it is too late. Jay Gatsby is quite similar to Ann on that he relies heavily on the past to affect his future…
State how marriage is presented in the stories, “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour.”…
In the story, “The Painted Door” written by Sinclair Ross, the readers can empathise with Ann, the main character and the wife of John. Ann despite her adulterous act with her husband’s friend Steven, whom he considers a confidant. The setting of the story is described as "long white miles of prairie landscape seemed a region strangely alien to life"(Ross 227). Although there were signs of life and farmsteads from distant, it served only to "intensify a sense of isolation" (Ross 227). The landscape and the weather embody Ann's emotional state. She feels extremely desolate and barren just like the weather and the prairie. As Ann feels very isolated and lonely, her husband is never there for her because of work; “Pay no attention to me, Seven…
Luke Chandler has a passion for baseball which is his American dream. His one desire is to be a professional baseball player but back then baseball was not a real career. Instead Luke was following in his family’s footsteps in cotton picking and helping out with work on the farm. In this book. John Grisham shows how people don’t always get to follow their American dream.…
Ann is obligated for her husband’s outcome. She constantly groans about her loneliness and how she is unaccompanied. When Steve comes, she finds him so different from John. This idea is supported by the phrase"His young lips [curve] soft and full. While John... "(377). Failing to resist Steven’s appeal, Ann falls for him. In fact, she tries to impress him by changing to” another dress, hair rearranged”(377). These all result in John abandons the house and gets freeze in the bitter storm.…
John attempts to be integrate into his family, but on several occasions is obstructed by his son. John attempts to start conversations with Johnny, but is ignored and soon stops these futile attempts. In addition, when he tries to watch his son play, his son bluntly ignores him. As well, John enthusiastically greets his son on the street only to have a wave in return. John even goes to a Boy Scout dinner in hopes of repairing the damage in the relationship between him and his son; nevertheless, his son continues to embarrass him. As you can see, the father is actually trying to become a handy member of his family, however, his family is actually hindering him from accomplishing his goal.…
She portrays him as the villain, “John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience in faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.” The words ‘extreme’, ‘no patience’, ‘horror’ and ‘scoffs’ each have negative connotations for the reader leading us to believe that he is not portrayed as nurturing. However he is representing the society of this time as men were expected to be breadwinners within a household rather than nurturing figures. The narrator wants to have a more fulfilled life with more than just her husband and child, this would not have been seen as socially acceptable at this time and is in complete contrast to Caroline who was devoted to only her family and focussed solely on them before exploring other options. The quotation “You see he does not believe I am sick” further shows how the male was the dominant figure and did not ‘believe’ his wife’s illness, this could leave the reader to question Perkins’ presentation of John’s character and his real affection towards his…
For an unknown reason Robin become lame in his legs (it was thought that it was because of the plague that killed a lot of people and made a lot of people sick)…
Selfishness is a poor quality that all people posses. It defines someone only concerned primarily with their own interests or benefits, regardless of others. Throughout “The Painted Door,” Ann shows numerous examples of why she displays a sense of selfishness. “It isn’t right to leave me here alone. Surely I’m as important as your father” (225). This quotation portrays a suitable contrast of character between both Ann and John. John, exhibiting selfless and caring traits, wants only to help out his father, an older man incapable of fulfilling all the necessary chores to keep his stable active and his animals alive. “I just wanted to make sure he’s all right in case we do have a storm” (226). It is apparent however that Ann does not realize this, only thinking for herself, and further trying to guilt John into staying by her side so she feels more comfortable. “Pay no attention to me. Seven years a farmers wife – it’s time I was used to staying alone” (226). Here again Ann shows her disapproval with John’s decision to leave her for the afternoon and evening to tend to his father. This time though, it is evident that Ann…
Ann experiences a wealth of difficulties caring for Angus, she encounters emotional, physical, mental, social and financial demands as she tries to fulfil her role as carer. Ann was thrown into the role of carer when her mother had asked her to take of Angus on her deathbed. It was a role expected of Ann, she was the woman in the house and it was a role she had not been trained for. Caring for Angus presented many difficulties, Ann had given up her job to care for Angus thinking it would lessen the pressure she was feeling at that time, on the contrary, Ann now was experiencing the financial impact of only having her husband Bobs wage to support the family, this puts considerable strain on Ann as she is now solely reliant on her husband financially and the family are at risk of poverty. Bob and Angus have a strained relationship with both battling for Ann’s attention, Angus reminds Bob that he owns the house in which they all live in, this is demoralising for Bob. Ann states during interview that she feels like “piggy in the middle” torn between her obligation to Angus and to her own husband and child, Ann’s daughter Zoe has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia, she is experiencing difficulties at school, Zoe try’s to seek out support from her mother, Ann however is totally overwhelmed with caring for Angus and is unable to provide her…
Throughout the short story “The Painted Door” the main character, Ann, resembles a selfish, frustrated, unhappy and insecure character with a weak personality. She faces some problems with both herself and John, her husband. They do not have a very healthy relationship which leads to John’s suicidal death in the end. John is a simple farmer who thinks the only way he can please Ann is by working all day to earn money for her. However Ann would prefer him to spend more time with her, which is a typical housewife demand. That shows her main character trait: selfishness. She is being unfair to him because she wants him to stay next to her all the time while he wants to go work and make money. Once, John goes to his father’s house, leaving Ann home alone, where her feelings of isolation, desperation, fear, rebelliousness, and unhappiness consume her, bringing out her true character.…
Because of John's lack of communication skills, Ann feels isolated psychologically and emotionally, and as a result, she is seen by the reader as a woman in despair seeking companionship during the Great Depression.…