Preview

Short Story the Painted Door

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
661 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Short Story the Painted Door
The Painted Door Summary
Short story A Painted Door written by Sinclair Ross is a story that hides many meanings. The intelligent usage of symbolism and comparisons also add to the amount of thought and understanding being put towards the overall picture. It is clear that the author is not only about telling the story, rather he focuses much more on the voice, setting, and symbolism of the piece.
The story was relayed to the readers in third person; the author also being the narrator. This gives him much more power to portray images and descriptions that could not be shown any way else. “She went on blowing against the frosted pane, carefully elongating the clear place until it was oval-shaped and symmetrical.” In this particular statement he is making the readers think about why this is being done.
The setting of the story allowed for a lot of symbolism to be used; it was an average farm in the midst of the winter season. A lot of white colors being described and the cold and emptiness were also to the author’s advantage. As John the farmer goes to visit his father for the evening, his wife Ann tries to hold him back.
As the final decision is made by the male character, we are introduced time and time again to the cold and emptiness of the setting. These tools are the author’s way of telling us how she feels and to prepare us for what is to happen next. As Steven, a close friend comes over, Ann begins to pretty herself up. These are all things that build towards the ending; of Ann’s Affair and Steven’s Suicide.
The painted Door is a very interesting short story considering its great usage of symbolism as well as its setting. The author does a good job in portraying to us not only happenings but feelings and emotions as well. “The leap of light and shadow sank, and a chill crept in again…”
The Painted Door Cover Page Rationale
While creating a cover page for short story The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross, I considered many elements. In the end I chose

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1. Character a. Ann – John and Ann have been married for seven years. Although it may seem after that many years of marriage, the spouses would have great communication with one another, but that isn’t what it seems to be. Ann feels desperate and isolated in what seems to be an unhappy marriage. Ann is labelled as the temperamental and unsatisfied farmer’s wife. In the story, Ann is very selfish and feels no one is ever there for her, which leaves her vulnerable and desperately wanting company. While John is away, his friend Steven drops by to keep Ann accompanied. As time passes, Ann is convinced by Steven that John will not be returning due to the wicked blizzard. Ann compares Steven to John and becomes very attracted to Steven’s handsome looks. As John plans on spending the night, Ann gives in to the temptation and then crawls in to bed with him because she is exceedingly lonely.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John, a character of Sinclair Ross’ short story, The Painted Door, is a very admirable character. A struggling farmer, he resides in a small farmhouse alongside his wife of seven years, Ann. During a raging snowstorm, John ventures to his father’s house to assist him. This leaves Ann alienated in the farmhouse. John arranges for his friend Steven to visit Ann and accompany her during her isolated hours. While he is visiting, Steven seduces Ann, and they ultimately sleep together. After discovering this, John commits suicide by freezing to death in the roaring blizzard outside the farmhouse. A hardworking labourer, John is a diligent, considerate and unappreciated character.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book, The Glass Castle, is a memoir written by Jeanette Walls, which tells about her childhood and growing up with an alcoholic dad and a mentally ill mother. The "Glass Castle" is a page-turner that should catch any reader’s attention. It is a book that would make you feel upset and angry. It shows an unconventional childhood and how that had made her stronger and successful woman in the future. A sad story with a happy ending. Jeannette Walls had a dysfunctional family and her childhood is hard to believe.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The imagery of opening doors is used by Hurston in order to display the chances, and options one has after escaping the room that had all those doors that would have led to many different paths much earlier. Tea Cake and Janie sit in the store drinking Coca-cola when Tea Cake offers to Janie if she wanted a passenger train or a battleship using the questions “Which one do you want? It all depends on you.” (101) The freedom of choice is finally in Janie’s hands as Tea Cake asks her “Which do you want?”. Hurston projected the emotion of contentment through the last quote “‘Tain’t dat Ah worries over Joe’s death, Pheoby. Ah jus’ loves dis freedom.”(93) then moving on to Janie making a choice on her own of her own free will, no longer controlled…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an example of how stories and the symbolism to which they are related can influence the perspective of its readers and alternate their point of view. In the “Yellow Wall-Paper”, the unknown narrator gets so influenced by her surroundings that she starts showing signs of mental disorder, creating through many years several controversies on trying to find the real causes of her decease.…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It was a very touching story: the Glass Castle, in which author Jeannette Walls tells the world about her greatly influential past. This passage I chose reveals one of the most significant characters in her life, her father; it recalls on the things that he did for her, or his attitudes and ways of life that is very influential in the author’s life. When her father speaks in the book, it can be interpreted that he is someone who has dreams, but could never achieve anything. It’s ironic and displays flawed reasoning in how he kidnaps his daughter from the hospital, but then tells her that “she’s safe” and that she “doesn’t have to worry anymore.”(Walls, 14) She then goes on and talks about her father’s stories. He talks about “stories” of his past, which is inferred that in realty, they’re really just fiction. The way Wall’s dad portrays himself symbolizes his need to have his children believe in him, to prove that he can still be strong and intelligent-not the drunk that he is-, to describe what he wants his life to be. Walls explains to her audience why her childhood was troubled through using parallelism, she said that her and her family didn’t fit in “because they had red hair, because dad was a drunk, because we wore rags and didn’t take baths…..” (Walls, 164) In this passage, Wall’s uses simple words, easy to understand diction, and clearly tells us her story. Even though it may not be the best experiences a child can endure, she doesn’t complain, but simply looks at it as something that she has overcome. Jeannette Walls wrote a story about her life, her parents, her upbringing, and she did so calmly and objective, yet still connecting with her readers on an emotional…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Glass Castle Analysis

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Glass Castle is an interesting book following the story of the young author Jeanette Walls. This book follows her during the time she spends with her dysfunctional family growing up. This books tittle is symbolic of the overall book in its whole, and takes up a large amount of the authors life in the process. The many different characters represent and really show why The Glass Castle was chosen as for the title of the book. With the many events and characters in the book it can be easily seen why she would choose the title for this book. This book has many reasons for explain both the meaning of the tittle and the reason which she choose the title that she did.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Grapes of Wrath Essay

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages

    One way Steinbeck produces creative commentary is through the use of different settings. The setting is where the story takes place, and in this story, the setting shifts several times as the family travels across the country to California. The story opens with an illustrious description of the setting. Through the description, “A day went by and the wind increased, steady, unbroken by the gusts. The dust from the roads fluffed up and spread out and fell on the weeds beside the fields, and fell into the fields a little way…” (Steinbeck 2), it reveals a horrible event. It sends the Joads and other tenant farmers into despair and into poverty. With their crops ruined, and their entire world covered in dust, farmers like the Joads cannot make do. From the start, the setting reveals the effects of the Great Depression on society. Droughts and lack of production crippled the farmers and economy. As the story progresses, the family moves to Uncle John’s house, which is very unfit for a large number of people. The quote, “…and the house, a square little box, unpainted and bare, and the barn,…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Painted House essay

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    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.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Art and Irony

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Dreams are the paints of a great artist, and the world is their canvas. Artists are able to produce beautiful art pieces using their ideas and imaginations. Through art, we are able to communicate stories of tragedy, peace, hardship, and ease. In many ways, visual art and written stories can be compared to one another. Like a frame to a picture, the techniques in a short story help keep the story together. As for the elements they can be seen as the painting itself, providing both story and beauty. Both techniques and elements play crucial roles together. In both short stories “The Blues Merchant” and “Rich For One Day”, the influence of the ironic technique towards characterization and theme can be noticeably seen.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the story “The Painted Door” by Sinclair Ross the title is significant. The title is symbolic, it ties into the plot, and it sums up the main event. When Ann says, “ ‘…It’s going to make the room a lot lighter’ ” she is talking about brightening the bedroom door (49). We paint to bring change and improve upon an old appearance, it is clear that that is what Ann is trying to accomplish with not only her bedroom door, but her life as well. She thinks that she is embarking on a new adventure by bringing change into her home and painting the door white, but in reality she is just beginning a new adventure behind the door. The title also ties into plot and sums up the main event because the painted door is a very significant part of the story. If Ann had chosen not to paint her bedroom door she would have never known John made it home, because John would have never had the paint marked on him. Ann would have thought that John had just collapsed on his way home but the suspicion of suicide is confirmed after she finds the white paint on his palm, “On the palm, white even against its frozen whiteness, was a little smear of paint” (67). It could be by chance that a smear of paint coated John’s palm or it could be a way of allowing Ann to know that his death was no accident. The title of the story “The Painted Door” is symbolic, and relevant to the plot and main event of the…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck uses symbolism in the book to make it easier for the readers to understand the story. He also uses symbolism to make his readers think and allow his readers to see things on a deeper level. The use of symbolism helps create imagery for the reading, enhancing the plot, and helping to develop characterization. Some of his common symbols in the book include: the dreamhouse, hands, and rabbits.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vancouver Olympics

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This is a picture of a door that connects my family room to the kitchen, it was put in by my father during the Olympics, an event that attracted a lot of tourists into the beautiful city of Vancouver. The Vancouver Olympics used many First Nations’ symbols and mythical creatures for mascots. Though my family actively participated in the festivities of the 2010 winter Olympics, we were not aware of the past and ongoing violence against the First Nations. Though the 2010 winter Olympics gave many aboriginal groups the opportunity to showcase their art and culture but the aboriginal culture was still commodified through the numerous souvenirs in every gift shop around the city. Many of the group’s problems were put under the carpet for the…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The opening door with the world behind it represents the main character. The opening door represents that she has finally learned enough, and gained enough smarts to realize that there is a so much more out there. The world represents how much more there is out there for her, and how much more she has to learn and do.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays