James Sinclair Ross was a Canadian banker as well as an author. He was most well-known for his short stories set on the Canadian prairies. In Ross’ short story The Painted Door, Ann and her husband John live on a farm in Saskatchewan in the 1800s. While a snowstorm is approaching, John leaves for his father’s farm to help him look after the chores, leaving Ann by herself in the storm. The theme of The Painted Door is isolation leads to irrationality and misery. This can be seen in the characterization of Ann throughout the story, the isolated setting of their farm, and the symbolism of the storm.
Throughout The Painted Door Ann struggles with an inner conflict as a result of her feelings of isolation. These emotions are not only present because of the isolated setting in which the story takes place, but also due to the loneliness caused by the distance between her and John in their marriage. John focuses on his work far too much for her liking and their communication skills have become less than satisfactory. As she looks out at the land she begins to feel lonely, and those emotions only increase as John leaves her alone to battle her conscience when he travels to his father’s farm. When Steven, John’s close friend, arrives to play cards and to keep her company, Ann begins to compare him to John to determine the better man. Ann thinks about Steven as she tends to the fire and makes observations such as, “His hair was dark and trim, his young lips curved soft and full. While John, she made the comparison swiftly, was thick-set, heavy-jowled, and stooped. (page 204)” Her comparisons of the two men in a back and forth fashion effectively display how conflicted Ann is as she is caught in a battle between her mind and her heart. Her descriptions of Steven make him appear to be more attractive and a gentleman, while John is the man she married, but has had trouble communicating with. As Ann compares the two men, she