a sorrowful woman
When talking about the role of husband and wife in a family, people usually state that the man is the person who build the house and the woman is the one who make it to be a home. However, there is one time, the woman refuses her part and turns her house into a place of dullness and misery. Literally, the woman in the story “A Sorrowful Woman” by Gale Godwin is an example. Instead of being pleased and proud of having a thoughtful and loving husband, along with a nice and well-behaving son, she feels tired of seeing them, is distant herself from them, and commits suicide at the end of the story. Through the elements of characterization, conflict and irony, Gale Godwin successfully attracts readers into his story and gradually directs people from disagreement to sympathy.
At first, characterization delineates the picture of the protagonist, the sorrowful woman. The woman is supposed to be a wife and a mother; however, she refuses her role. She is distant herself from her husband and her child, and dies at the end of the story. In the beginning of the story, Gayle Godwin writes, “One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three. The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again” (Godwin 1). The unhappiness does not come to her because her husband mistreats her or her child is bad-behaving. In fact, it derives from her desire of being a free woman who is not tied by the responsibility of being a wife and a mother. Most likely, she is tired of seeing the familiar things around and doing the same things over and over. She chooses to be completely isolated from her family to explore her own world with freedom-in-loneliness. She says to her husband, “Just push the notes under the door; I'll read them. And don't forget to leave the draught outside” (Godwin 6). The more space she has for herself, the more she asks for it. It seems like she wants to kill her appearance in the
At first, characterization delineates the picture of the protagonist, the sorrowful woman. The woman is supposed to be a wife and a mother; however, she refuses her role. She is distant herself from her husband and her child, and dies at the end of the story. In the beginning of the story, Gayle Godwin writes, “One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three. The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again” (Godwin 1). The unhappiness does not come to her because her husband mistreats her or her child is bad-behaving. In fact, it derives from her desire of being a free woman who is not tied by the responsibility of being a wife and a mother. Most likely, she is tired of seeing the familiar things around and doing the same things over and over. She chooses to be completely isolated from her family to explore her own world with freedom-in-loneliness. She says to her husband, “Just push the notes under the door; I'll read them. And don't forget to leave the draught outside” (Godwin 6). The more space she has for herself, the more she asks for it. It seems like she wants to kill her appearance in the