George Ignoring His Wife

Everyone has moments of weakness and indulgence in their lives, but not everyone’s momentary weakness lead to their spouse’s death. This is, however, what happens to Ann, a farmer’s wife, in Sinclair Ross’ short story, “The Painted Door”. She feels as though she and her husband are emotionally isolated. That growing malcontent is what gave Ann that push to sleep with Steven, a man whom her husband, John, trusts profoundly. After sleeping together, Ann awakens in a dream-like haze and sees John, who would do anything for his wife.

First, George feels he owes it to Lennie’s aunt. Lennie’s aunt was always so nice to George and he wants to repay the kindness shown to him. Second, George stays with Lennie because of how kind Lennie is. When George told Lennie to jump in the water and then realized Lennie couldn’t swim, George jumped in to save him. Lennie was so grateful that George saved his life. Third, Lennie is George’s only family. George does not like to be alone and enjoys Lennie’s company. Clearly, you can see that George is a nice guy and enjoys taking care of Lennie.

It says in the text “ You’ve let this room and this house replace you and your wife in your children’s affections.” (8) This shows that if parents give their children false love, and false care, then the children will become attached to that false love and care. Then they will not care for their parents and will only care for the creature comforts. They will try to push the parents out of their lives, and the parents want to be part of the children’s lives, so they give them even more creature comforts, letting the children know that they are the ones that give them the things they like. But the children will get attached to these

When both involved do not effectively communicate with each other, a distant marriage may lead to discontent for all. Sinclair Ross’s short story, “The Painted Door”, deals with the growing dissatisfaction and loneliness of a farmer’s wife, Ann, who feels alone as her husband deals with the harsh conditions of the environment. This story demonstrates how deeply communication can affect a marriage, be it bad or good. One of the most fundamental elements of a healthy relationship is communication. Lack of communication in a relationship can result to severe consequences. Irrespective of the kind of relationship, lack of communication magnifies issues in a relationship undermining the very foundation of the relationship. The success of any relationship relies on one's ability to communicate well. Communication is important in relationships as it allows us to share our interest, concerns, support each other. John is a simple farmer who thinks the only way he can please his wife, is by working all day to earn money for her. However, Ann would prefer he spend more time with her. Their relationship is stressed even further when Ann is left at home alone with nothing to think about but their relationship because John has to go to his father’s house. The terrible snow storm accentuates Ann’s feelings of loneliness and despair. These feelings lead Ann to seek comfort and companionship from Steven, the attractive friend of her husband, John, thus leading to John's suicide.

Throughout the beginning of the story, the wife continually references the things “John says” (844-5). That indicates to me that she is timid and perhaps frightened of him. “John says this,” and “John says that,” shows me that our narrator doesn’t feel permitted to have a thought that is her own. The story’s unilateral male, as well as unilateral female conversations are friendly and comfortable. However, male to female conversation in the writing is dominant, aggressive, assertive and sometimes dangerous. Female to male exchanges appear delicate, soft and understanding, always agreeing with the male perspective. I would consider women in this time period to be viewed as a pet or toy to the male, dominant figure in her life. The use of the words in this short is very important, and gives you the information to interpret the story. For instance, on page 845 it says, “It was a nursery first, then a playroom and gymnasium. I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children.” This discloses that our woman has post-partum depression. At the very least, she feels as if she is trapped or in an asylum within her own home. Perhaps this feeling of entrapment lends itself to driving her mad. It is no surprise that the woman feels trapped behind the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. Her days and nights are filled with constant repetition of the same nothingness. She is left with little to

This is displayed even in the first line “She sits in the park. Her clothes are out of date.” The clothes are not only showing the change of appearance, but are used as a symbol for showing the small and large sacrifices that are made when having children. Because of her clothes you are able to identify the clear loss in vanity and pride that she has in herself. Not only does this line indicate this but when read in conjunction with the line “From his neat head unquestionably rises” it shows the juxtaposition of the two different lives of two ex-lovers. “His neat head” suggests that his well put together, acting as a symbol for who he is appearance wise. When looking at the adjectives that describe the women it clearly shows that both their lives are juxtaposing against one

More than 60% of married people are lonely. Curley’s wife sees her marriage as the reason she is lonely. She could have had a huge life in Hollywood, but she chose Curley. She isn’t the only one who's lonely though; loneliness is in and around everyone. There are an extravagant amount of facts out there and plenty of people who admit that being lonely makes them do crazy things to themselves and others. An anonymous once said,’”When people feel rejected or excluded they tend to become more aggressive, more self defeating or self destructive, less cooperative and helpful, and less prone, simply due to the hard work of thinking clearly.”’ In Curley’s wife case, it made her act out in a way of seeking attention, and she was willing to do anything to get it. People say loneliness can kill you metaphorically speaking, but it literally killed her. We’re all a little lonely for something even if it is unknown. We turn into a different person; we act

Such circumstances, causes the woman to fall into a deeper depression because she feels trapped and lonely.

This perspective communicates to the reader that although this garden looks like a restful or beautiful place, it does not end their suffering. The garden only appears to be a haven from a distance. Through this example, Atwood illustrates that the wives’ choice to demand only oppressive or meaningless rights or privileges does not decrease their present

Her marriage also causes her to lose control. Even within the one thing that is supposed to hold strong, she is alone. Her husband, leaving her on a daily basis to work, insists that she cannot write nor visit friends and family. Thus, he leaves her alone during the day to sit

Loneliness is the state of being alone with no human or living creature near you; the emptiness inside a person. Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Miss Brill” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” use similar literary element of situational irony, and provide insight into the protagonists’ own conflicting struggles with society through social norms. Both short stories protagonist characters in “Miss Brill” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” struggle with their identity, their place as a woman in society, and loneliness in different ways because of their age. The two short stories are similar in their use of irony and conflict.

Throughout the beginning of the short you see the wife say, “John says” (844-5) over and over again. That shows me that she is scared of him, John says this and John says that. It shows me that our narrator isn’t permitted to have a thought that is her own. Male to male conversation and female to female conversation is so friendly and comfortable. Male to Female conversation is dominant, aggressive, assertive and sometimes dangerous. While female to male conversation would be soft and understanding, always agreeing with what the male says. I would consider women in this time period to be a pet or toy to the male, dominant figure in her life. The use of the words in this short is very important, and gives you the information you need to know to interpret the short. For instance, on page 845 it says, “It was a nursery first, then a playroom and gymnasium. I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children.” This tells us that our woman has post-partum depression. She feels as if she is trapped or in an asylum within her own home, and I believe that’s what causes her to go crazy. It is no surprise that the woman feels trapped behind the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. She does the same thing all day, every day with little to nothing to do so all she can do is wonder and question the yellow wallpaper. No wonder our narrator is going insane. She is slowly but surely sinking into madness and gradually

Isolation from society can evoke a deep loneliness and self-reflection. The poem "The Wife's Lament" from the Exeter Book expresses the desolation of exile. The dominant theme is the contrast of a happy past and a bleak present of isolation. The anonymous author of "The Wife's Lament" uses setting, tone, and conflict to develop the theme of great loss. He/she augments a situation in which meditation on life's past joys is the only redemption in a life sentenced to confinement. “The Wife’s Lament” is an excellent example of nostalgia, resentment of the present, and hopelessness about the future.

She doesn’t feel she has any companionship, even with her husband. “It’s so hard to talk to John about my case…” (Gilman 350). So she can’t confide in anyone about the way she feels. Not only that, but he talks down to her, “What is it little girl?”, “Bless her little heart.” (Gilman 350), and calls her a “blessed little goose” (Gilman 347), as if she is a child. With her husband talking to her like that, the feeling of alienation due to not feeling like she is on the same level as her husband is inevitable. She also spends a good deal of time alone and cries a lot. “I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Of course I don’t when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone. And I am alone a good deal just now.” (Gilman 348) A person who is happy and surrounded by people they love, don’t spend so much time crying, alone.

The themes in “Cat in the Rain” are gender roles, loneliness and identity as the things where the wife is struggling. Gender roles is a theme because she is trying to fit in society’s idea of who she should be. Loneliness, because her marriage is falling apart and she has no one to talk to. She is confused about her identity, on the background of her trying to fit in a specific “mould” of how she should behave.