Isolation In 'The Painted Door'

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When someone finds themselves in an isolated and unfulfilling reality they may make immoral choices which may devastate their relationships. When someone is isolated without a loved one they will do just about anything to feel safe and in some ways this could lead to something that in the end may cause deep regret. In the painted door this is what happened to Ann when her husband left to help his father. A neighbour came over to keep her company but in the isolation and thought of her husband Ann made some decision that in the end left her without John. In the freezing isolation of prairie farm land women may panic when they are by themselves and do something that they would have never done when the reality was good. From the beginning Ann…show more content…
``and while he sits keeping his father company I can look after his stable for him, go ploughing through snowdrifts up to my knees-nearly frozen-``(232) She got to be more angry with John because the storm just kept on getting worse and he just left her there. ``Sometimes the wind struck with sharp savage blows`` (233). As the setting got more violent the mood changed sometimes it was a happy mood or it was a frightened and angry mood, the worse the storm got the angrier the mood became. Before John had left he had said that he was going to get Steven to come over to help with chores and to keep Ann company while he was gone but as the day went on Ann was beginning to think that he would not come either. ``She began to doubt whether Steven would come in such a storm even a mile was enough to make a man hesitate. Especially Steven, who, for all his attractive qualities, was hardly one to face a blizzard for the sake of someone else`s chores`` (233). She was starting to believe she was going to have to fight the storm herself. This put fright into the story because she had no idea what she should do to keep herself safe and the animals at the same time. “No matter how blinding the storm she could at least find her way back to the house” (233), this demonstrates how violent it was. You could not even go to the…show more content…
“Leaving alien miles unleashed and unrestrained. Watching the hurricane of writhing snow rage past the little house” (234). She was overpowered by the storm which left her planted in the freezing drifts in which Steven arrived. Now Ann can relax as there is someone to do the chores and keep her company, but in a short amount of time this changes. Steven turns into a awful man who knows he has the advantage of Ann for the night, “but in a storm like this you are not expecting john?” (236). Over and over Steven kept reminding her that John would not be coming home tonight but that he would not be coming at all. Ann began to be afraid of Steven but then she knew that he was a safe friend but he still had a fright among him, “there was something strange, almost terrifying, about this Steven and his quiet unrelenting smile” (237). The mood had some fear in it, what should Ann do. Steven seemed to be acting as if something was going to happen. Steven assured her that he would be staying the night at his father’s and to get comfortable with him, what else is a innocent woman supposed to do other than be afraid and do what they want. “Then she dozed a while, and the shadow was John. Interminably he advanced” (240) Ann was right the whole time she knew that her husband was going to come home but it was too late the act had happened and John had seen it. The mood changes to regret as

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