The Lamp at Noon

Originally published in 1968, “The Lamp at Noon” is an emotionally bleak short story written by Canadian author Sinclair Ross. “The Lamp at Noon” explores the psychologically devastating effects that the environmental devastation of the dust bowl has on the psyches and relationship of a married couple living on a farm on the Canadian plains during the Great Depression.

The story is told from the alternating points of view of the two main characters, Ellen and Paul, who each struggle in their own way to come to terms with their disintegrating emotional and physical environment. The story takes place during a single day, progressing chronologically without the use of flashbacks. Ross employs a third-person point of view.

Ross (1908–1996) is one of Canada’s best-known authors. His stories frequently concern life on the Canadian plains and explore themes of alienation, disillusionment, and isolation. Ross was a recipient of the Order of Canada award in recognition of his significant impact on Canadian literature. He is probably best known for his 1941 novel As for Me and My House.

This guide refers to text found in the Penguin Modern Classics Edition of The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories published in 2018.

On the dust-bowl-afflicted prairies of Canada, an unnamed woman lights the lamp outside her home. She stares into the wind between preparing a meager meal and comforting her baby, though she does not remove the tent of muslin over his crib. The dust is too pervasive. The woman is eager for her husband to come home, though she knows their fight from earlier is still fresh. Around her, the wind shakes the walls. 

Paul arrives, insisting the dust storm will abate soon, as it has already been three days. The woman, whose name is revealed to be Ellen through Paul’s dialogue, wants to go to him, but she fights off the urge, refusing to suggest she has yielded on their earlier argument. As they sit to eat, the argument reignites: Ellen wants to leave their farm and return to town, their circumstances on the prairie having drained her youth and left her unhappy. Paul refuses, unwilling to give up his independence and live off her father’s charity by being a shopboy in his store. Ellen insists their son deserves better, but Paul retorts that it is really Ellen who wants to leave, and then only for frivolous reasons. Ellen acknowledges that Paul is not entirely wrong.

A silence falls. Somewhat remorseful, Paul insists the land will recover. Ellen, once a schoolteacher in addition to having come from a wealthier family than Paul, replies with some disdain that the farmers have utterly depleted the soil. Paul snaps back that she agreed to be a farmer’s wife; the five-year dry spell is not his fault. He moves to leave. Ellen begs him to stay, promising not to continue the fight. Though her distress at being left alone once again is clear, Paul exits and fights through the wind to the stable, where he comforts and is comforted by Bess, their bay mare.

In the stable, which has a strange silence despite the raging winds, Paul moves to Prince, his 20-year-old gelding whose ribs and hips are showing. Paul begins to question himself, wondering if Ellen may be right. Nine years of farming his own land, and he still struggles to make a living. His plans for the future feel so real they sometimes obscure the present. Ellen’s face haunts him, with its terrified loneliness. His anxiety mounts until the wind seems to be Ellen screaming, as if she has gone mad, and he feels he can see her running through the storm.

When Paul returns, though, he sees through the window that Ellen is quietly walking with the baby. Unwilling to show concern, which might suggest capitulation, Paul heads to the tool shed. He works until evening, all the while defeating Ellen’s arguments in his head. Then the wind abates, and Paul steps outside to realize the desolation of his fields. Even in the face of the land’s betrayal, though, Paul searches for words to defend his position to Ellen. Yet when he returns to the house, he finds Ellen and the baby are gone.

Frantic, Paul searches for her with the help of the neighbors. He finds her himself, crouching against a drift of sand. The baby is dead in her arms, smothered either by the dust or Ellen’s efforts to protect him. Ellen seems unaffected, and Paul feels a sense of familiarity—as if this moment is merely confirmation of what he has known since noon. He lifts Ellen, who holds the baby, and carries them toward home. Ellen smiles, observing his strength and her exhaustion from carrying the baby. Paul feels silenced by the dusk. Ellen whispers that he was right. The storm has gone, and it’s a red sky, indicating tomorrow will be fine.