The Painted Door

“Even the distant farmsteads she could see served only to intensify a sense of isolation. Scattered across the face of so vast and bleak a wilderness it was difficult to conceive them as a testimony of human hardihood and endurance. Rather they seemed futile, lost. Rather they seemed to cower before the implacability of snowswept earth and clear pale sun-chilled sky.”

This excerpt highlights the theme of Isolation and Loneliness. The scene is so bleak that Ann believes her whole way of life is hopeless. In this environment, even the sun—normally a symbol of light and warmth—becomes forbidding and “chilled.” In the face of an “implacable” environment that will swallow up its inhabitants sooner or later, Ann’s desire to make the most of her youth becomes harder for her to ignore.

“When at last she turned from the window there was a brooding stillness in her face as if she had recognized this mastery of snow and cold. It troubled John.”

This quote illustrates Ann’s emotional coldness. The description suggests that Ann has become part of the frozen landscape. Instead of articulating her loneliness to John, she is shut off and distant. This is an example of how Ann’s emotional state is frequently echoed in the story’s setting and weather conditions.

“He was a slow, unambitious man, content with his farm and cattle, naïvely proud of Ann. He had been bewildered by it once, her caring for a dull-witted fellow like him; then assured at last of her affection he had relaxed against it gratefully, unsuspecting it might ever be less constant than his own.”

This passage highlights John’s character, particularly his hardworking and somewhat simple nature. The description of his gratitude for Ann’s affection suggests an imbalance in their relationship. The implication that Ann’s love is “less constant” foreshadows her betrayal of John.