Regret In The Painted Door By Sinclair Ross

Lucas Hahn Mr. Rodriguez Academic Lit. 15 June, 2023 The Cellar Analysis Throughout Lucas Hahn's short story The Cellar, the author explores the limits of human endurance both mentally and physically. The author portrays the mental limits of humans when we look at the character Ryan. Ryan at the beginning of the story was just a normal teenager, but at the end of the book he turned into a murderer.

In the story, The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross, the protagonist, Ann suffers from many mental issues caused by isolation and depression. She is first revealed as a farmer’s wife, insisting her husband, John to stay with her during a storm, but John ultimately makes the decision to leave and visit his father. This act made Ann feel insignificant because she felt that she is “as important as” John’s “father”. This is the not the first time John was not there when Ann needed him most, seven years married and he “scarcely spoke a word” during meals. Ann who is his wife and the only living person within a “2 mile” radius is constantly rejected the simplest freedoms and of all people, her husband.

Arthur Dimmesdale was the town minister in The Scarlet Letter, a story of a young woman who committed adultery and faced the consequences, such as wearing a scarlet “A” on her chest. Dimmesdale was a very interesting character because he was very religious but also committed a sin that haunted him everyday. He also happened to be the man who was involved in the young woman’s adultery. He was never convicted, however he still faced the consequences everyday. Dimmesdale was a man of God.

Hope is a powerful thing; more powerful than death itself. Night, by Elie Wiesel, is about a jewish boy who is put into a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Elie doubted his faith to survive but had others to lean on during the hardship. Elie had the support of others as a sense of hope to survive the long, cold nights, with little food and water.

In the book Glass Castle, Jeannette and her family don’t let all of the circumstances around them stop them from dreaming any smaller. Perseverance is the persistence of taking action, especially in spite of difficulties. Perseverance is overcoming the tough things in life, and not letting them get the best of you. In fact, for the most part, the Walls’ kids all worked a little harder to reach their goals. Lori, Jeanette, and Brian save up money so Lori can pursue her life outside of Welch, and move to New York City.

In the book Night, Elie Wiesel describes his struggles as a Jew in a concentration camp using a depressing and serious tone, meant to reflect the horrific conditions the Jews were forced to face and the theme that adversity can cause a loss in faith. From the time Elie first arrived at the camp and heard everyone saying prayers, to when the young pipel was hung, and even when the Jews had to make the long, arduous, trek to the other camp, the reader could see his faith dwindling as he continued to question where his God was and why he wasn’t helping the Jews. Not only was a lack of faith evident in Elie himself, but the other Jews around him, even the priests, were having trouble believing in their God. Elie’s disheartened and somber tone

In Nothing But the Truth there is one thing that stood out to me throughout the entire book. The whole book is full of lies. Philip Malloy tells lies about everything and to everyone. He lies to his parents, the principal, and even to a reporter that is interviewing him. Throughout the book we continue to see the lies play out until the very end of the book when Philip finally decides to tell the truth.

One may say that McCandless’ violent childhood is what caused his downfall. McCandless may have even had the right idea, separating himself from his family, but due to his fragile state of mind he may have gone to too much of an extreme. He ended up taking the policies and principles of transcendentalism too far, which is really what resulted in his death. A concept that transcendentalism goes strongly against is materialism, a principle that may have saved his life. He was so anti materialistic in fact, that he refused to even have a phone or form of communication, this ultimately could have saved his life.

“Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made” (11). Janie’s first dream is love. She believes that with love she can feel complete and happy. However, it takes Janie three marriages to finally experience true love.

Janie has many encounters with men where she felt love but she couldn’t maintain them. Her first husband held no love but rather only respect for Janie. The first husband was a gateway to her second lover, Jody. Jody loved Janie and she to him but as time progressed his ambitions destroyed what they had previously cherished.

The protagonist in “The Painted Door", Is Ann who is struggling for happiness in her marriage and inner satisfaction, Ann feels that she is simply an adjunct on her husband, Since she is a farmer’s wife, she feels an increasing isolation especially during the winter month. And on the other hand the fire seems to comfort Ann from the sense of isolation and protects her from the cold; the fire also seems to bring her a sense of security. When the silence becomes too much for Ann to bare, the fire seems to help her cope. "It was the silence again, aggressive, hovering. The fire spit and crackled at it."(50)

Events in people’s lives can have a myriad of effects on them. A person can become lost, transform into a better person, or ignore the events altogether. The choice of how to react often matters more than the event itself. The occurrence can also change the people’s views on life and cause them to have a different destiny. If the traumatizing event is never acknowledged however, the value and growth of the experience will be lost.

In this world, there’s learning things the hard way and the easy way; in Jeannette Wall’s world, there’s only learning things the hard way. The Glass Castle is an adventurous story that reveals the painfully miserable story of Jeannette Walls. A selfish mother, a careless father, and terrible social encounters- these are some of the elements of a harsh reality Rex and Rose Mary Walls failed to shield their children from. Growing up poor was already difficult, but growing up with a selfish parent, specifically an unfeeling mom, made life hell for the Walls children. The family barely had one source of income from Rex Walls, and instead of helping out with the family’s finance issues, Rose Mary spent her days at home painting.

A relationship between a father and a son is a sacred bond, one created at birth and strengthened over time. This paternal relationship is core to the value of family, a likewise bond of faith and trust. Such bonds are tested during times of hardship and pain, seen most clearly during times of war. During the events of World War II, and the gruesome events of the Holocaust, this truth was never more true. Through works such as the memoir Night, by survivor Elie Wiesel, and the artistry of the 1997 film Life is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni, these times of hardships are kept alive in common memory.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston develops a contrast between the male and female genders of the time period of the story, and the male and female gender of today. Hurston wrote this novel in or about a time when women were considered simple-minded , women were disempowered by the empowered man in the relationship, and women can only gain power through marriage. But when Janie kisses Johnny Taylor, her view of men changes after seeing “a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!