The Painted Door

Sinclair Ross’s short story “The Painted Door” explores themes of Isolation and Loneliness, as the rural setting is physically isolating for the characters. The nearest neighbors are miles away, and the landscape outside John and Ann’s home seems “strangely alien to life” (1), mirroring Ann’s feelings that she is living a half-existence. The bitter weather is another isolating factor, as even a short journey in the storm is dangerous. The author establishes the storm as a character of its own, driving the plot and reflecting the characters’ emotions and inner conflict. At the beginning of the narrative, when John reveals his intention to visit his father, Ann’s response as she looks out at the winter landscape is “cold, as if the words were chilled by the contact with the frosted pane” (1). Her emotional coldness, triggered by resentment, is echoed by the physical landscape outside. Later, when Ann steps into the storm, the weather is personified, choking Ann and making it impossible for her to breathe. As well as foreshadowing the storm’s fatal power (illustrated with John’s death), the sensation represents the suffocating effects of Ann’s isolated life.