The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross

Short Story. Gothic Fiction. Classic. Realistic Fiction. Historical Fiction. 

Rating: 4/5

Time (Audiobook): 1hr 5mins

Started: 29 May 2023

Finished: 29 May 2023

Summary:

    Farmer's wife Ann must survive the night after her husband leaves to visit his father just before a blizzard strikes. Fighting against the monstrosity of nature as well as her own morality concerning Stephen, her husband's friend, teaches Ann an important lesson---but by then, it's too late. 

Thoughts:

    I didn't like most of this story. The protagonist was horrible; self-centered and whiny and weak. She was frustratingly capricious in her actions and her morals. And her husband seemed annoying, as did Stephen, her husband'f friend. The writing was stiff, though the setting and symbolism were cool, and for most of the story I was convinced it was going nowhere. 

    But then the ending changed my mind. The twist combining madness and reality was brilliant and horrifying. It made the story unequivocally Gothic (I had been questioning whether it could be classified that way, since there was no manor and no supernatural for most of the story) and far more impactful than I was expecting. Much of the story had a dream-like quality to it, but the image of the frozen husband, paint on his hand, brought the story into a harsh reality that was really cool. 

    I think most of the story was set-up for the irony of the ending. The well-meaning, if simple husband who meets his awful fate. The overly pretentious (at least for her station) wife who finally realizes the error of her ways, a bit too late. The husband's best friend, youthful and a little sinister in his attraction. And the story was certainly effective in amalgamating the feeling of entrapment and that of moral helplessness. It would be very interesting to see how the story fits into the Gothic genre versus the genre of short stories written merely to display morals.

    I didn't love all of this story, but I''m so glad I stuck with it. For nothing more than the surprise of the ending, I would highly recommend his short story to anyone. 

Quotes

    “To him, it was not what he actually accomplished by means of the sacrifice that mattered, but the sacrifice itself, the gesture, something done for her sake." 

       This quote explains my creed around hard work so perfectly, though the context for the quote is less than flattering (it's about the simple, over-working husband who meets a very ill fate).