Isolation In Ann's Home

The natural landscape and the setting of the story serve as a metaphor for Ann’s sense of isolation. The location of John and Ann’s house is in an isolated setting, therefore miles away from any possible sign of life. The “snow” around the house, like an “impassable trap” encloses their house, confining them physically. The barren, unlively, “snowswept farmyard” further surrounds them every winter, leaving Ann and John to be each other’s only sense of human connection. Not only does the natural landscape depict Ann’s physical isolation, but also her emotional state of mind. The upcoming storm mimics the one slowly coming over her mind challenging her relationship with John. Unlike John, Ann observes the “double wheel” drawing closer near their …show more content…
Not knowing what, but something about the “slow, unambitious man”, kindles a warm flame in Ann’s mind; one that she must protect from the blizzard. With now “mile-deep” distance between them and the “encroaching chill” creeping into her spine, Ann is able to grasp the reality that she is left alone with her thoughts and “the ever-lurking silence”. In order to distract herself from the “frozen silence”, she takes this opportunity to paint, leaving her less time to “brood”. The “white”, flawless paint with a tint of “turpentine” appears to be merely a coat to cover the problems between Ann and John that to a great extent both refuse to admit. Despite her doubt of what another coat of paint can do, Ann paints the door “[precisely]” reassuring herself that she’s a “fool” for letting the “[bitterness]” come over her and that the issues between her and John needed simply a matter of time. She hopes, with every stroke of the brush, that the “white paint” might revive the purity in their marriage. As the storm outside begins to turn into “snakelike little tongues of snow”, Ann’s thoughts begin to