Who Is The Antagonist In The Painted Door

Repression – the rejection and concealing of a thought or desire. The protagonists of Jack Hodgins’ “By the River” and Sinclair Ross’ “The Painted Door” both deal with conflicts by repressing them. Each story is told in a limited omniscient point of view. This provides the thoughts of the protagonists while maintaing a detached perspective. By seeing inside Crystal Styan and Ann’s head, it becomes evident at the way each represses their conflicts. Ann represses her moral obligations as a faithful wife opposed to her needs as a woman. Crystal Styan represses the truth of her husband’s disappearance, expecting Jim to return someday despite the fact that he has been gone for over six months. Both women’s repression is heavily supported by the use of punctuation and repetition. Sinclair Ross significantly uses more dashes in his work than Jack Hodgins. This provides insight on the character’s differences. Ann from “The Painted Door” struggles with an internal conflict between her opposing desires and …show more content…
“But listen, she thinks, it’s nearly time” (Hodgins 179) is stated in three separate instances within the story. Each time, Styan abruptly shifts back to reality. The repetition shows the identical loop that seems to occur again and again. She is stuck in a perpetual state of denial. Hodgins utilizes this to give a sense as if the events in the story have happened before. Repetition is also used in “The Painted Door”; however, it is seen much more sparsely. The phrase “I’m a fool” (Hodgins 369) is repeated several times within the same page. It is hinted that she is likely to do something foolish by calling her a fool repeatedly. This acts as foreshadowing to Ann’s later affair. The repeated phrases and sentences reflect Styan’s cycling life while it is used to enhance foreshadowing for