The Painted Door PPP

Canadian Short Fiction
The Painted Door

By Sinclair Ross
English 30-1
Unit 3: Responding to Adversity
Miss Isherwood
Peace Wapiti Academy
Adapted from:
mcdougall.rockyview.ab.ca/Members/.../the-painted-door/.../file
Who was Sinclair Ross?

James Sinclair Ross was born
in 1908 on a homestead near
Shellbrook, Saskatchewan.
When he was seven, his
parents separated, and he
lived with his mother on a
number of different farms
during his childhood.
He left school after Grade 11
and in 1924 the sixteen-yearold Ross joined the Union
Bank of Canada, which
became part of the Royal
Bank of Canada a year later.
Continued . . .
At first he worked in a number of small towns in
Saskatchewan then moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in
1933 and Montreal, Quebec in 1946, after spending
four years in the Canadian Army during World War II.
He would remain with the Royal Bank until his
retirement in 1968, after which he spent some time
in Spain and Greece before moving to a nursing
home in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he lived
until his death.
He died in 1996 after battling Parkinson's Disease,
and was buried in Indian Head. At the end of his life,
his homosexuality became public knowledge, thanks
in large part to Keath Fraser's controversial 1997
biography As For Me and My Body: A Memoir of
Sinclair Ross.
On his writing . . .
Their [the pieces of fiction] wellcrafted structures and precise images
have brought many readers to
appreciate Ross's work. In them, he
presented a theme that remained a
preoccupation: intellectual isolation.
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/articl
e/sinclair-ross/
Characters Ann
She struggles with her marriage:
Feels that her marriage lacks passion,
change and is not challenging.
She is frustrated that John never talks and
he seems to enjoy the isolation. He is
constantly working and does not need
company.
Ann admits she is attracted to Steven,
which makes her feel alive and womanly.
This is opposite of all that John represents.
Characters Ann and

Steven
Steven is a constant reminder of what Johns
not!
John has abandoned her in order to care for his
father; however, Steven is able to take care of her.
Ann and Steven are in a situation where they believe
they wont get caught, and Stevens presence
confirms Anns feelings and thoughts in the situation.
This situation is an opportunity for Steven

Ann doesnt matter to him, as she is just a conquest
and he knows that nothing will come from their affair.
He is described as having no passion/emotion or
guilt.
Characters Ann and

John
After her adulterous actions, Ann
realizes that what John offered her
was real and true.
The affair with Steven needed to
happen for her to appreciate John;
however, Ann is never able to make
amends with John.
John vs. Steven
John vs. Steven

Steven appears to be attractive and
sensual, but her perception of him is
only superficial.
John is the real thing and Ann wants to
maintain her attraction to her husband,
which is clearly presented through her
plea to get John to shave in order to
appear more like Steven.
These characters provide an obvious
foil in The Painted Door.
Point of View
The third-person omniscient point of
view provides the inner thoughts and
feelings for both Ann and John at the
start, but once John leaves, Anns
perspective is the only one explored
until the end.
Steven is never given a voice in this
story.
Symbols are used

throughout the story to
demonstrate Anns
loneliness and moral
dilemma of infidelity in
adverse circumstances.
Symbols
White paint:
Represents Anns attempt to lighten this dark isolated
space. The colour is one of innocence and purity, which
is only a superficial covering.
An attempt to cover the past with something that looks
new
Change
Clock ticking:
-Represents John, as it is
constant and reliable. It
also reminds Ann of the
isolation and emphasizes
the silence, as well as her
guilt.
-Shows time passing and
increases Anns anxiety.
Fire crackling:
-Represents
Anns passion
for Steven, as
it creates
warmth and
establishes a
seductive
mood.
Snow Storm:
-Represents the internal struggle Ann is facing

-Also parallels their broken relationship: its the
reason why he left and the reason why he doesnt
return
Setting
Outer Landscape:
They live in an isolated
location, which is cold and
bleak.
The outer landscaper is
parallel to the inner
landscape, for it mirrors
the isolated, cold and
bleak conditions inside.
The conditions represent
the detached feeling both
Ann and John are
avoiding, which is
paralleled to the storm.
The mood starts off calm,
but spins into turmoil,
only to return to a calm
setting.
Settings often
possess a symbolic
dimension. . . [in
Canadian
Literature] the
Prairies [are] a land
of isolation and
acquisition.
Courtesy of
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/ar
ticle/literature-in-english/
Themes in Canadian
Literature
Its often debated whether its possible to define a Canadian literary
identity. Canadian novels, short stories and poetry are often categorized by
their content, setting and their respective authors ethnicity. Whether a
given writer was born in Canada and how long a writer has lived in Canada
are common factors determining how Canadian a literary work is. . .
There were attempts to facilitate a nationalist sentiment in Canadian
literature, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. . . . the surge in Canadian
nationalism at this time was largely due to an increasing anti-American
sentiment stemming from the Vietnam War. Furthermore, Canadians were
also undergoing a cultural revolution in response to the possibility of
Quebec separatism. At this time, Canadian writers tried to establish a set of
themes and characteristics that were believed to define CanLit. Most
notable of these attempts was Margaret Atwoods 1972 book entitled
Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, where she famously
asserted that the central symbol of Canada is undoubtedly
survival.
-http://queensjournal.ca/story/2010-03-19/supplement/canlit-conundrum/
Themes
Isolation/Loneliness/Alienatio
n: Survival in the adverse
circumstances created by our
environment (As is common
in CanLit)
Persistence
Discovering ones identity
Adultery

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Canadian Short Fiction

The Painted Door

Who was Sinclair Ross?

Characters Ann and

This situation is an opportunity for Steven

Characters Ann and

John vs. Steven

John vs. Steven

Symbols are used

-Represents the internal struggle Ann is facing

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