Ann murdered John. Through this parable Ann is constantly makes mistake after mistake and it leads to her pushing John away and out of her life. Ann should tell John how she feels and tell him what she wants in life instead of containing it inside her until she begins to hate the man she loves. Ann expects a great amount from John. She wants the perfect house, husband and life. Ann’s selfishness of wanting everything does not just kill her and John’s relationship but it kills John. First, Ann is knowingly making tons of mistakes. Ann is consistently tearing her and John’s relationship apart with the slip-ups she is making. After all she did fall into Steven’s arms the moment he walked through the door. Steven hugs Ann into …show more content…
him and Ann cozies into his arms (376). Ann should not be snuggling with Steven or any other man and especially a man she knows is not just her friend or neighbour. The story says, “Once she had danced with Steven six or seven times in the evening, and they had talked about it for as many months” (872). This information shows that she and Steven have a history from many months ago that they both still love to talk about. This proves that they have intimate feelings for each other because if they didn’t have these feeling then they would not still be talking about their night together and would not have even danced to begin with. Ann is even making mistakes without realizing it. “This time, instead of poise and excitement, it brought a reminder that she had changed her dress and rearranged her hair” (378). Why would a married woman get dolled up for a friendly neighbour? They wouldn’t. Ann has put on a different dress and is fixing up her hair for Steven, trying to catch Steven’s interest with her appearance. Ann continues to mess up because of the intimate feelings she holds for Steven. All these mistakes that Ann is creating are building up toward the result of Ann cheating on John, the most colossal mistake of all. Second, Ann cannot blame John for her actions because Ann has not tried to communicate with John. Ann wants John to change certain things about him but she hasn’t explained to him what she wants. Ann says, “He’ll be shaved though—that’s what I mean – and I’d like you to spend a little more time on yourself” (368). This isn’t enough information for John. Ann needs to tell him that she likes it best when he fixes himself up and not blame her reasoning for him to shave on Steven’s sake (368). Ann also complains about John working too much. “Seven years a farmer’s wife—it’s time I was used to staying alone” (367). If Ann wants John home that badly then she needs to let John know and not become frustrated with him for something he is not aware about. John believes that he needs to work hard to provide Ann with all she needs so that she will be happy. The book says, “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” (371). John only works so hard because it is his way of showing his love to her. Ann holds high expectations for John and how her life should be. She says, “He wanted a mortgage-free farm; then a new house and pretty clothes for her. Sometimes, because with the best of crops it was going to take so long to pay off anyway, she wondered whether they mightn’t better let the mortgage wait a little” (370). This shows that Ann doesn’t want to wait to get her pretty clothes and a nice house. She wants it soon but she doesn’t want to bring that up to John. For a woman who is lonely and wants John around more she doesn’t communicate well. Ann needs to bring up her issues to John so that her and John can discuss the matter and come up with a solution to make both of them happy. Instead of being upset with John, Ann must communicate with John to make him aware about her unhappiness so that he can try and fix it. Third, Ann’s selfishness has put a large damper on their marriage.
Ann is a negative person who is trying to fill her emptiness with constant wants and desires. Ann desires a perfect house, clothes, social life and husband. Ann explains how John wants to pay off their mortgage before he makes anymore investments on things like a new house and clothes (370). John is doing what is best for them financially and all Ann can do is complain about it. Ann wants John to work hard to supply her with all her wants and needs, she wants him home more to keep her occupied, wants him to dance with her and socialize with others and she wants him to keep his appearance up. Ann asks too much of John. Ann states, “Maybe he’ll come again, and some other young people too. It’s what we need, both of us, to help keep ourselves young...” (370). Ann doesn’t like the thought of growing older; she is focused on staying and feeling young. Since Ann feels this way she presumes John does too, that John is as miserable as her. Instead John is very happy and content with his life. The story explains, “He was a slow, unambitious man, content with his farm and cattle, naively proud of Ann” (367). Clearly John is happy with how he is living and if Ann wants to feel younger then she should be out with other women making friends to keep her feeling younger, not dancing with other men. Ann is so selfish to the point of where she is jealous of John spending time with his own father and not her. “It isn’t right for you to leave me here alone. Surly I’m as important as your father” (366). Ann snaps at John, John cares about his father and wants to stop into his house to make sure he is okay and has all the supplies he needs before the storm. For Ann to make a statement like that to John about his father is ignorant. The worst act of selfishness through the entire parable is Ann not thinking about John’s feelings. Ann says multiple times through the story about how she feels but does not once mention
John’s feelings. For instance, “Once she had danced with Steven six or seven times in the evening, and they talked about it for as many months” (372). She speaks of how they had such a fun time together and mentions how John never danced but she doesn’t think or speak about how John might feel about her dancing with another man all night. Through this story Ann thinks of nobody’s feelings but her own. She never thinks about how John might feel and that is why their marriage has failed. Not because of John or Steven but because of her and her own selfishness and ignorance. Ann thinks about nobody but herself, she will not communicate or try to fix things and Ann is continuing to create poor decisions. All of these factors have contributed to her cheating on her loving husband John. Ann doesn’t kill John physically. She brutally destroys him in his heart and mind making him feel that he has nothing left to live for so he kills himself. Ann doesn’t murder John. She has shattered his heart and soul and that is much worse.
Written by: Faith Ryer