Character Analysis Of John In The Painted Door

John is a character portrayed in Sinclair Ross’s short story “The Painted Door.” He is a middle-aged farmer who enjoys his time on the farm. Also, John has a “hulking body” (Ross 3), hardworking hands and a full beard during the winter. One of John's strengths is he is physically fit, which allows him to work in extreme conditions. In fact, with a storm brewing John decided to walk seventeen miles to check on his father in the bitter cold (Ross 5). From this, it can be inferred that John had the physique to walk in the snow or otherwise he would never have suggested checking on his father knowing he could not do it. As well as it was an altruistic act to put others before himself as family is an important value to him. In addition, as John

John also did not let the fear of the cold stop him from giving his word despite being aware of the dangers of returning because he values family above anything else. Moreover, John is a determined man who is committed to the challenges he takes upon. One of John’s desires was to have a mortgage-free farm and to achieve it he “[slaved] away fifteen hours a day” (Ross 3). To work fifteen hours each day without giving one's body rest shows commitment as many people are not able to work a day without procrastinating. However, John did not let the exhaustion keep him from working toward his goals. John worked all day because his way of expressing love was acts of

During the wintertime when the work was slow on the farm John would “[hurry] his food and [push] his chair away again, from habit from sheer working instinct” (Ross 4). Readers can understand from this that, while having the ability to take time off work, John has no idea what else to do. Moreover, him constantly living the same lifestyle even when he is not working has caused him to miss time when he might spend quality time with his wife and experience the world, which provides him with greater fulfillment. Also, through his lifestyle readers can view that John enjoys living his life in a simple manner as he is an introvert. In addition, John never talked much as well when Ann and John would go out “John never danced enjoyed himself” (Ross 4). This shows that John never enjoyed a social setting and for this reason he was never able to come to enjoy himself with his wife in a social setting. He also had difficulty communicating since he lived his life simply, according to his ideals and caring for his