Emotional Themes Within Spoon River

Emotional Themes within Spoon River Imagine living in a town where every bad decision could have major consequences in the end. In the city of Spoon River, the townspeople make huge mistakes and it impacts their lives drastically. Also changes the towns view on one another and the end result of their actions will be extreme. Many of the townspeople in Spoon River make terrible decisions which will cause the downfall of many of them. Fear in Minerva Jones’ and Mrs. Meyers’s lives tragically affected them both in awful ways. One example of this is from Minerva when she hooked up with the town's player, Butch Weldy, and got surprisingly pregnant from it. “And I sank into death, growing numb from the feet up,” (Line 7). Overcome with fear, Minerva

The procedure was a failure, Minerva lost her life. Her desire for love ended up causing her to have fear and sent her into a frenzy that ultimately caused her to have a life-ending procedure. Also, another example of fear is in the character Mrs. Meyers, she is a character who lives in constant fear of her husband. “Blest with a congenial wife,” (Doctor Meyers 7). Congenial means obedient, which shows how Mrs. Meyers just listens to what her husband says and probably lives in fear of what her husband might do to her. After Doctor Meyers fails the surgery on Minerva, he sinks into irrelevance and is hated by the townspeople, also, Mrs Meyers fears for him and never once talks about her marriage or her thoughts and which fear ruined their marriage so she ends up wanting to find religion in the end. “Love God and keep His commandments.” (Line 11). In the end, fear can ruin people’s marriages and, in some cases, their lives. Karma ultimately led to the destruction within Butch Weldy and Dora Williams' lives. An example of this is from Butch Weldy, the town player who always hurts people and deserves

But later realizes that was a mistake and he longs for Mrs. Sparks. He goes out and parties every night and makes terrible decisions, he slowly realizes what he’s doing and when he is hooking up with a prostitute, he breaks down in tears and misses Emily Sparks. “And the black-eyed cocotte took the tears for her,” (Line 22). Reuben’s story is a very sad story but, Minerva Jones’ might be more tragic, she was always known around the town as not the prettiest and most charming person. But she longed for love and affection. “I thirst so for love.” (Line 11). One day she finally had the chance to love, Minerva hooks up with Butch Weldy. He took advantage of her, and she ended up getting pregnant and wanted to get an abortion because she was so ashamed of herself. She asked the town doctor, Mr. Meyers, to perform this illegal procedure. He did and she lost her life, “I hungered for life!” (Line 12). This longing for love ended up being the end for her. The conclusion of the two characters and their desire for love led to their destruction. The downfall of many townspeople in Spoon River was a result of their poor choices. Their poor choices were very tragic and caused significant