“The energy you give is what you receive”. This quote often illustrates the concept of karma, which is known as the idea of fate or destiny following as an effect of a certain cause. Spoon River Anthology is a collection of epitaphs that reveal the scandals of numerous residents, only disclosed after their deaths. These situations include scandals at workplaces, homes, and schools. The townspeople share their various biases and opinions on these events, which range from betrayals in love to life-and-death situations. Specific experiences are connected to the citizens who live in Spoon River. Arrogance is experienced by multiple citizens on multiple occasions. In Spoon River, a scandal occurs that forces Minerva Jones to construct an extreme …show more content…
The ultimate cause of her fate is her desire to feel loved and wanted. In the text it states, “And gather into a book the verses I wrote?-/ I thirsted so for love/ I hungered so for life!” (Line 10-12). Minerva's quote explains the reason she fell so quickly and easily into Butch’s manipulation. At the school at Spoon River, Reuben Pantier is a student. He falls in love with his teacher, Emily Sparks, but she feels the need to reject him due to the feeling of a student-teacher relationship being wrong. Later, after the decline, Reuben starts spiraling downward in his life, all while thinking of Emily. He states, “But my soul was three thousand miles away. / In the days you taught me in Spoon River./ And just because you no more could love me,” (Lines 17-19). Reuben's words show how much power the emotion of love can hold. His life takes on a whole different path due to the effect of Emily's rejection of his love for her. Throughout numerous Spoon River epitaphs, love is shown, but karma is also a recurring experience. Lastly, an experience a great deal of characters face is karma. Butch’ Weldy is a problematic person who causes much harm to