The lore of the small town of Spoon River is filled with tragedies and horrific stories about the lives of the innocent and the guilty. Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters, contains epitaphs which are connected interpersonally in many scandals. The reader can see the different perspectives of the characters in the same situation and how their decisions lead to their fates and the fates of others. Though some stories may seem empathizing, there are specific details in the texts that reveal the characters’ true colors. Some of the characters' eventual negative outcomes were accidental, while others were fully conscious of their actions. The series of devastating events, driven by irrational decisions the characters made, led to the unfortunate …show more content…
Minerva Jones is an example of an individual blinded by love. Minerva was emotionally damaged by childhood bullying for her appearance. She describes herself as having a “heavy body, cock-eye, and rolling walk” (Line 3), which in turn, creates an insecurity. When Minerva describes in her epitaph how she “thirsted for love” (Line 11), she is indicating a strong desire for finding true love, because she lacks positive attention from people. Unfortunately, Minerva explains how she fell in love with Butch Weldy and becomes pregnant with him when she claims, “Butch Weldy captured me after a brutal hunt. He left me to my fate with Doctor Myers,” (Lines 4-6). Minerva’s desperation to seek love causes her to ignore her brain and follow her heart. Butch Weldy’s manipulation played a major role in Minerva’s fate. Butch takes advantage of Minerva knowing she is in despair for love, uses her for pleasure, and heartlessly leaves her to bear her pregnancy …show more content…
Butch Weldy is an example of how Karma found its way to him after his period of ruining lives. Butch Weldy’s epitaph is about a day at his work and a tragic event that took place. His job is to “fill the tank in the yard with gasoline” (Line 3-40), and to do this he must mount “a rickety ladder” (Line 7). The details Butch gives about his job show irony and correlation to his past. The irony is expressed through him putting himself at risk by climbing a ladder, similarly mistreating others, building up a bad reputation, and pouring gas into the fire also shows irony in the building up of the fire. Karma strikes when Butch Weldy reveals how he “came down with both legs broken” (Line 12), and his “eyes burned crisp” (Line 13), after the tank exploded. Butch’s fueling the fire job resembles his constant trouble with other people. The incident at his job was the end of his trouble, which relates back to karma. Dora is another example of how Karma played a role in this story. When Dora was heartbroken by Reuben, she never found true love again. She rather found happiness in marrying wealthy men and killing them to obtain their money. She describes how she met a drunk man and married him, but later she explains, “they found him dead”. That made me rich” (Line 5-6). After pulling off many scandals with other rich men, she eventually gets poisoned by one of the men and dies. Similarly to