“The Lamp at Noon” by Sinclair RossThe story “The Lamp at Noon” takes place in a dried up, unfertile desert. Dust storms are causing health problems for the family.
The setting is crucial to create the dark and sad atmosphere of the story because it was all about the fact that there is something wrong with the place that it dried out their farm which caused them to suffer. Which also creates a mood of being dull, lonely and monotonous.The couple, Ellen and Paul, has been arguing about what they're going through. Ellen begs her husband to leave the place and stay at the city where they can get more decent clothes and food to eat. But Paul didn't want to leave because he still believes that the soil is still fine for farming, that one day the storm will stop and the sunlight will come back. The author chooses to close the story with a positive statement because it teaches a moral lesson to someone who have a big ego that doesn't consider any alternative options for his family to survive.
The storm and his family, served as the tragedy that taught him a lesson to consider the people and the opportunities around him. Though he showed a strong faith to the farm that one day it’ll all be fine. In my opinion, I wouldn't think the story would end in a positive way because in reality, the wife is going to end up leaving him in no time. The last part of the story, she attempted leave the house and by the time Paul found them, the storm stopped. It'd be a peculiar coincidence."Ashes For the Wind" by Hero TellezSome significant symbols in the story are the wind, oil and the pile of dirt squished down.
The wind symbolizes how things can never go back once it's been blown away. Oil symbolizes as the feed to the fire. Like in reality, the government use the 'goodness and security' as a fuel to the people to get their trust and their votes for elections.The dirt symbolizes the family, they were described as the dirt by the government because they're under their power and they can't really do anything about it. Since the government see them only as a dirt, they can just squish them with no sweat.
Fire symbolizes as the family's bravery and an act of perseverance. Fire is usually seen as a distraction but in the story, it showed passion and a strong bond in one family that until the end they will never leave each other's side. Three instances contrast in the story:Character vs Society and government - Juan and his family was discriminated by people for voting the person who didn't win the election. That's why the government threatened them to clear out their house. He noticed that people treated them unfairly.
The unpleasant experience he had with the policeman who have a whip and some people refuses to sell him oil. He knew that he was in a bad situation that something bad is going on.The conflict Juan's facing made him have thins dilemma of whether they should obey the government's command or they should stay. However, he can't just give up all the sacrifices he just made just because he did one mistake, and also if they didn't leave they're going to die. But instead of leaving, they burned down the house, they didn't left at all. Although, they didn't try to fight back or lose hope, they found a way on how their family can still be a part of it.
