Characters
- Joe: He is the oldest brother. He is broad and handsome in a hot, flushed way. He had a black moustache and a red face. He had a sensual way of uncovering his teeth when he laughed. He felt he was down now. The horses were his life. They were almost like his own body. He felt his life was over now.
- Fred Henry: This was Mabels other brother. He was master of any horse, and he carried himself with a well-tempered air of mastery. He was very demanding of Mabel. He tells Mabel to go stay with there sister Lucy.
- Malcolm: He is the youngest of the family. He is younger than Mabel. He had a fresh, jaunty nose. He was only about twenty-two.
- Mabel: Is the sister of the three brothers. She is very upset with life right now. She is quite plain. She has no where to go. Her family has lost there business. She falls for a man named Jack Ferguson. She visits her mothers grave often. She feels this is where she needs to be. She had suffered badly during the period of poverty.
- Jack: Is the young doctor of the town. He at first has no clue why he is feeling love for Mabel. He repeats several times he does not love her.
Summary
This story is about a girl named Mabel who tries to commit suicide by drowning herself in a pond. Her family has lost their business and she has no where to go. Her brother Fred Henry tells her to go visit Lucy. Mabel does not want to. She believes she should be with their mother. A young doctor, Jack Ferguson, saves her. She then believes that he loves her. Although this idea never occurred to Jack, he begins to find that he indeed loves her.
However, Mabel thinks she is “too awful” to be loved, and finds that when Jack declares over and over that he wants her and that he loves her, she is more scared about that than of Jack not wanting her. So does Jack really love Mabel? Somehow, he is convinced that he is. I don’t think the idea of love or marriage ever occurred to him. When Mabel finds out that he saved her, she convinces herself that he loves her. “Do you love me, then?” she asks him. Then, more confidently, she says, “You love me. I know you love me, I know.”
The reason why I think she committed suicide is because she felt unloved at her home. Her father had recently died and her brothers were unkind to her. The father had left the family in debt, and the family will soon have to leave their house and move somewhere else. When asked which path she would pursue, she did not answer. I don’t think she had anything planned. She probably didn’t have a good education so there were few options for her.
Perhaps she felt overwhelmed with the pressure to decide what to do, and decided to commit suicide. Thus, when Jack Ferguson saves her, her hope in life is renewed and she convinces herself that Jack loves her. So why does Jack convince himself that he loves Mabel? Perhaps he has never felt love before. He didn’t want to at first, thinking it unprofessional, as he was a doctor, and she, his patient. No doubt he has spent much of his time on studies rather than girls. When they embrace, he feels he can never let go; until he smells “the horrid stagnant smell of that water” from the pond. Both seem to stop and draw away from each other.
Mabel had a wild, doubtful look about her; Jack could not interpret it. One reason he may have convinced himself that he loved her is because he did not like that look and wanted to stop it. “You love me?” she asks. He replies,”Yes.” When Jack leaves to go back to the surgery, he kisses her “with his heart’s painful kiss.” But she breaks down sobbing about how she is so awful. Jack tries to convince her that he loves her and wants to marry her. She is not convinced. “I feel awful. I feel I’m horrible to you.” “No, I want you, I want you.” he says with a strange intonation. This makes her even more scared.She realizes then that she really does not love him.
Response
I really liked this story. The best part is when Jack sees Mabel at the pond. The pond symbolizes the start of the love of Mabel and Jack. After they both go into the water, they come out falling in love with each other. The description of the pond suggests Jacks feelings for Mabel before they fell in love. Just by including something simple as a pond in this story, many ideas are created. Water symbolizes many things, such as baptism and rebirth. It is a natural element that can be used for many reasons. Using simple components like water, it produces concepts for readers.
The change of Mabels clothing represents her change of heart. She did not care for anyone before the incident in the pond had happened. This is a great way to end a story because it provides images and ideas of what will happen to them in the future. The change of clothes is a start of a fresh new life, and it suggests a happy ending for the two. By adding that symbol, the reader can imagine what will happen to Mabel and Jack later in their future.
