The Lamp At Noon, written by Sinclair Ross, is the story of a farming family and their struggles to make ends meet during the Great Depression. The soil is barren, the weather refuses to cooperate and Ellen is frustrated and afraid. Her husband Paul is stubborn and refuses to leave the ailing farm, even though he is scared for his family. This theme of fear, in The Lamp At Noon, is clearly evident in Paul's apprehension to change and Ellen's dread, of wasting away her life and the life of her child on the struggling farm. Inevitably, the fear that Ellen and Paul both possess, leads to the devastating outcome of the short story.

Paul's fear of change in the story is evident when he refuses to leave the farm, which in turn leads to the death of his son. Ellen describes the farmland as "Thistles and tumbleweeds" (Ross 22). Yet, even though the farm situation seems hopeless, Paul refuses to leave and move to the city. Ellen keeps telling Paul that her father will give him a job. Sadly, since Paul has no "Trade or education" (Ross 23) he feels as if he wouldn't be able to support his family and would be, "Living off [Ellen's] people's charity" (Ross 23). He believes that future crops would be "Worth waiting for" (Ross 23). Due to his unmoving stance, he forced Ellen to run away into the dust storm with their young child. Tragically, due to all the dust that was around them, Ellen clutches her child close to her and forlornly, suffocates the baby to death.

Ellen's desire to leave the barren farmland is a key indicator in the tragic outcome of the story. Not being able to survive on the desolate farm any longer, Ellen is forced to take matters into her own hands. She tries desperately to convince Paul to leave and when he refuses, the unbearable anger she holds for the situation gets out of control and beings to hesitantly nip away at her sanity. By being forced to live a doomed life on a failing farm, Ellen's entire life falls apart. When she runs off into the dust storm, with "The child clasped tightly in her arms" (Ross 31), you finally see the outcome of her fear and anger. In the end, Ellen goes insane and devastatingly kills her baby unknowingly.

Finally, Ellen's hope to save her son by leaving the farm is the final step in the heart wrenching ending of The Lamp At Noon. All Ellen wanted to do was save her son from all the hardships she was facing in her life as a farmer. She even stated she did not want to hold him for fear he would, "Contract pneumonia" (Ross 22). After her last fight with Paul, she realized that he would never change and that they would surely die out in the "Desert" (Ross 22) they called home. Her child would never grow up to have an education, nice clothing or proper nutrition, which drove her insane over a period of time. By rushing out in a desperate attempt to free them both, Ellen, in a means to protect her boy from the lethal dust, unknowingly suffocates him.

Truly fear does lead to tragedy, such is the case of Ellen and Paul. Even though their fears were intertwined, each separate fear culminated into a huge orgy of chaos and disaster. Whether it was Paul's stubborn attitude on moving away or Ellen's desire to save herself and her child, The Lamp At Noon poignantly reveals the devastating effects fear can have on people.

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