Responding to "The Woman of the House"
Choose one of the following questions and answer in a 150 to 200 word paragraph.
1. Explore a social or ethical issue raised in the writing. Judge the behaviour of the characters or the views of the author. Are they right or wrong in your opinion?
2. Tell about how you feel toward this writing or its author and why.
3. Write about something that surprised you, angered you, delighted you, or evoked any strong reaction as you were reading. Write about anything that stays on your mind after reading
18 comments:
William Trevor paints us a vivid world in his story, “The Woman of the House.” His first description of the farmhouse has one of the painters looking at “the gray, cracked flags of the kitchen floor”; next we find the house hasn’t been painted in nineteen years! There is real world humour in having his character, the crippled man, believe the Gypsy painters are both Polish and “good Catholic lads.” Whatever smooths the waters! But there is intrigue, too, in Trevor’s story. What Martina has done is given to us through the eyes of the two brothers who note the grass “had been crushed and recovered” and that “bright-colored seed packets [were] marking the empty rows” of a freshly turned garden. Having the crippled man’s death happen offstage, but observed through men who need to be observant to survive, delights me--subtle, but somehow more devastatingly effective. Poor Martina and her evil, but understandable, deed leaves me wondering what I might do in the same situation. When fate takes us to “a lonely place,” what might anyone do?
—178 words
Oct/ 02 / 2010
The Woman of The House
When i read the story, “ The woman of the house,” by William Trevor , first i felt sorry for Martina because she is stuck with the guy , who was in a wheelchair and that was drunk. Poor Martina was making money and running her life very lonely , but ”The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” That was not the end of the story , when i read the whole story , i was shocked that she was behind on his pension . She was so impatient that her anger got out of control and she couldn’t wait any longer . The situation in this story was really different . The farmhouse wasn’t painted or repaired in nineteen years.The cripple man hired two Gypsy men to paint the house . I am thinking how can a woman live in that broken down house ? At first i didn’t trust the Gypsy men because they were paying too much attention to Martina’s life then their job , but at the end of the story i trusted the Gypsy men more then Martina . I found out that she was greedy ,but the the Gypsy men were trying to find out the truth .
-- 201 words
-Question 3:
“Whoa! How can she kill her cousin?” My reaction after I’ve read the story, “Woman of the House.” But of course, we, as readers don’t know for sure that she, Martina kills her cousin, but there are many clues, or hints that she kills her cousin because when the main character, Martina, kills her cousin just to get his money, and after she kills the crippled man, her cousin, she flees the house. And that makes me angry and curious at the same time because she gets away from murdering her cousin. And the fact that two painters cannot say anything, even though they see everything. Especially, when after they search the garden and leave the clear evidence mark, “in . . . had been crushed and had recovered.” Of course, I know how she must have felt on how the crippled man, her cousin, treats her. But that doesn’t need end up by killing her cousin, or can she?
-164 words.
The short story “Woman of the House” was interesting because of the ways the characters personalities, with their dynamic interactions, where presented. William Trevor takes us on a ride of intrigue and mystery that leaves the reader hanging and wanting more. Martina, the long-time abused and self-conscious caregiver’s living (if you could call it that) arrangement with the intolerably drunk and argumentative crippled man gives us a bitter look into her day to day hardship. She is committed to him out of sheer poverty and despair, without him, where would she be? Then there are the two brothers, with their free-wheeling, nomadic lifestyle. They serve as counterpoint to Martina’s life of “prisoner of circumstance.” They give me the impression of constantly changing and living (in the truest sense) without compromise or restriction; even still, they are challenged with their own issues of poverty and a typical gypsy stereotype hanging over their heads. The way Trevor sets up the reader to realize that first impressions do not always give the big picture was something I got from the story’s non-ending; never underestimate human’s will to change their life for the better or worse.
- 192 words
After reading the story “The Woman of the House” by William Trevor, I pondered over the characters` survival thoughts. Trevor describes vividly how “[they] would deprive them of their freedom.” The crippled man was physically restrained and his illness incapacitated him from doing any social activities, however, he wished to be recognized. Apparently, the men`s painting skills were not important to the crippled man. Their appearance itself was meaningful to him because Martina couldn`t be a reliable life partner. Martina was desperate before she joined the farmhouse due to “a careless marriage.” Children would have been “a center for her life,” but it had been replaced by money. She was greedy for money. She needed money for her new life beyond the poverty without the crippled man. However, the men were unwanted visitors for Martina because she didn`t want to have any witness in the desolate place. For the men, being outsider, their freedom was confined by social status: “their lives were what they had become.” Despite being poor, It surprised me that they hadn`t touched the money. They were “hoping for an improvement” of their future and the weather as painters.
192 words
Every Individual has the freedom to make their own decisions in life, and can only blame them selves for the path they've chosen. William Trevor's story “ The Women of the House” is set up in a way to make you feel understanding for Martina and her unthinkable actions. Trevor uses different points of view to unveil Martina's character in a delicate way. He puts the reader in Martina's shoes, which gives you the impression she has no control over her poverty stricken uneventful life; when in actuality Martina had made the decision to come to the farm after a “distant relative had suggested the union.” Although there were other options for the crippled man, such as a home, Martina's own selfish agenda to inherit his pension lead her to the farm. The point of view of the story is switched to the two men at the appropriate time in order to limit our knowledge of Martina's true character and the evil with in her. Its seems that Trevor agrees with the two men and their understanding perspective towards Martina murdering the crippled man. I believe people are products of their environment, but good or bad, you always have choices, and are able to direct your life to the place you want to be.
---215 words
One ethical issue that I’ve observed from the story is the personality traits of being a “user” or having a “relationship with benefits”, which evolves around the characters. There is no involvement of concern, mercy, love, and loyalty which we commonly observed from true friends. It’s all about traitorous act and bribery. A crippled man’s character is more likely the victim. He used his wealth to attract Martina’s interest on him, thinking she would love him. He was never happy. Instead, he was exploited and suspiciously killed. For Martina, as long as she survives she will use the resources from other people that surround her. She doesn’t care even if her morals are already at risk. The Gypsies used “white lies” to survive and protect their identity as illegal immigrants. They are not the antagonist; the author used them as a tool on how Martina evolves in the story. The older painter said, “She will have found courage, and know we are no threat”. Even given the chance to break into the house and take Martina’s cash, they still choose to be faithful. Due to poverty each of the characters struggled to survive and that led them into wrong acts.
-200 words
Challenging life
It is surprising how people can still live after going through so many sacrifices. In the story “The Woman of the House” by William Trevor, the main character Martina goes through many difficulties. First, she lives in the house that is “badly cracked flags of the kitchen floor” and it had not been painted over nineteen years. Second she has to take care of old “crippled man.” The worst thing is that he controls her: he “want[s] the list [of stuff that she was supposed to buy] back, and the receipt, and tells her to “come in and keep [him] warm,” even though she is not his wife. Last, even after killing this “crippled man,” ( it does not clearly say that she killed him in the story, but there are some point that refers or makes reader think that she killed him) she can not live freely. She is going to be the reason of mans death. Now she is an old lonely depressed woman living in an old farmhouse. Overall, it amazed me how she lived before and will live after.
-183 words
Believe it or not every person’s lives full of challenges. In the story, “The Women of the House” by William Trevor, Martina is also one of them. She faces many difficulties in her daily life. Martina is the centre of the story. I felt sorry for her because she was a poor, helpless, and lonely. She lived with her cousin “the crippled man” in a very old farmhouse, which wasn’t painted from last nineteen years. Martina was depressed because “a careless marriage had fallen apart, leaving her homeless” and remorse for her life. Martina’s cousin was a rich person as well as cheap. He was worried about his money. Every time Martina bought something “He wanted the list back, and the receipt.” She was just like a caretaker for his house. Martina has everything which he had but she can’t spend anything without his permission. I felt sorry for her when she says “she might have done better if children had been there to make a center for her life.” Martina missed her lives important role as a mother. At the end of the story, “the crippled man” death was a "mystery." After his death, "pension" may be belongs only to Martina I "guess."
-----200words
Reading “The Woman of the House” by William Trevor is a long trip of my feeling. I am shocked by the ending and touched by the two brothers. At the beginning of the story, they seemed a little mysterious and undesirable to the readers for they “pretend not to understand” and “not saying anything, only nodding and gesturing.” What’s more, they lied about their nationality, argued with the crippled man and asked for payment by cash. But as the story moves on, we come to know more about their honesty and hardworking. They were asked to “reach in for the money” but they only took the sum that they agreed on, and “working quickly to make up for lost time.” When they discovered that the woman had killed her cousin, they did nothing, leaving “the money untouched” and hoped the woman “found the courage, and know we are no threat”. Their concern and understanding to the woman go beyond their age. I am sure that every reader will be impressed by their doing and wish them a better life and great future, since they are the hope of the world.
As i read the story "The Woman of the House" by William Trevor, i learned that the story is about the changes in life. Trevor wants us to look at life in different situations that can change which is shown in the characters' personalities in the story. The crippled man who is stuck up on one place at the old house enjoys his life by drinking whiskey. Martina, who lives with the crippled man, tries to survive and be patient with him. Then the two Gypsies try to live better by getting a job. At life, we sometimes change for some reasons like Martina. She becomes impatient to the crippled man which leads to selfishness and killed him for the want of his pension. Also, we don't want to get involve into something that is not related to us and that's what the two Gypsies did. Even thought they saw the dead crippled man, they just ignore it and move on. In real life, we have choices to make, either it is positive or negative, which will tell us what's on our future
-184 words
“The Woman of the House” is an interesting story. In the story, William Trevor reveals the characters to struggle same problem— survival. For the two young, “survival as they were was their immediate purpose.” Facing this problem, they learn the various skills and ways to adapt the jobs they look for. Martina, she also wants money to survive, so she is deal with her cripple cousin, taking care of his life, and after he dies, she will inherit his legacy. However, because the cripple man doesn’t trust her, she is not feeling of safety. She has a wrong relationship with the butcher to deceive the cripple man’s money. The cripple man restricts to a wheel chair and suffers the physically agony. For survival, he has to use whisky and aspirins relieve his pain. In addition, he wants people pay attention him because, in Carragh, “often people assumed that [the cripple man] had died.” This is why he determines to pain his old house even though he never goes outside anymore. From these characters’ description, I think surviving is not easy for everyone, whatever the positive or negative choice, people choose for their reasons.
194 words
After reading “The Woman of the House”, written by William Trevor, I’m baffled by the crippled man’s attitude toward Martina. He wants to control every penny she spends, so she even prostitutes herself in order to make and save money. He is so alcoholic and frail that it takes her a lot of efforts to take care of him. The crippled man seems rude to Martina, but he hires the gypsy brothers to paint the house; she has not wheeled him outside to enjoy the view for years, does he have anything to do with the farmhouse’s new look? Maybe the answer is that he does it for Martina, for he feels guilty for making her stuck with him for almost twenty years. His curiosity about the origin of her name indicates that he cares about her. However, Martina probably kills the crippled man so she can inherit his wealth. It’s understandable that she can no longer stand being with her disabled cousin, but there must be other ways to solve the problem besides murder, such as moving him to “a room that’s better for him.” The article raises the question of how to handle one’s relationship with others. (199 words)
I read “The Woman of the House” with great interest. What attract and surprise me most are the Gypsy brothers’ intriguing personality and their “wandering” lifestyle. When the crippled man began bargaining with them, they kept silent, “only nodding and gesturing.” They cheated him by pretending “not to understand” despite the fact that “they had never painted a house before.” Their dishonesty didn’t affect the crippled man’s agreement to pay them by cash. Later on, they started their painting but had to suspend it, staying out during a period of bad weather. When they returned, the crippled man was astonishingly beyond their “fruitless” “reconnoiter,” they were “bewildered by the strangeness” about Martina, worrying whether she would agree to pay them or not. On realizing the crippled man’s death, they still remained silent. To my astonishment, they didn’t touch Matina’s money but began their “undisturbed” painting again, and they “guessed and wondered, supposed, surmised," cherishing fond illusions that “Tomorrow she would pay for the painting.” Definitely, they would continue their journey of life at ease just for “survival.” The end of the story changes my attitude towards the Gypsy brothers, from disgust to sympathy.
---193 words
William Trevor’s short story “The Women of the House” has left me puzzled and wanting more. As an author he gave us many good hints on the fact that Martina killed her cousin, although he never said it. Her actions and her guilty conscious would be one of the clues that the author had given us. When the crippled man was gone, Martina’s behaviour changed. She was never around the house when the painters came to work. “Hurrying because she wanted to leave before the men came, she locked the house and banged the car door she’d left open.” After reading the story I had many opinions about Martina. I felt many different ways about her character; I tried to put myself in her position and ask would I do the same? Being stuck in a household with an abusive, controlling, alcoholic cousin for many years would have driven me crazy but, I wouldn’t go to the extent that she did. The fact that she killed the crippled man didn’t really solve any of the problems she was dealing with like being fifty-years-old, single, and no kids. I think her greed took the best of her and the story has made me strongly believe the saying, “Money is the root of all evil.”
--218 words
The Woman of the House
William Trevor sets his story, "The Woman of the House", in a neglected farmhouse in Irish countryside. Two wondering Gypsies, not discouraged by the remote access, are looking for a cash job. A crippled man who stays in the house all of his days hires them to pain the house, ironically from outside where his eyes never venture. He lives with Martina, his cousin, who moved in twenty years ago as “another distant relative had suggested the union” which solved her homelessness and lack of income. She has endured his abuse, heavy drinking and accounted for every penny spent. Martina never talks about her crippled companion, actually, “often people assumed that had had died”. Even he knows that she is attracted only to his pension and to the “legal stipulation: in time she would inherit”. The routine controlled life changes while the hired painters do their job. Wittily, they observe the switch in atmosphere from argumentative to spookily quiet. They notice Martina’s withdrawal in contrast with the chatty and interested lady they had initially met. The discovery that “the crippled man was not in his chair” and suspicious fresh flowerbeds leads them to conclusion: he is dead; she is frightened. Although Martina and the brothers are poor and make do, Martina is imprisoned in her choices to live on the farmhouse, with a dead body in its garden, but the Gypsies are free to go, their consciousness clean of greediness.
(240 words)
William Trevor's story "The Woman of the House," was a great read although it left me puzzled. The multiple signs that Trevor gives us in the story point to Martina killing her manipulative cousin, altough his cause of death was never revealed. After avoiding the painters for so long, they made sure to talk to her while she was in her car, "...she wound the window down although she hadnt wanted to." After their confrontation, I was almost certain she killed him, because she said that the crippled man was in another room, even though the painter did not say a word. A reason for her dodging the "polish" painters I believe is that she assimilates her to them. In the beggining of the story Trevor revealed that Costigan uses her, " his hands all over her." She feels disstressed that the painters can make an honest living while being immigrants, and she has to sell herself in her native land to make money. This ties in with her possibly having killed the crippled man, because he is spending the money on things she feels is unnecessary, in this case painting the house.
(193 words)
William Trevor in his story “The Woman of the House,” used some ruses that impressed, shocked, and cheated me in the way of narrating the story, and Martina’s behavior. He mentioned that the two brothers were “Gypsies,” which made me not trust them and more when they maneuvered to “pretend not to understand,” to get more money for painting. But, as the story evolved, my impression shifted slowly when they didn’t take money from the crippled man, and they worked faster to “Make up for lost time,” which indicates they were honest even though they knew where the money was, but “The money untouched,” which made me not judging people by appearance any more. However, Trevor cheated me more especially, when Martina (the main character) was behind the scene, and the brothers were the screen to wonder if they were the main characters or not. In the same way, Trevor drew Martina’s character, who was a meticulous, care-giving, and had some lapses in her life like a “Careless marriage,” but not being dangerous to the crippled man until the end of the story, which was brimming with surprise and shock to me when the crippled man died to let me think that she killed him. However, I feel compassion for her and I’m afraid of being Martina one day when cruel life and circumstances control me.
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