January
2009
Beginning – pg. 241
In many of the stories we have read, a character reaches their goal and it is then taken away, or it is never reached. Several of the poems in Spoon River Anthology follow this same idea. Doc Meyers recalls his life as blessed.
“I was good-hearted, easy Doctor Meyers
I was healthy, happy, in a comfortable fortune,
Blest with a congenial mate, my children raised,
All wedded, doing well in the world.” pg 12
However one night Minerva came into the Doctors office with a problem that Doc Meyers could not solve. From this point on the town forgot about how good a man Doc Meyers had been an instead began writing things and talking about his hand in killing Minerva. This persecution drove Meyers to phenomena and ultimately his death.
Similarly to Janie, Doc Meyers was only trying to live his life the way it had fallen and to both of them, it had worked out quite well. Janie was living comfortably with the man she loved and Doc Meyers had a respected job and position in the town as well as a loving family. However after a series of events the comfort had to come to an end as Janie was forced to kill Tea Cake and Doc Meyers was forced into a sickness after being blamed for a death. For a little while Janie was being blamed for murdering Tea Cake however she got out of punishment when Tea Cake’s condition was learned. Only in Minerva’s testimony do we hear the real side of the story that could have saved his job and therefore his life.
Is it in the nature of humans, especially the ones we see in Spoon River Anthology, to judge a person based on one specific event, and not put into perspective all the good they’ve done previously of after the event?
What about people who commit manslaughter, like someone who hits a j-walker?
Good blog though! Didn’t mean to be a downer.