Analysis Of Characters In Spoon River Anthology By Edgar Lee Masters

“Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). People have their own will to act as they please, but their present actions will inevitably shape the future. In Spoon River Anthology, Edgar Lee Masters writes about a wide variety of emotions and experiences expressed in a small town known as Spoon River. The characters in Spoon River discuss their true feelings to the reader, but they later reveal that their past actions come back and hurt their future lives. The emotions range from hate and rage, to love and kindness. This is all shown through their connections with other people in the town. Many characters in Spoon River disrupt the flow of peace by their poor choices, eventually leading to the downfall of themselves and others.

Minerva is deceived by Butch, causing her to become impregnated, leading to her getting an illegal procedure to remove the baby. The procedure causes her to go “numb from the feet up” (“Minerva Jones,” Line 7). This connects to Butch because in his story later in the future after his situation with Minerva, he has an accident at the place he works where a gas tank exploded and fell down hard to the ground. He comes down having “both legs broken” (Butch Weldy, Line 12) and also his eyes being “burned crisp as a couple of eggs” (Butch Weldy, Line 13). Butch pays the ultimate price of not dying, but feeling the pain that Minerva, his victim, felt of not walking. His eyes being burnt out symbolizes him being blind to all of the unforgivable sins he committed. The story of Butch and his past aligns with Dr. Meyers and Dora Williams and how their self-arrogance leads to their fall. The characters “Dr. Meyers” and “Dora Williams” reveal their true colors to the readers by expressing their

She would marry a rich person and then that person would die, leaving her with all the money. After a while she became “a woman, insidious, subtle, versed in the world and rich” (Dora Williams, Lines 13-14). She felt self-prided in herself that what she was doing wasn’t wrong. She then sleeps with the wrong man who poisons her, leading to her death. The arrogance she had led to her demise in the end as she overlooked the possibility of someone doing the same to her. Arrogance is seen as self-love and is cynical, but true love can make someone find something they truly love. The relationship between “Emily Sparks” and “Reuben Pantier” shows how their love is turned into dust because of the decisions they make regarding each other.. In both of their stories, they both talk about their affection for each other with Emily saying “for whom I prayed and prayed” (Emily Sparks, Line 9) and “the boy I loved best” (Emily Sparks, Line 3), all connected to Reuben. Reuben confirms the love connection by saying “Emily Sparks, your prayers are not wasted” (Reuben Pantier, Line 1). The two of them were separated from each other because of a mistake that Reuben