Spoon River Anthology By Wayne Gerard Trotman

“It is a rule of life that we eventually become victims of the evil we do to others” (Wayne Gerard Trotman). Spoon River Anthology is a series of fictional epitaphs containing obituaries written by the townspeople of Spoon River after they die, revealing some of their darkest secrets. These secrets can include problems with their families, marriages, friends, children, or affairs they have had. One common denominator that can be noted throughout many of these people’s passages is that their lives are ultimately destroyed by the consequences of their actions. One character whose life is affected by karma is Dora Williams. Throughout her life, Dora goes from husband to husband, like a black widow, killing each one of them for their fortune; this

He died one night in my arms, you know” (Lines 8-10). Her lack of grief and plain intentions to obtain large amounts of money make it clear that the deaths of her husbands were not natural or accidental. In the end, however, Dora suffers the same fate as her victims. This time, her latest husband, Count Navigato, poisons her while on a trip to Rome “He poisoned me, I think” (line 20) which is something that she did to all her previous husbands. Another character that has a karmic payback, similar to Mrs. Williamson, is Butch Weldy, who shares a resembling demise to his sufferers. Butch’s passage is another specific example of the saying “What goes around comes around”. His epitaph is ironic because of how the hardships he inflicted upon others reflect back on him. One example of this is when he stole money from Jack the fiddler, a homeless blind man. Later, Butch’s own eyes were “burned crisp like a couple of eggs” (Line 13). As well as losing his sight, he also mentions, “And down I came with both legs broken” (Line

Meyer’s fall from grace is ultimately caused by the results of the choices he makes. His passage starts with excuses, trying to show how much he cares for the people of Spoon River by stating, “No other man, unless it was Doc Hill, did more for the people than I” (Lines 1-2). Later, it can be seen that this is not the case. For the majority of the text, the doctor only talks about himself and the only mention of one of his patients' demise is this: “I tried to help her out, she died”(Line 11). This is said almost like a side note, never showing any remorse for her death. He performs an illegal procedure, at the time, in the false pretense of assisting “all the weak, the halt, and the improvident” (Line 3), and the only thing the doctor feels about this mistake is annoyance about the consequences he has to face. Annoyance on how, “They indicted me” (Line 12) and how “the newspapers disgraced me” (Line 12), which were all results of his choices. In the end, many people from Spoon River will end up having to face grave repercussions for the pain they have inflicted on others. Their greed, and their poor choices, will all come back to destroy their lives, and to make them pay for the suffering they caused other people. “Karma is not a punishment, it’s a