On the Gull's Road

Imperfect Love

“On the Gulls Road” is a short story by Willa Cather that was published in 1908. The narrator tells his story about him and a lady named Mrs. Ebbeling in New York .Mrs. Ebbeling was a immigrant. Although, the narrator falls in love with her, Mrs Ebbeling confessed that she is sick. The narrator did not care he just want to run away with her but she can't because of her illness. Mrs. Ebbeling returned to Norway with her father where she died. The narrator received a letter from Mrs. Ebbeling saying that he can open the box she gave him. In the box, it contained a magnolia, strands of her hair, and two pink shells. The theme of the story is undying love even when death is near. Through close reading of “On the Gulls' Road” , I plan to use evidence from the text to illustrates the changing power of love between the two characters. Aside from that, the necessity of being determined to fight for one’s love is also emphasized in the story. This is a story of love,sacrifice and longing.

For readers, the theme surrounding love remains to be present between the characters. Arguably, as the narrator allows readers to understand his past, it demonstrates the encounter where he felt a love that should not happen. It shows his journey with Alexandra Ebbeling that cannot come into place because due to her marriage with Lars Ebbeling. Despite having the same feelings with one another, the narrator feels heartbroken that Alexandra declined his request to run off due to her demeaning health condition and the fact that she is married. "And you meant to leave me day after tomorrow, to say goodbye to me as you will to the other people on this boat? You meant to cut me adrift like this, with my heart on fire and all my life unspent in me?" ( Cather 4). Altogether, the story presents an evocative time when the narrator was young and felt he had experienced true love like no other. By using flashbacks, the author is able to emphasize on these emotions and examine how complications obstruct true love.

The fact that Willa Cather used very vivid description; it bought an amazing colors to the story and it showed us how these two characters were so in love. Mrs. Ebeling showing love to the author, stating the love is like a change and rebirth. "The sea before us was so rich and heavy and opaque that it might have been lapis lazuli. It was the blue of legend, simply; the color that satisfies the soul like sleep" (Cather 10). The use of the water was a metaphor for the opening romantic emotions of Alexandra is utilized by Cather in the story. Using this symbolism enables readers to recognize the developing feelings emerging between the main characters in the story. By combining Alexandra’s feelings with the sea, it allows readers to recognize its depth and its intensity when these two characters were together.

The example are employed in the author's speech explains the depth of his love. Hes stating the love he has for Mrs Ebbeling, describing the perfect romantic scene. He is at the the “honeymoon” stage phase. He emphasizes, “The boat was thinly peopled; the decks were roomy; the day was fine; the sea was blue”; “hunting for her, finding her, losing her”... “I kissed her hair, her cheeks, her lips”... “I stood like a wooden post and let her approach me, let her speak to me, let her leave me” (Cather 9). I believe that the author’s using this line may be connected with his desire to convey the feeling of the flow of characters’ thoughts as