The Lamp at Noon

Personification is the practice of assigning human attributes to non-human entities. Ross uses this device to great effect throughout the story, in particular to use the setting to augment and further reveal the internal worlds of the two main characters. Ellen and Paul each perceive the winds in different, albeit similarly malevolent, ways that reflect their unique anxieties. For example, in the house alone, from Ellen’s perspective, as she contemplates her fight with Paul, the storm consists of two winds: “the wind in flight, and the wind that pursued. The one sought refuge in the eaves, whimpering, in fear; the other assailed it there, and shook the eaves apart to make it flee again” (3). By giving the winds human qualities, Ross portrays the nature of his characters’ conflict. Paul, despite his stoicism, feels fear too, and it is Ellen, with her keen awareness of their present circumstances, who is striving to shake Paul into acknowledging facts.

Irony occurs when a situation or action has the opposite of its intended effect. In “The Lamp at Noon” Ross uses irony to create conflict and to highlight the differences between the desires of the two main characters.