Character Details
This character got married young to escape her circumstances.
Who is Sally?
This floor covering with a floral pattern represents Sally's entrapment.
What are linoleum roses?
Sally claims she got married for this emotion, but the narrator expresses otherwise.
What is love?
The narrator believes Sally's true motivation for marriage was this.
What is to escape?
Sally met her husband while he was working as this at a school bazaar.
What is a marshmallow salesman?
These items Sally looks at represent the material possessions she gained, but at the cost of her freedom.
What are the towels, toaster, alarm clock, and drapes?
What is the door?
The text states Sally has "her husband and her house now, her pillowcases and her plates," suggesting marriage gave her these instead of happiness.
What are material things/possessions?
What type of behavior did the husband exhibit?
What is violent/controlling?
The ceiling is described as this, which contrasts the marriage fantasy with harsh reality.
What is "smooth as wedding cake"?
Sally can only receive visitors under this specific condition regarding her husband's whereabouts.
What is when he is working/at work?
Sally's need for her husband to "give her money" to buy things shows she lacks this type of independence.
What is financial independence/control over her own money?
The narrator uses this phrase to describe Sally's rushed marriage.
The window that Sally cannot look out of symbolizes this loss in her marriage.
What is her freedom/connection to the outside world?
Sally describes her husband's temper as being okay most days followed by this word that implies his controlling behavior.
What is "except"?
The story describes Sally looking at walls and the alarm clock, suggesting she spends her day doing this, which hints at her isolation.
What is watching time pass?
Sally's husband controls these three aspects of her social interaction with the outside world.
What are talking on the telephone, looking out the window, and having friends visit?
Real roses are living and can grow, but linoleum roses are permanent and lifeless, symbolizing this about Sally's situation.
What is Sally's inability to grow, change, or escape her marriage?
The text reveals Sally sits at home primarily because of the fixed mindset caused by her husband's control.
What is being afraid to go outside without his permission?
Sally spends her time looking at household items and the linoleum floor pattern, which suggests this about her daily life.
What is she is isolated, confined to the home, or has nothing to do?