Secondly the mood is revealed through the structure of Sinclair Ross’s story. In the story Sinclair shows both sides of the argument between the characters. This shows the reader how the drought, depression, the baby, and storm effect the character’s judgment which cause both characters to become frustrated and have a lot of tension between them. Paul has worked so hard it would be like giving up if he moved and he doesn’t want to swallow his pride and work in Ellen’s father’s store. This causes Ellen to become frustrated with his stubbornness. As the story progresses one can see that the mood of tension and frustration gets stronger until Paul decides maybe that sweeping Ellen’s fathers store wasn’t such a bad thing but he was too late and the baby died which would cause even more tension and frustration.
Thirdly the mood is created through the conflicts of the characters. The fact that the characters are poor is a good enough reason for there to be a lot of tension and frustration and the reader can see this. The other conflict’s like Paul will not move to town, the baby is sick, the crops will not grow, the drought, and the raging storm just build on that tension and frustration. In the end the characters feel like all the tension and frustration is gone because the conflict is solved but the reader knows that it has done exactly the opposite and created more tension and frustration.
Lastly he sets the mood through the style of writing. Sinclair uses personification of nature to reflect and influence the emotions of Paul and Ellen in The Lamp at Noon. The wind is powerful and changes with the emotions of Ellen and Paul. Sinclair describes the wind as two separate winds "the wind in flight, and the wind that pursues" (64). Like the wind in flight, which cannot escape the wind that pursues it, Ellen and Paul cannot escape their problems. The wind in flight always returns to "quake among the feeble eaves, as if in all this dust-mad wilderness it knew no other sanctuary" (64). Ellen is also forced to seek refuge within her small home, which is also the place where she feels secluded that causes her to become frustrated. The wind outside often contrasts the silence. During an argument between Paul and Ellen, there is a silence, "a deep fastness of it enclosed by rushing wind and creaking walls"(66). This noise around them makes the silence within even more uncomfortable and really shows the tension in the characters. Unfortunately, the walls seem to weaken against the powerful wind, and "instead of release or escape from the assaulting wind, the walls are but a feeble stand against it" (68) the same as Ellen becomes frustrated and cracks mentally falling apart. Paul begins to understand what Ellen is feeling, and the wind screams like Ellen's cries of frustration. When he returns to the house, he realizes that Ellen is gone. The wind whimpers and moans as if it knows Ellen and Paul's frustration. The wind is used by Sinclair to strengthen the characters' emotions of frustration and tension and help the reader understand what the characters are experiencing.
The lamp is another significant symbol in this story because it shows the reader that this particular storm is different from other storms. The act of lighting the lamp at noon tells the reader that this storm is serious. Paul say’s "the worst wind yet" and says that he "had to light the lantern in the shed, too"(64). The lamp sets the mood between Ellen and Paul and gives us a glimpse into their future. "The lamp between them throws strong lights and shadows on their faces" (65). They look at their future that these lights and shadows emphasize and their tension and frustration builds. Paul's attitude shows his stubbornness. He is content because he is doing his dream "the fulfillment of his inmost and essential nature"(65). Ellen on the other hand, is not fulfilling a dream and is stuck there. She has "the face of a woman that has aged without maturing" Paul has grown to love farming but Ellen has been stuck there without fulfilling any dreams of her own and therefore she is very frustrated and that has caused tension between the characters (65). The lamp creates tension between them during their argument. "It seems the yellow lamplight casts a silence upon them"(66). The light of the lamp causes the walls to move away, dim and comeback, as a symbol to the continuing argument that keeps returning after never being fully resolved. When Paul returns to the house to find Ellen missing, he notices that the lamp has been blown out. The blown-out lamp signifies the death of the child and the end of their dreams for the future. Ellen is similar to the lamp in that she struggles to be heard as the lamp struggles to be seen through the dust therefore she becomes frustrated, but in the end, Ellen gives up and so does the lamp. The author uses irony because the death of the baby seems like the end to their problems and the characters think it is but the reader knows it will only create more tension and frustration between them.
Throughout the book the tension and frustration keep on building up by the setting, the structure, the conflicts and style. They all lead up to the point when Ellen finally snaps and goes crazy. Without any tension and frustration Ellen would not have snapped. The storm and lamp are just symbols of the characters tension and frustration to help the reader see this tension and frustration.
