Spoon River Anthology · Chapter
Julia Miller explained
Julia Miller recounts the morning of her suicide, describing her quarrel with her much older husband, her pregnancy, and her despair over a past betrayal that led her to marry him.
What happens
Julia Miller recounts the morning of her suicide, describing her quarrel with her much older husband, her pregnancy, and her despair over a past betrayal that led her to marry him. She takes morphine and reads a Bible verse as death overtakes her.
Themes in this chapter
Unfulfilled Lives and Repression
Julia's marriage to a much older man, her concealed betrayal, and her dread of childbirth reflect a life of repression and unfulfilled desires.
Death and Legacy
Julia's suicide and the lingering image of the Bible verse highlight how death can be both an escape and a final, haunting statement.
Characters to notice
- Julia Miller
The speaker who dies by suicide after quarreling with her husband and reflecting on a past betrayal.
Key passages
“We quarreled that morning, For he was sixty-five, and I was thirty, And I was nervous and heavy with the child Whose birth I dreaded.”
That morning we argued because he was sixty-five and I was thirty, and I was anxious and pregnant with a child I feared bringing into the world.
Sets up the conflict and Julia's emotional state.
“I thought over the last letter written me By that estranged young soul Whose betrayal of me I had concealed By marrying the old man.”
I remembered the final letter from that young person who had betrayed me, a betrayal I hid by marrying the older man.
Reveals the hidden betrayal that led to her marriage.
“Then I took morphine and sat down to read. Across the blackness that came over my eyes I see the flickering light of these words even now: 'And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day thou shalt Be with me in paradise.'”
Then I swallowed morphine and sat down to read. Through the darkness closing in, I still see the faint glow of those words: 'Jesus told him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'
Describes her suicide and the Bible verse she reads as she dies.