The short story "The Lamp at Noon" is the story of a struggle of a family to survive on their own in the desert. The struggle for survival is a common theme in Canadian Literature. It is used in many stories, including many famous ones by well known Canadian authors.
             In the story Paul and Ellen are a married couple who have many fights over many things, but the main thing they fight over is whether or not to move. Over the last several years, there has been a drought and their farm has been like a desert, tumbleweeds and all. They can not seem to get anything to grow, and therefore are making little or no money off their farm. Because they are not doing well with the farm, they are not eating well, and they are also hurting their child.
             In addition to not being able to get much of anything off their farm, their living conditions are terrible. The area they live in which was once their farm is a dustbowl, and every time they breathe they are breathing in millions of dust particles. Ellen keeps complaining that these particles are killing their child. But it is not only the area and setting in the story that is killing them. The fact that they are constantly arguing has a great effect on them and their personalities. Ellen and Paul are mad not only because they aren't getting what they want, but because they are constantly arguing to get their way. They also have trouble affording things that are necessities such as food. In the end it causes Ellen to run away.
             Eventually the conditions in which they live become just too much for Ellen to handle, and she forces herself to run away. She ran out into the dust storm grasping her child in her arms, attempting to save it from inhaling the dust. What she didn't realize was that she had killed the baby. In a rush to save her child from the storm she had actually killed it, smothering it in the sand while trying to protect its lungs from the harsh air duri
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