Ethics by Linda Pastan

I really liked the timeline this poem gives. She has these multiple years of listening to the question and never having the life skills to know the true answer. I can see her sitting there as a freshman feeling overwhelmed by it and life seeming the obvious answer. Then, as a sophmore trying harder to come up with an answer and choosing art. Next, as a junior, finally feeling credited enough to give a clever answer. And feeling quiet in her contemplation as a senior, imagining her own grandmother. All of these personas show me that this is much more than a simple question. There are so many different choices to make. And then finally, she finds herself in that museum, much later once she has lived life, and trying to answer that question again. It's seems as though she is saying the painting is so complex, just like her life, that someone who hasn't lived long enough or gone through hardships won't possibly be able to make the correct decision. But, there also seems to be something I'm missing. She obviously seems to mean something by describing the painting and then saying that woman and painting and season are beyond saving. I'm just not making the connection of those back to the beginning with the ethics and differing opinions.