John is very much aware of his wife, the narrator’s mental insecurity. Simultaneously, he embraces a conscious ignorance of his wife, telling her that it would not benefit the situation “if I [she] had ... less opposition and more society and stimulus” (Gilman 1). The reader can assume that John is initially embarrassed and disillusioned by his wife’s illness. This is reiterated as he (“a physician of high standing”) “assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression” (Gilman 1). In this instance, John’s social standing as a husband and a doctor conspire against the narrator’s enunciation of her illness.
Chris never would have left without intending on returning. Chris’s dysfunctional family and his abusive father, prompted him to take the trip even more. His, sister Carine, however, he loved to much to abandon. Chris wrote in a letter to Carine once that she was the only one who understood him. The two had a closer relationship than the average brother and sister, due to their fathers’ random outbursts of rage.
When Gail first finds out what Frank had done to Marie and the other Native American girls, she tells Wes trusting in him to bring Frank to justice. This is very hard for Wes to do because Frank is his brother, but it causes a strain in Frank and Gail's marriage, but they pull through. Gail wasn’t happy with Wes's decision to keep Frank in their basement; she understood how hard the situation with Frank was on Wes, that she decided to support him. When the four men went to her house to break Frank out she was there to stop them, even though she did not agree with keeping him in her house. Another way she was loyal to Wes was her relationship with Len.
Edna Pontellier, often reflects on her role of mother-of-two who is married to a well-off and often traveling brokerage-business husband Leonce Pontellier. The community views Leonce as the ideal husband, for Leonce he adores and provides for wife and children, he is quite consistently concerned about the welfare and happiness of his household. Yet Edna does not look at Leonce as her choice of husband, she says their marriage was accidental, that as she was growing up there are particular men that came around her that she would have wished to take her hand. Leonce is disciplined, insistent and low-toned, often dissatisfied about Edna's attention to the children and other household issues, more so because he is often away on business and Edna
In his mind, he is providing for his family. His wife, Susan on the other hand, accepts the fact that “children needed their mother to a certain age,”(870) and relinquishes her independence, which turns out to be a larger sacrifice than she imagined. Susan’s frustration and consequent feelings of inadequacy break down their marital communication and they begin to drift apart. Likewise, Matthew’s affair and subsequent admission causes resentment between them. Although Susan forgives him somewhat, she states “that forgiveness is hardly the word.” (870) Matthew cannot understand his wife’s need for solitude and this crisis ultimately led to the isolation that greatly contributed to the dissolution of their
Through the suffering those friends cause him, Pudge finds himself in a way. Once Pudge’s love is destroyed, he doesn’t understand how to cope with the immense amounts of pain. Daniel lives with his single dad and only has one friend. Having to cope with losing his love, he finds new love with his best friend’s sister, which makes him lose his only friend. A new friend comes into his life, and he helps Daniel through life.
For many years authors have brilliantly incorporated the theme of sorrow and disempowerment as a consequence of the actions of others. Authors depict the reality of others doubt in people, even their family members, through their brutal and trust lacking actions. Through the short stories “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, “Brother Dear” by Bernice Friensen and “A Cap for Steve” written by Morley Callaghan the aspirations and desires of the main characters are not accepted by their fathers and also rejected by a more powerful authority. Not only are the characters not accepted but also relatives are thought to be more advantageous than then the key characters and although one character does not have a sibling, money overpowered his importance. Lastly, the fathers expectations of two characters does not align with the mothers, yet in one piece of literature the mother expected exactly what the father wished.
On the other side is Eric Bartels who, in his article “My Problem with Her Anger”, describes the hostile nature of the relationship that he has with his wife since the birth of their children However the authors may differ they do touch on similar topics throughout the articles. One common idea among the two viewpoints is that a family requires sacrifice from both partners in order to be successful, but just what that sacrifice entails seems to differ from one perspective to the next. Both authors refer to the feminist movement as an underlying cause for much of the disharmony in their relationships; both cite the notion of co-parenting and equal division of labor as a cause of embitterment and anger on the part of the wife when they realized that it was not the case. While the ideas expressed by the two authors may differ in many ways, there are some ideas that are shared by both parties. That is building and maintaining a family is no easy task and, no matter how hard you may try, you cannot please everyone all the time.
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton “What I see is him that suffers most” was my initial thought toward Ethan’s life in the end. Edith Wharton’s ending of the novel filled my heart with such sorrow and compassion to Ethan’s situation. Wharton throughout the novel made subtle actions toward Ethan and his torn feeling to stay with his wife and his attraction toward his sister in law, Mattie Silver. I sympathize with Ethan Frome to an extent to the point in which I actually think his actions throughout the novel seemed like the right thing to do but, I feel little compassion toward him for he was the one to propose to Zeena without thinking of the consequences toward either him or Zeena. First of all, Wharton’s subtle action toward Ethan’s torn feelings for Mattie and being loyal to his wife.
Anna was drowning in the misery of her marriage and in guilt from seeing another man on one side but is happy to be with Gurov. Anna states that, “for years now they had not been comfortable together, in their intimacy and at a distance… It was something they might have known once” (Oates 449), which explains that her unhappy marriage forced her to search for a person to fulfill the lost emotions at home. Committing adultery is more of an emotional fulfillment that it is a physical need but it derives from the want to find someone who means something more. If couple who married shows that they do not love each other mutually, it should be acceptable for the two to be involved in an affair because neither of them truly gets hurt, providing act of cheating to be meaningless and