Analytical essay of They’re Not Your Husband

Indholdsfortegnelse
Theme
Setting
Characters
Point of view
Language

Optimer dit sprog - Læs vores guide og scor topkarakter

Uddrag
Theme
I think that the theme of the short story is spousal abuse, but in a psychological way. “

In the kitchen, Doreen, dressed for work, was eating scrambled eggs and bacon. “What are you doing?” Earl said. […] “slob” Earl said. “Go ahead, eat! Go on”” (P. 24, l. 1-7)

The way he makes his own wife look like a disgrace, because of her eating issues, shows us the theme clearly. That’s if we look at it with today’s norms and rights.

Back then, when the story was written, things were very different from today and far different from the modern marriage, that we know of.

Back in the nineties, it was not unusual that the man in house made the rules and commanded his wife, in the way he thought, was the right way.

When Earl tells Doreen to diet and measures her weight every week, she must have been taken it, as “He is my husband and therefore he gets to decide, how I should be living my life”.

Setting
The main part of the story is taking place at the coffee shop, where Doreen works. The coffee shop I not being described in detail, other than it is open twenty-four hours a day.

Nevertheless, I still form the images of a classic, delipidated, dusty coffee shop, in my mind. The easily described details of costumers speaks for themself.

Two men in suits, but with untied ties and open collars, the man with his newspaper and his cigarette and a drunk father and husband, Earl, who leaved his kids home alone, late in the evening, to watch over his wife.

All of them looking and staring at the female waitress, when walking away after receiving their orders. And lastly the fact, that the place is open to the public twenty-four-seven.

All these factors do not fit with a nice, well cared for place, far from it!
Another thing that I find quite interesting has something to do with the social circumstances in the story.

The children are only mentioned very few times throughout the story, giving the reader a feeling that the are almost non-existent.

It appears clearly how the hierarchy in the family is broken down. The father, Earl, is the alpha male in the family. He makes the decisions and controls the rest of his family members ruthlessly.

Doreen does the dirty work. She works her a*s of late at night and the children are the forgotten part. They don’t play a role in storyline, which in proportion to the earlier mentioned setting, is an even louder signal, that the story is from the early nineties.

Just like back in the days, the children in the story does what they are told and does not affect the decisions that are made, within the family. They are simply left to them self.