The anxious husband | Essay

Indledning
” They’re not your husband” revolves around a married couple, where the husband is dissatisfied with the appearance and weight of his spouse.

Earl Ober is the name of the husband; he works as a salesman but is between jobs. His wife, Doreen, works at a coffee shop. 30 and one late evening Earl decided to visit Doreen at work to enjoy a coffee.

While he sat there, he overheard 2 men in business suits laughing at his wife and talking about her looks in a condescending tone. The husband wasn’t having it, so he shook his head, and walked out the door.

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Uddrag
The story’s main themes are worry, anxiety, insecurity, and acceptance. This short story gives a perspective on how caring about what others think may cause problems for you and those around you.

The reason for this is that Earl, the husband, cares a great deal about what others think of his wife, and when he hears those businessmen laughing at her appearance, he feels embarrassed and ashamed:”

The other man grinned and kept looking at Doreen over his cup as she spooned chocolate syrup over the ice cream.

When she began shaking the can of whipped cream, Earl got up, leaving his food, and headed for the door. He heard her call his name, but he kept going (P. 2, line 18-23)”.

He feels so embarrassed on behalf of his wife that he gets up and leave, and ignores her on the way out, as a way to not be associated with her.

“Just quit eating,” Earl said. “For a few days, anyway. (P. 4, line 7.” This illustrates the intensive measures he would use to get her to lose weight.

To follow her progression, he bought a bathroom scale, and made her weigh herself every morning, as well as writing the figure on the scale down on a piece of paper along with the date.

The definition of anxiety is:” a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear”. Earl is fearing that she might become a laughing object, therefore he encourages her to starve herself to lose weight faster

however he isn’t doing this for her best interests, because she is unconcerned:” Just look yourself in the mirror,” he said. “What am I supposed to see?” she said. (P. 3, line 3-4)” and:” You’re right, it won’t be easy,” he said. “But I’ll help.”