Here We Are

I'm going to try and keep this post fairly short, simply because if I try to tackle everything that's going on in this story, I'll never leave my laptop. Instead, I'm simply going to tackle one prevalent theme: the lack of self confidence in the characters on the subject of marriage, a theme that ties directly into the history of the time, simply by addressing marriage in this light. The story was written just after the great stock market crash, and it takes place in a time where women are coming into their own, and family values are being stressed by the economics of the Great Depression. Everything in that time was uncertain, an uncertainty that is reflected by the characters of this story.

We have two main characters, a bride and groom, who remain unnamed. They have only been married for 2 hours and 26 minutes, and both are nervous about their decision, the bride more so. Their nerves are in different areas, though. The bride is concerned about the marriage itself, in fact, she brings it up right away, talking about how many people think about marriage "Just as if it wasn't anything." (page 128, line 21) This becomes a common thread, and one can infer from the text that she is freaking out about her decision. She doesn't know the first thing about marriage, a fact that becomes clear when her new husband begins alluding to the wedding night (page 132-133). She talks about having to write letters, and wanting to go to sleep, while her poor husband is beginning to despair of ever being "married" in his sense of the word.

The husband's nerves stem from not knowing how to handle his new wife. He tries to soothe the discussion when she begins to panic, but it only escalates, until he is frustrated as well. He mentions that her friend Louise looked pretty at the wedding (page 129), little knowing that it would spark a debate that lasts for 3 whole pages.

Finally, in the very end, they decide to put it all behind them and start over. One would like to think that it would work out, but I highly doubt it.