My Side of the Matter by Truman Capote
Capote's My Side of the Matter is a humorous short story revolvingaround the relations between a hapless, young husband and a houseful ofquerulous female in-law relatives. Narrated in a first person, chatty stylefrom the point-of-view of the sixteen year-old husband, My Side of theMatter is a hilarious tale about a young man in the clutches of hispregnant wife and two rather eccentric aunts. In fact, the title itself, asthe reader later comes to understand is not just a matter of the narratordefending himself but also indicative of the archetypical divide between a As the narrator begins recounting his side of the story, the readerlearns that he wishes to establish that in spite of the stories circulatingabout him, he is the innocent, wronged party. As he states, "The facts: OnSunday, August 12, this year of our Lord, Eunice tried to kill me with herpapa's Civil War sword and Olivia-Ann cut up all over the place with afourteen-inch hog knife. This is not even to mention lots of other things."Though the reader is never told the exact nature of the stories circulatingabout the young husband, it is easy to infer that he has been accused of
Right through the telling of the young husband's side of the story, itis evident that Marge's two aunts were driven by the purpose of separatingMarge from her husband in spite of her being pregnant. The chaos that follows ends with Olivia-Ann's arrival with her knifeand the neighbors, Marge passing out cold, and the narrator barricadinghimself in the parlor. he females in the house with intent to kill. The first,as he rather ruefully recounts, was his impulsive marriage to Marge and thesecond mistake was his role in thereafter, getting her pregnant. OnceMarge is pregnant, he feels that he has no choice but to abide by herwishes to live with her two aunts. Unfortunately, forthem, the young man's laid back and easy going nature thwart them at everyturn providing quite a few laughs even when he is barricaded in the parlor:". So, he quits his clerking job at Cash'n' Carry to accompany his wife to Admiral's Mill, which is "nothing but adamn gap in the road. With months of frustration building inside him, the younghusband finally brings matters to a head one day when he defies Olivia-Ann's demands to stop playing her piano. I give them a tune on the piano every now and then just to let them knowI'm cheerful. With frequent pot shots at his youth and manhood, the twoaunts succeed in not only turning his own wife against him but also deprivehim of the comfort of sleeping with his wife. All homicides intended or otherwise usually have a motive behind them.
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Acceptance Essays
