John Cheever's short story "The Country Husband"
John Cheever's short story "The Country Husband" ends with the protagonist Francis Weed, happily making a bookshelf upon the advice of his therapist. Over the course of the tale, he has experienced a series of traumas, beginning with the possibility of his flight crashing, his sad babysitter Anne throwing herself at him after sobbing about her alcoholic father, and confronting a hidden former German conspirator working as a servant in at a suburban home. The end feels curiously deflating, although it feels 'realistic' in the sense that the reader can envision such an event taking place in real life. Francis does not run off with the babysitter, or die in a plane crash. Rather, it shows the protagonist experiencing a mid-life crisis that could be potentially and powerfully life-altering, but ultimately has no exterior effects upon his existence. Francis' suburban life is too comfortable for him to leave it, and seek real happiness. Instead, he vents his frustrations in petty ways, either through showing small cruelties towards others through the small power he does have in his work (like subverting the job search of Anne's future husband), or fantasizing about other women. The dominant theme of the work is the secrets that lurk
Francis would feel conflicted-on one hand, as former American soldier, he would no doubt feel disgust for the woman's crime of collaboration. behind the smiling facade of gated communities but never quite bubble to the surface. On the other hand, he would understand, intuitively, what it is like to be a 'sexual' criminal. Francis could find out about Anne's many relationships through gossip, and feel devastated at her betrayal. At the end of the story, the fascade is still there, not stripped away at all, except in the eyes of the all-knowing reader, because the reader has been privilege to the confidence of the author. A final, unresolved element to the tale is Francis' relationship with Anne and his fear of her impending marriage. The story begins and ends with a plane ride, but instead of the first, potentially deadly plane ride that causes Francis' emotional existence to spiral out of control, the last plane ride the reader witnessed could be Julia's first ascent as a stewardess, as she leaves for France, finally making something of her life outside of the limits of a society that curtails both male and female sexuality, and forces people to conform to stereotypes that have nothing to do with their real, inner lives. A way of bringing an added dimension to Anne as a character might involve Francis discovering that Anne had in fact slept with many men in the town whom she babysat for, and her apparent innocence and youth was more due to his own projection, rather than who she really was as a person. To show how evil is never really eradicated, merely hidden in the suburbs, at the end of the novel the woman could be 'found out' by a man who, like Francis, had also witnessed her public humiliation. Some people might say that everyone makes mistakes and that the woman should be forgiven for her crime and allowed to start life anew in America. However, most readers want at least some satisfaction and some sense that something has happened, even within Francis' character. Anne is portrayed as sexually pure in the short story, confused because of her relationship with her alcoholic father, but happily anticipating her marriage after she graduates from school. Other people might say that she should be fired, and should never have been allowed to come into the country in the first place. Then, the entire town could discover about the maid's former collaboration, and began to fight to ostracize her, putting subtle social pressure on her employer to fire her.
Common topics in this essay:
Francis Weed,
Unlike Francis,
Francis Anne's,
Francis Julia,
Anne Francis',
John Cheever's,
plane ride,
Country Husband,
mid-life crisis,
short story,
life anew,
alcoholic father,
leaving husband,
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Acceptance Essays
