. He marvels at his crude wife Elka's self confidence, conveying, "I don't want to lie about it; I didn't dislike Elka either, for that matter. She swore at me and cursed, and I couldn't get enough of her. What strength she had!" (102). Admiring others' strength, he doubts his very senses, holding himself responsible for mistaking events that he was certain he had observed. When he catches Elka in bed with a lover, he inquires, "And then since she denies it so, maybe I was only seeing things? Hallucinations do happen. You see a figure or a manickin or something, but when you come up closer it's nothing, there's not a thing there. And if that's so, I'm doing herself an injustic
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