So now I'm starting to read some short stories from Contemporary British authors, and I started with 'A Family Man' by V. S. Pritchett. It was a fairly short short story, only nine pages. But I actually really liked it.
I did some research on the short story, but before I write about what I learned there I'm going to write about some themes/ideas I got out of the short story:
- Deceit and Rationalization: This story illustrates very clearly the rationalization and self deception humans take part in so often. The two main characters are Bernice Foster and Mrs. Clark. Bernice is having an affair with Mrs. Clark's husband, and one day, when Mrs. Clark comes to Bernice's home to confront her she lies, more than she ever has in her entire life.
Bernice claims that she grew up being told that all forms of lying were a sin, and she had never lied that much in her entire life. At first she feels bad about this lying - and rationalization that what she's doing isn't that bad - but as the story goes on she continues to lie, even unnecessarily.
This deceit leads Mrs. Clark to feel BAD about confronting Bernice in the way she did. She begins to doubt herself more than her husband. I personally believe that Mrs. Clark still knew the truth about what was actually happening, but she couldn't come to the conclusion. It would be too painful for her.
This rationalization and deceit (towards themselves and outward towards others) is a huge, if not THE, main point in the story. Through this short story I believe Pritchett illustrates a very harsh reality which will hit most of us very close to home.
2. Most often, humans want what they can't have. And once they get that thing, they don't want it anymore: I don't believe this theme is quite as prevalent as the above theme, but it is still worth noting. When Bernice Foster realizes that Mrs. Clark isn't nearly as beautiful as she thought she was (or as Mr. Clark described her to be), she begins to lose interest in Mr. Clark and wonder why she is with him. This illustrates that humans often times do things just for the admiration/notice of others. Bernice Foster also knew from the beginning that Mr. Clark was married, yet that didn't stop her from being with him. In fact, I would venture to say that it even made him more desirable to her.
I believe there are many things that a reader could get out of this short story, however those are the two main themes I noticed from it. It was very well written, and I enjoyed reading it.
Now, the next story.
