Compare And Contrast A Sorrowful Woman And A Secret Sorrow
1258 Words6 Pages
Taylor Ferguson
Dr. Amanda Sigler
English 102
10 September 2014
Love or Pain?
Differences in “A Secret Sorrow” and “A Sorrowful Woman”
Both “A Secret Sorrow”, by Karen van der Zee and “A Sorrowful Woman”, by Gail Godwin show how men play a big role in marriage and family. Each story gives us an example of two different male characters and how they act towards their wives. Karen van der Zee shows us how a man can come off too strong in a relationship, but at the same time show his love and affection towards someone they love. Kai, the man in “A Secret Sorrow”, presents his love for his significant other Faye even through the bad news that he received from her. Kai shows more fondness for his lover than the husband in “A Sorrowful Woman” showed…show more content… Gail Godwin shows us how a man gives up on his married life with his one true love. In “A Sorrowful Woman” the mother became ill and did not want to be around her husband or son anymore. It soon became an every night thing when the husband used to put his wife to bed and give her a sleeping draught to put her to sleep. The husband in “A Sorrowful Woman” did everything for his son and around the house when his wife became ill. Soon, she wanted no part of the family anymore and locked herself in a room. Unlike Kai in “A Secret Sorrow” the husband in “A Sorrowful Woman” did not beg or fight to get his wife out the room or to come spend time with him and their son, he just did her duties and did the same routine he did for her everyday. The husband said, “I don’t know what we’ll do. It’s all my fault, I know. I’m such a burden . . .” (Godwin 41). At this time the husband gave up so much that he started to blame himself for his wife being sick. After not receiving anymore letters from her husband or son the wife came out to make them a meal. About time the husband and son got back home to see the home cooked meal she made for them it was too late. The son said, “Look, Mommy is sleeping, she’s tired from doing all our things again” (Godwin 43). At that moment the…show more content… Kai showed his true feelings and wanted things to work out between him and his wife; he was determined to marry her and was not looking for another option to choose. He fought for his married life and ended up having a positive effect out of it. The husband from “A Sorrowful Woman” showed his wife gratitude by doing the work she use to do for them and giving her the space she asked for, but it did not end up making his marriage life happy. It seemed as if he gave up on his wife and had no fight in him to persuade her to come back and be with the family, instead he let her isolate herself from him and their son. Both men are accountable for the outcomes by their actions. Kai’s marriage ended on a good note by showing his wife that even if she would not have children that he loved her no matter what. He said, “look, Faye, I’ll always be sorry. I’ll always be sorry not to see you pregnant, not to see you with a big stomach knowing you’re carrying my child, but I’ll live” (Van der Zee 38). This persuaded Faye, his wife, to marry him and, in the end, they adopted children and had a fairy-tale ending. The husband from “A Sorrowful Woman” gave up and did not battle nearly as hard as Kai did. His marriage ended on a bad note because his wife ended up dying after drinking too much of the sleeping draught he made her. After all the reading Kai exemplifies what the married life should be like,