Indirect Interior Monologue Analysis

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The indirect interior monologue we get next is essential. There is something seriously affecting Henry— his faith is being tested— and what he once found comforting is now not. He is worried and this worry is mentioned twice in one paragraph. Henry also admits his sadness. Now compare this segment to the exchange between him and his wife. He does not tell her of this sadness, his worry or his confusion. He clearly thinks about her own lack of faith, but does not ask her about that either. Instead, we have what seems a normal Sunday morning. Henry is going off to church, content, happy. But Henry’s interior shows readers that this is not the case at all. This is a man who is layered, multifaceted and we would not know about these layers if it were not for that original conversation between Olive and Henry. Imagine, too, a different conversation between them before he headed out to church. Perhaps he tells Olive about his recent church going experiences. Perhaps he tells her that he’s starting to understand why she stopped going, too. Or maybe he asks her to come with him, if only to make him feel comforted in the place he wants to feel comforted the most. This alternative conversation would most likely change their marriage. It wouldn’t necessarily make Henry a flat character, but it would rid a lot…show more content…
Henry starts, “‘Olive’, he says, and she turns. ‘You’re not going to leave me are you?’ (Strout 29). Readers hear Olive’s response, which is then followed by a bit of interiority, and ends with dialogue: “‘Oh for God’s sake, Henry. You could make a women sick’...How could he ever tell her— he could not— that all these years of feeling guilty about Denise have carried with them the kernel of still having her? He cannot even bear this thought… ‘Daisy has a fellow,’ he says, ‘We need to have them over soon’ (Strout 29).There is a lot to unpack in the ending scene. Let’s take a look starting from the
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