„Reconciliation“ by Polly Clark Essay

„Reconciliationâ€Å" is a short story and is written by Polly Clark. The story takes place in an office. The main character of the story is a woman, her name is Laura, and she is also the narrator of the story. Basically is the story about the fear of loosing someone, changes of persons and a marriage and a relationship after many years. It is difficult to find out how old the narrator of the story is. But because of the fact that she is married for a long time, in the text she said, â€Å"We began our relationship half my life ago.â€Å", I would say she probably is in her midlife maybe a bit younger. The fact that the main character is also the narrator makes it easier to see the proceedings form her angle and we are able to know how she thinks and feels – even when she doesn’t know it herself. The reader of this story receives an impression of a completely normal person when it comes to her appearance. But when the reader gets deeper into the story and sees how she thinks about things and the way of handling things, makes her look like she has some smaller mental issues. This can be caused because she is loosing her husband, his name is Vernon, she also calls him Mr. Pringle, whom she wants to stay with and stood with for many years. For months she and her husband have not spoken that much to each other. In the text she says: â€Å"We regard each other over months of frozen silence.â€Å" You can easily notice that she is afflicted with the silence between Vernon, her husband, and her. She mentions it with following sentence: â€Å"We began our relationship in a bar, and those were our best times, telling each other the truth of our lives in the warm light. I might be defective in every other way, defective enough to mean that I must be divorced, defective enough to mean that silence is actually my lot, but it doesn’t mean it comes naturally to me. News and questions bubble up in my throat, but I cannot speak.† She does not want to give up on their marriage and relationship. She has been used to having her husband and being with him, so if he is gone, she does not know what to do with herself and the things around her. The reader could get the impression that she doesn’t have a very high self-esteem, because she sees herself as faraway from perfect. This fact could explain why she is so afraid of loosing her husband, because if he doesn’t want to have her who then would like to have her with all her faults.? â€Å"I am your wife. That is everything that I am. Help me.† Laura applies for a job in her husband’s office just to be more in contact with Vernon and be with him together. On her first day in the office and at her new job, her actions disclose that she is very nervous. In the text you can find following examples for her tension: â€Å"I have forgotten my shoes†, â€Å"I bite my lip as I reach the desk† and â€Å"I slide one foot over the otherâ€Å". The fact that she has forgotten her shoes could be a sign that she is unable to think clearly. To describe the relationship between Laura and Vernon you can only use Laura’s point of view. So, it is difficult to understand their relationship and their marriage if you don’t know Vernon’s point of view. It is obvious that she wants her husband back. For the reader it is not quite clear how Vernon thinks about it. It seems that her husband doesn’t feel the same way and it seems that he doesn’t want to go back to her and move on with his â€Å"old† life. She says about him: â€Å"He looks so like my husband, and yet†¦How has he managed to remain himself, to become -dare I say it- even more himself, with not even a scar and even a brand new blue shirt?† Laura’s husband Vernon has already moved on. It is difficult for Laura, the narrator, to understand and recognize this fact.