Post by Hiba Rashid on Dec 10, 2015 4:49:38 GMT
This story was painful to read and made me shed a few tears towards the end. Anyone who has had a loved one who suffered from a serious illness can relate to "Spring Riding in a Carriage" and understand the hardships the characters face. For me, the protagonist and his wife share a relationship of love, understanding and patience, but a relationship that has been deeply scarred by circumstances that are completely out of their control -- the wife's illness and deteriorating health. As the wife's health worsened, the two argued more and became more and more bitter towards each other. It seems the couple suffer from depression and it is understandable because ever since the wife became ill, their lives have become completely engulfed by the illness. I cannot imagine having to lay in bed all day, every day in pain, unable to do anything for myself, let alone my husband and waiting for death to come. The feeling of helplessness seemed to naturally take over the wife's mind and that is what makes her so pessimistic and spiteful. As for the husband, he has to watch his wife suffer every single day and care for her endlessly, despite knowing that she will not recover. These circumstances are enough to explain their outward behavior towards each other. Even when they say they hate each other, they do not actually mean it -- it is their unfortunate fate that they despise.
How they behave on the outside and their little spiteful remarks towards each other are simply a sign of emotional pain, not a representation of their relationship as a whole. We can see a number of instances that depict their affection, care and love -- one is when the wife expresses "I want to give you something back for what you've done, then I'd like to die after that" (p. 113), another is when the husband heads to town in search of the chicken innards his wife loves to eat. Both of them want to care for the other, not out of obligation, but out of love.
An important scene that captures their relationship is when the husband complains of his tiredness to which the wife responds with an apology, tells him to sleep for she now feels prepared to face death. He then "wept despite himself, and his hand went on rubbing her stomach" (p. 120). They both come to the realization that they must put an end to their negative behavior for it only causes more pain and that their time together is running out. Sometimes life brings out the worst in us and our emotions take over. It is in these times, however, that we grow and learn the most. This growth can be seen in the last few pages as the protagonist and his wife finally come to terms with reality and seem a little more at peace.
Discussion Question: At the end of the story, the protagonist tells his wife that the flowers "came riding here in a carriage, along the shore of the sea, scattering the first seeds of spring as they came" (p. 123). What is the significance of spring in this story and how might it be related to death?
How they behave on the outside and their little spiteful remarks towards each other are simply a sign of emotional pain, not a representation of their relationship as a whole. We can see a number of instances that depict their affection, care and love -- one is when the wife expresses "I want to give you something back for what you've done, then I'd like to die after that" (p. 113), another is when the husband heads to town in search of the chicken innards his wife loves to eat. Both of them want to care for the other, not out of obligation, but out of love.
An important scene that captures their relationship is when the husband complains of his tiredness to which the wife responds with an apology, tells him to sleep for she now feels prepared to face death. He then "wept despite himself, and his hand went on rubbing her stomach" (p. 120). They both come to the realization that they must put an end to their negative behavior for it only causes more pain and that their time together is running out. Sometimes life brings out the worst in us and our emotions take over. It is in these times, however, that we grow and learn the most. This growth can be seen in the last few pages as the protagonist and his wife finally come to terms with reality and seem a little more at peace.
Discussion Question: At the end of the story, the protagonist tells his wife that the flowers "came riding here in a carriage, along the shore of the sea, scattering the first seeds of spring as they came" (p. 123). What is the significance of spring in this story and how might it be related to death?