There is a fanciful idea of what being in a relationship is like. People dream of finding ‘the one' and spend every second of their lives with this wonderful person. However, as I stated before, this is a fanciful idea. Being in any type of relationship requires a great deal of time and energy, and isn't often drowned in love. You are expected to compromise on everything, stop talking to certain people, and have to constantly defend your loyalty. Relationships aren't perfect, but they provide a companion who will always be there and love you. However, the strength of any relationship is tested through various trials. In "A Sorrowful Woman" by Gail Godwin and Michael Oppenheimer's "The Paring Knife", the authors demonstrate how as a relationship
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The story is written from the man's point of view, which demonstrates how he views his wife. "We…had drunk many glasses of wine…we thought we would make love, but something happened, and we had an argument…I said some very hurtful things to the woman I love." (Oppenheimer, 188). In this flashback, the husband is expressing his remorsefulness about how he treated his wife during their argument and describes her in a loving manner. By giving her a term of endearment, it is evident that the husband values his wife and presently sees her as the woman he loves. If the argument had ended differently, the husband wouldn't be calling his wife the same term as he does in this quote. He might refer to her as ‘ex-wife' or simply ‘her', which would indicate that the argument caused a permanent estrangement on their relationship. However, that isn't the case. The husband is presently calling her "the woman I love", which demonstrates that he has looked past their argument. (Oppenheimer, 188). Thus, showing that this disagreement was a temporary estrangement and not a permanent divide between the …show more content…
In "A Sorrowful Woman", the situation wasn't dealt with quickly, which led to the slow deterioration of their connection. While in "The Pairing Knife", the estrangement was terminated because both parties acted quickly. From this comparison, one can see there are many factors that determine the strength of a relationship; such as personalities, willingness, and love. However, if either story had different timings for when they addressed an issue, they would have had different outcomes and could have ended or strengthen their relationship. It seems that the most profound factor isn't the amount of love or the type of people in the relationship; it's the timing of addressing an issue that determines if two people will last
The story is written from the man's point of view, which demonstrates how he views his wife. "We…had drunk many glasses of wine…we thought we would make love, but something happened, and we had an argument…I said some very hurtful things to the woman I love." (Oppenheimer, 188). In this flashback, the husband is expressing his remorsefulness about how he treated his wife during their argument and describes her in a loving manner. By giving her a term of endearment, it is evident that the husband values his wife and presently sees her as the woman he loves. If the argument had ended differently, the husband wouldn't be calling his wife the same term as he does in this quote. He might refer to her as ‘ex-wife' or simply ‘her', which would indicate that the argument caused a permanent estrangement on their relationship. However, that isn't the case. The husband is presently calling her "the woman I love", which demonstrates that he has looked past their argument. (Oppenheimer, 188). Thus, showing that this disagreement was a temporary estrangement and not a permanent divide between the …show more content…
In "A Sorrowful Woman", the situation wasn't dealt with quickly, which led to the slow deterioration of their connection. While in "The Pairing Knife", the estrangement was terminated because both parties acted quickly. From this comparison, one can see there are many factors that determine the strength of a relationship; such as personalities, willingness, and love. However, if either story had different timings for when they addressed an issue, they would have had different outcomes and could have ended or strengthen their relationship. It seems that the most profound factor isn't the amount of love or the type of people in the relationship; it's the timing of addressing an issue that determines if two people will last