Analysis of Two Short Stories

¶ … Husband" is a story that focuses on marriage and finding someone. Mme. Carette is the mother to Marie and Berthe. While Berthe tries to seek independence, working an office job, Marie is simple-minded, hoping to marry. Their mother, Mme. Carette is the one who wants her to find someone all while wishing for someone for herself. In one way or another, they all find that marriage often takes center stage in a woman's life. Mme. Carette is a religious woman.

Although she tries to hide parts of herself, she shows how much she wants a husband not just for her children, but for herself. On page 306, Mme. Carette explains how a husband can help her up the step of a streetcar and lay down the law to Berthe. These are things a daughter cannot do and therefore are reasons for Carette to want someone. Marie wants someone as well and Louis is that someone that could bring her the kind of company she desires.

Page 308 mentions the potentiality of Marie becoming a servant to Louis' mother, but instead of crumpling her chin, she welcomed the idea of being with Louis and ignored any signs of potential problems. Berthe unlike her sister and mother did not necessarily want marriage in the traditional sense. Her constant cavorting with various married men like Mr. Macfarlane and his lewd poems (313) or Mr. Wright-Ashburton and his 'proposal', showed her interest in not in marriage, but in married men.

In the end the moral is that marriage is something that defines women whether they want it to or not and ends up dictating their future. Berthe still unmarried and 24, has lesser prospects. Marie now with Louis, is forced to leave home. Mme. Carette, is a mother packing her daughter's suitcase so Marie could move in with Louis. Memories are often hard to grasp. Sometimes they come because they are triggered by events or objects that a person experiences.

"The Doll Queen" by Carlos Fuentes revolves around the story of Carlos who had met a 7-year-old girl when he was 14. His memories with her begin as he finds an old card containing the drawing Amilamia made him. He was quite fond of her and these memories although faded, made him remember her and all the things he liked about the showing a friendship that could have meant more for Carlos than he had wished for and set him off on a journey to find her.

A line from the book that makes the friendship cross into peculiar territory is his recounting of her flower patterned panties. On page 295, he talks about her white skirt and her panties making a point to note how they gathered around her thighs. This memory is vivid, detailed and perhaps brings insight into his desire to fragment his memories because of the 'romantic' nature of some of those memories. In the end, those memories are what.