The differences

Le 1

Jason Le

September 27, 2014

English 4

The Differences

In the story "Separating," by John Updike, readers can see that the story is about a husband and wife thinking about a divorce. However this divorce isn't easy, due to the fact that they had children. The setting of the story is based in their own home with broken objects that resembles the problem that is going on between the husband and wife. Through out the story readers can see that both the parents cope in there own ways. They both suffer differently. In this story you can see how both the wife and husband deal with their separation. Richard and Joan are both at fault for the separation however despite their faults they still care about each other and that might keep them together in the end.

In the opening paragraph, Richard knows that it's his fault and his wife's fault that is driving their marriage apart.

John Updike liked being on the show and tried not ...

English: John Updike giving the 2008 Jefferson Lec...

A caricature of John Updike from The New York Revi...

John writes, "The day was fair. Brilliant. All that June the weather had mocked the Maples' internal misery with solid sunlight-golden shafts and cascades of green in which their conversations had wormed unseeing, their sad murmuring selves the only stain in Nature" (800). You can see that the father and wife are having problems but the world continues. The June weather mocking the Maples' is a symbolism that the world is so beautiful but there is still darkness lurking internally in this family. The father notices this and tries to fix things but just can't. In the opening paragraph the father knows he eventually has to tell his kids about him and his wife.

Richard and Joan are both at fault for the separation; these two are just two different people. You can see that in the first paragraph it...