"Dimensions": Too Controlling or Loving Too Much

904 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How i met my husband alice munro analysis

Sometimes in a couple, there is a husband who unreasonably controls his wife and a wife that accepts him because of her total love towards him. In Alice Munro’s “Dimensions”, the main character Doree marries Lloyd, an old hippie she meets at hospital. They successfully make three children, but after marriage, Lloyd starts to show his dominant character throughout the story. Doree cannot resist his controlling behavior and philosophy. However, she shows signs that she has abilities to stand against him especially at the end. Although Doree is restrained by Lloyd, in the end of the story, she breaks free from his control when she decides to save a boy’s life.

Doree is controlled by Lloyd during their marriage. On the photograph Lloyd took of Doree and the children, Doree’s hair is naturally curled and coloured as Lloyd preferred it. Also, she doesn’t wear makeup in the story because Lloyd forbids it. These suggest Lloyd has an appearance control over Doree. Furthermore, when one of the children starts rejecting Doree’s breast feeding, she tells Lloyd that she cannot produce milk anymore. Lloyd then squeezes her breast and with couple of drops leaking, states that she lied. They fight about it but since then, Lloyd rebukes Doree for not breast feeding every time something bad happens to the child, such as catching cold. This proposes Doree cannot stand against Lloyd, and has no way but to obey him. Additionally, Doree believes she needs to be loyal to Lloyd, no matter what other people say. When her friend Maggie worries Doree whether she is doing fine with him or not, Doree thinks no one understands a love between him and it is not necessary to even bother what Maggie thinks.
Then Doree asked herself why she should care what Maggie...

... middle of paper ...

...trol at the end. While they are married and even after Lloyd kills the children, Doree is totally under his control, feeling the destiny to stay with him and try to understand him. However, Lloyd’s theory about Dimensions changes Doree into a more stable woman, and by saving a child, she is able to let herself out of his manipulation at last. To analyze in different perspective, Doree has to make a tough decision between a love towards her predominant husband and a love towards her children who were killed by him. Hence, an extent of the control Lloyd has on Doree can be also said that is proportional to an extent of Doree’s love towards Lloyd. Ultimately in the case of “Dimensions”, it illustrates, a negative and possibly one of the worst, influence love can have on couples.

Works Cited

Munro, Alice. “Dimensions”. Too Much Happiness. New York; Knopf, 2009. Print

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper; and Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    In both stories the women's husbands had direct control over their lives. In 'The Yellow Wallpaper'; the narrator's husband controlled her both mentally and physically. He does not allow her to have any sort of mental or physical stimulation. She is virtually imprisoned in her bedroom, supposedly to allow her to rest and recover her health. She is forbidden to work and not even supposed to write. She does not even have a say in the location or décor of the room she is forced to spend almost even moment in. Furthermore, visitors are absolutely not allowed. She says, 'It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work-but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now';(Gilman 635). Mrs. Mallard in 'The Story of an Hour'; had to deal with the same sort of affliction. Her husband had control over her 'body and soul';. She felt that he lived her life for her and did 'not believe that anyone had the right to impose a private will on a fellow creature'; (Chopin 13).

    Read More

  • The Role Of Frank And April Wheeler In Revolutionary Road

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    In individual searches to find themselves, Frank and April Wheeler take on the roles of the people they want to be, but their acting grows out of control when they lose sense of who they are behind the curtains. Their separate quests for identity converge in their wish for a thriving marriage. Initially, they both play roles in their marriage to please the other, so that when their true identities emerge, their marriage crumbles, lacking communication and sentimentality. Modelled after golden people or manly figures, the roles Frank and April take on create friction with who they actually are. Ultimately, to “do something absolutely honest” and “true,” it must be “a thing … done alone” (Yates 327). One need only look inside his or her self to discover his or her genuine identity.

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier Rejects Her Woman/Mother Image in "The Awakening"

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel is set in a cultural background wherein women had every reasonable freedom to talk about their marriage and children, but could not carry on what they found it to be good and reasonable because they were restraint by social constructs. Women were bound to their husbands and children and religiously they were conditioned to lots of dos and don'ts. However, a critical look reveals that women were construed to be mere objects of amusement, possessions cared for and displayed. They were expected to be subordinated to their husbands and children (Wyatt, 1995).

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's Awakening - Edna Pontellier as Master of Her Destiny

    3351 Words  | 7 Pages

    Even in her defiant disobedience to her husband, she is subconsciously aware of the futility of her struggle. During a fit of violent frustration with her marriage, "she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon th...

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Night Of The Living Dead

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Helen is a disgruntled housewife, she doesn’t support Harry in his plans to create a safe haven inside of the cellar. When Harry attempts to set a plan in motion, she seems to be against him and proceeds to scold him. The scenario of Karen, their daughter being ill, may have contributed to her attitude towards Harry. Unable to come to a unanimous decision on the appropriate approach to handle Karen’s illness and as well as the ongoing crisis around them, they foster a bitter attitude towards one another. According to the authors Thomas N. Bradbury and Frank D. Fincham there is a reason for that. It states that… “One explanation for this apparent gender difference is that, compared to husbands' attributions, wives' attributions are rooted more firmly in the events and circumstances of the marriage. If wives' attributions are indeed more accurate or well developed representations of partner behaviors, then their attributions will be linked more closely to the behaviors they display in interaction when discussing some of those partner behaviors.”(Bradbury and Fincham 574). All things considered, Helen’s and Harry’s portrayal cast their marriage under the ‘dysfunctional marriage’ category.

    Read More

  • The Story Of The Hour And The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    These women did not know how to act when their husband was not around. They had to be controlled because they did not have control over themselves. If their husbands did not have control over them they would have been out of control. In both stories, when the husband is out of the picture they are not in their right mind. They always had someone watching over them like they were a child. When they are left alone, they talk to themselves and lose their mind. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” she was mentally-ill and could not be left alone. She could not function in daily routine. She said that her husband did not treat her like a wife, but instead he treated her like one of his patients. She was only treated that way because she acted like a patient and not like a wife. The only way to help her was to treat her like a patient so that she can get better. In “The Story of the Hour” she wanted her freedom so bad. She was also not in her right mind. She had heart problem and had to be treated delicately. She had a controlling husband who would...

    Read More

  • Edna

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    The concept how woman are treated in modern times have changed drastically compared to woman who lived in the conservative period. That period was the time where the perception of individuals in general dealt with countless restraints. The women were the ones who were affected the most because these values had strongly influenced them. Woman behaved in a way how their husband’s wanted because they were living their lives by the controlled ways of the man. The story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the story of “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin are two stories that show accurately the way how women were treated at that time; exactly Edna and the other women. I want to discuss that the main characters of these two stories; Edna and the other women’s liberty were interdicted by their husbands. Finally, the way how both stories end; Edna’s suicide, and the other women’s insanity; demonstrates their inability to escape from the unhappy reality. None of them found the real strength, to outdo the restriction and effects of society, to attain their independence and freedom that they continuously wanted to achieve.

    Read More

  • How Does Henry Lawson Use Distinctively Visual Techniques

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The love one has for their family causes one to do anything to keep them out of harm, including taking the role of mother/father. Henry Lawson creates an image in his readers’ mind of the protagonist and all that she does for her

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees

    2754 Words  | 6 Pages

    Taylor, Turtle, Lou Ann, and Esperanza all develop because of their relationship with and to others. An iron is sharpened when it rubs against another piece of iron. Similarly, it is through contact and relationships that character is developed. The characters discover that they need each other to survive, just like the symbiotic relationship between the wisteria and the rhizobia. Taylor learns to depend upon the help of her friends. Turtle overcomes her emotional shock through Taylor’s love and care. Lou Ann finds her self-confidence through Taylor’s encouragement. Esperanza finds hope through her love for Turtle. All the characters learn how to be like the people in heaven. They are “well-fed” because they help and serve each other. The interaction among the characters provides nourishment and life. They develop into better people through this interaction.

    Read More

  • Marriage in The Ceiling by Kevin Brockmeier

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brockmeier’s short story represents a damaged marriage between a husband and a wife simply due to a different set of values and interests. Brockmeier reveals that there is a limit to love; husbands and wives will only go so far to continually show love for each other. Furthermore, he reveals that love can change as everything in this ever changing world does. More importantly, Brockmeier exposes the harshness and truth behind marriage and the detrimental effects on the people in the family that are involved. In the end, loving people forever seems too good to be true as affairs and divorces continually occur in the lives of numerous couples in society. However, Brockmeier encourages couples to face problems head on and to keep moving forward in a relationship. In the end, marriage is not a necessity needed to live life fully.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Women in The Yellow Wallpaper and Story of an Hour

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Yellow Wall-paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the unnamed female protagonist is going through a rough time in her life.  (For now on, this paper will refer to this unnamed character as the “the narrator in ‘Wall-paper,’” short for “The Yellow Wall-paper.  The narrator is confined to room to a room with strange wall-paper.  This odd wall-paper seems to symbolize the complexity and confusion in her life.  In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard must also deal with conflict as she must deal with the death of her spouse.  At first there is grief, but then there is the recognition that she will be free.  The institute of marriage ties the two heroines of these two short stories together.  Like typical young women of the late 19th century, they were married, and during the course of their lives, they were expected to stay married.  Unlike today where divorce is commonplace, marriage was a very holy bond and divorce was taboo.  This tight bond of marriage caused tension in these two characters.

    Read More

  • Symbols and Symbolism Essay - Imagery and Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story begins when she and her husband have just moved into a colonial mansion to relieve her chronic nervousness.  An ailment her husband has conveniently diagnosed.  The husband is a physician and in the beginning of her writing she has nothing but good things to say about him, which is very obedient of her.  She speaks of her husband as if he is a father figure and nothing like an equal, which is so important in a relationship.  She writes, "He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction."  It is in this manner that she first delicately speaks of his total control over her without meaning to and how she has no choices whatsoever.  This control is perhaps so imbedded in our main character that it is even seen in her secret writing; "John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition...so I will let it alone and talk about the house."  Her husband suggests enormous amounts of bed rest and no human interaction at all.  He chooses a "prison-like" room for them to reside in that he anticipates will calm our main character even more into a comma like life but instead awakens her and slowly but surely opens her eyes to a woman tearing the walls down to freedom.

    Read More

  • Conflict between the Narrator and Her Husband in The Yellow Wallpaper

    427 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; a central conflict centers between the narrator and her husband, John. The husband uses his power as a doctor to control her; he forces her to behave how he thinks a sick woman should. The husband can be seen as a father figure who overprotects her and makes decisions for her.

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Deception Essay

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marriage can be seen as a subtle form of oppression, like many things which are dictated by social expectations. In Kate Chopin’s The Story of An Hour, Louise Mallard finds herself in distress due to the event of her husband’s death that makes her question who she is as a person. The author cleverly uses this event to create the right atmosphere for Mrs. Mallard to fight against her own mind. As the short story progresses, we see that Mrs. Mallard moves forward with her new life and finds peace in her decision to live for herself. This shows that marriage too is another chain that holds oneself back. Not wanting to admit this to herself, Louise

    Read More

  • Dounia In Crime And Punishment

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    faces many different problems throughout the novel, and faces them with courage. Dounia comes out of her work with Svidrigailov, and gets engaged to Luzhin. Dounia is always conscious of her surroundings and acts to make sure she is treated fairly. Dounia has strong boundaries and uses her confidence to put herself first.

    Read More

More about "Dimensions": Too Controlling or Loving Too Much

Open Document