The Hand Essay Research Paper Young marriage

The Hand Essay, Research Paper Young marriage, is it sometimes rushed into? A young marriage described in The Hand In The Hand , by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the plot centers around the idea of a young couple that just got married and are lying in bed alone while the husband sleeps and the wife remains awake. The more central character would definitely be the wife while she is also dynamic in the story. Colette is considered one of the significant feminist of the twentieth century. Her story The Hand portrays many of her feminist attributes. I believe that this story tells of a past experience or represents some sort of significance to her marriage life. Colette was married three times which gives her a lot of knowledge and experience in the marriage field. This story tells

of a young marriage that was rushed into and perhaps the young wife was uncertain of her commitment. At the beginning of the story, the wife and husband are described in a bedroom setting with a small light shining from across the room. The wife has only been married for two weeks and as the author describes, she had begun to live the scandalous life of a newlywed or in other words the marriage life was a shock to the wife. The author also describes that her conjugal adventure had been a little more than a kidnapping, which basically tells the reader that the marriage came quick and without warning. The reader is informed that the newlyweds were married a month later of meeting each other, which for Neal 2 today s society is rushing into marriage. Furthermore, her attitude

becomes dynamic, because of a certain flaw that she finds unattractive. As the couple lies in bed, Colette describes how the husband is so good looking and athletic. As she lies there, she thinks of how perfect he is, including his long eyelashes , his mouth, and his skin the color of pink brick. As she continues to savor the moment of still being young and a newlywed, she begins to study his hand which is wrapped tightly around her. As she looks at the hand she begins to realize that it is different than she had thought it would be. She referred to his arm as an animal which makes her pay close attention to the hand in which it is attached. She also thought to herself, It s so big! It really is bigger than my whole head. These comments begin to make her realize that her husband

is not as perfect as she had thought him to be. The wife s response to the husband s hand really gives the reader a vivid picture of how beastly the hand seems. As the wife lies there she continues to insult her husbands hand and continues to give the reader the facts of her husband s flaw. She describes the hand to become ugly as the light from the moon begins to set on the hand. The hand starts to becomes powerful looking and scary. All the veins show due to the moonlight and she begins to notice the ugly red hairs that rest upon the knuckles and the top of his hand. She also notices the pink varnish on his finger nails. She responds to I ll tell him not to varnish his nails and use pink polish on a hand that is so… She is stopped before she can make anymore rude comments

about his hand as he Neal 3 jumps in his sleep as if he is listening to every word she is saying. She continues on as she compares his hand to an ape, The thumb stiffened out, horribly long and spatulate , and pressed tightly against the index finger, so the hand suddenly took on a vile, apelike appearance. Powerful feelings begin to evoke the wife and she grows hateful toward his hand s minor and physical retarded complexion. Also startled by the hand s actions and appearances, she responds by a sudden Oh! a few times in the short story. These startled reactions leave the reader with suspense as she expresses her fear towards the hand. Because of her increase of fear, the author s feminist writing quickly turns the man s hand into the antagonist. While continuing to describe the