The Husband's Fate as Caretaker

Die, My Love

This character thread follows the husband's evolution from enthusiastic amateur astronomer to the family's exhausted caregiver.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Enthusiastic Stargazer The Enthusiastic Stargazer from "Die, My Love". The Enthusiastic Stargazer Context The husband carries his telescope to the bottom of the garden and asks the narrator to look at the stars.

The Enthusiastic Stargazer from "Die, My Love". The Enthusiastic Stargazer Context The husband carries his telescope to the bottom of the garden and asks the narrator to look at the stars.

The Enthusiastic Stargazer Context The husband carries his telescope to the bottom of the garden and asks the narrator to look at the stars. He is excited by the String of Pearls, the Great Bear and the moon. Turn His elation hurts the narrator, who does not like illusions or black objects in the sky. He hugs her, though they have not hugged in months. Aftermath He ends the night insulting the moon, women and the narrator in equal parts. The stargazer is also a man whose enthusiasm is met with silence.

The Roadside Calls The Roadside Calls from "Die, My Love". The Roadside Calls Context The husband calls from service stations on his sales trips, and the narrator waits by the phone.

The Roadside Calls from "Die, My Love". The Roadside Calls Context The husband calls from service stations on his sales trips, and the narrator waits by the phone.

The Roadside Calls Context The husband calls from service stations on his sales trips, and the narrator waits by the phone. He tells her what he ate and when he will be home. Turn She asks the same questions as always, what did you eat, and wonders what women hope to find out. She imagines him in cheap roadside hotels with drive-thru girls. Aftermath He returns with wads of ten-euro bills and a suitcase of unsold samples. The caretaker role is already failing: he is absent, and she is going mad.

The Dedicated Father The Dedicated Father from "Die, My Love". The Dedicated Father Context The baby crawls toward the fireplace and sticks his hands into the embers.

The Dedicated Father from "Die, My Love". The Dedicated Father Context The baby crawls toward the fireplace and sticks his hands into the embers.

The Dedicated Father Context The baby crawls toward the fireplace and sticks his hands into the embers. The narrator watches from outside, and the father reacts with panic, running for bandages and anti-inflammatory pills. Turn With a stupid towel around his waist, he applies TCP to the child's palms and the soles of his feet. The child does not cry but snarls like a little red revolutionary. Aftermath The narrator stays outside, a stranger to the scene. The father is the one who acts, while the mother watches through the glass.

The Therapist's Patient The Therapist's Patient from "Die, My Love". The Therapist's Patient Context The husband tells the therapist he is in a permanent state of alert.

The Therapist's Patient from "Die, My Love". The Therapist's Patient Context The husband tells the therapist he is in a permanent state of alert.

The Therapist's Patient Context The husband tells the therapist he is in a permanent state of alert. His face is deep red, and the narrator thinks of him as a bull charging at her. Turn He says the narrator is never normal, never relaxed, and that he avoids her because she sulks all day. The therapist writes notes while the two of them wrestle. Aftermath The husband is cast as the reasonable one, the one who seeks treatment for his wife. His suffering is real, but it is also a weapon.

The Sole Parent The Sole Parent from "Die, My Love". The Sole Parent Context After the two men reach their agreement, the husband drives the narrator into the woods and tells her he will not be able to forget.

The Sole Parent from "Die, My Love". The Sole Parent Context After the two men reach their agreement, the husband drives the narrator into the woods and tells her he will not be able to forget.

The Sole Parent Context After the two men reach their agreement, the husband drives the narrator into the woods and tells her he will not be able to forget. He is the most loyal of the two men, the one who has chosen her. Turn He reveals that the radiologist's wife is expecting twins, and the narrator laughs with him for the last time. When she gets out of the car, he remains behind. Aftermath The husband is left holding the household and the son. His fate is to be the steady, unglamorous custodian of the life she flees.

a night early in the story

when the husband is away selling products

after the baby burns his hands on the fireplace

during the couples session at the institution

near the ending, after the final separation