Michael’s commitment to abstain from sex before marriage

Michael’s commitment to abstain from sex before marriage is a defining expression of his convictions about intimacy: at twenty-six, he has never been with a woman because he decided to wait for the right one. Its significance emerges in contrast with Angel’s learned expectation that sex is a means of exchange, making his restraint a boundary she initially struggles to understand.

The Commitment and Its Disclosure

When Angel unbuttons Michael’s shirt and reaches toward him, he pulls back. Her surprise leads her to ask how he has reached twenty-six without being with a woman. Michael opens his eyes and explains that he made a decision to wait for the right one. The exchange establishes that his abstinence is deliberate, not circumstantial, and that he regards sexual intimacy as belonging within a relationship he has chosen.

Contrast with Angel’s Expectations

Angel’s response takes shape against a history in which intimacy has been bound to payment and survival. Later, when explaining her return journey, she tells Michael that she gave a man sex to pay for the ride back. In a separate exchange, she admits that she left to retrieve her gold, an acknowledgment that leaves her feeling diminished. These moments do not describe Michael’s commitment directly, but they clarify the markedly different meanings sex and personal choice carry for the spouses.

Significance in the Marriage

The commitment makes their early physical relationship a point of difference rather than an assumed part of marriage. Michael’s stated choice to wait presents intimacy as something other than an automatic claim or transaction, while Angel’s experience makes that distinction difficult to trust. Their contrast gives the commitment its narrative force: it reveals the gap between Michael’s chosen ideal and the conditions through which Angel has learned to understand sexual relationships.