Analysis And Interpretation Of Henry

Over time he becomes more and ore jealous, since his wife appreciates the doll more than him and therefore he decides to get rid of the doll. There are many themes in the story, such as marriage, jealousy and childish behavior. The genre is very comical as there is an exaggeration of the turmoil that can OCCUr in a marriage. It can be seen that it is a short Story by: There are few persons It is a sudden beginning/ in medias rest It is a short story It has an open ending, because it leaves the reader in uncertainty.Living with his wife and the doll Henry, the narrator becomes more and more jealous and starts hating both of them, especially Henry with his well-bred smile. He is very aware of the fact that his wife loves and appreciates Henry the doll more than him and that Henry is better looking than him, which he himself says, â€Å"In our tiny kitchen he towered above my puny height of five foot nothing. He looked handsome and smart with his green vinyl suit and firm jaw† (I I. 13-14 p. 2). You can tell by her tone when she speaks with her husband that she does not love and appreciate her husband as much as she loves and appreciates Henry.This is also seen in the quote â€Å"HERE, LET ME DO IT. You're 3 p. 2)†. She says that he is useless, which she also mentions several times through the story. The following quote shows that the wife appreciate Henry more because she buys better gifts to the doll Henry compared to what she buys to her husband: â€Å"At Christmas, my wife bought me a set of kitchen skewers and a potato-peeler. Henry got a checked cap, a long tartan scarf and a smart pair of driving gloves† (II. 3-4 p. 3). By this you can see how much more the wife appreciate the doll rather than her husband.In this short story, there is an omniscient first-person narrator, as the narrator acts as a first-person narrator and because he knows about his fife's feelings, this can be seen in the following quote â€Å"My wife screamed with hatr ed†(al. 10 p. 3). In this quote it can be seen that he describes the way and the feeling his wife had when she screamed. It can also be seen in the quote â€Å"She gazed with admiration as the figure slowly grew to full size† (II. 12 p. 2). In this quote he knows about her feelings, as he describes how she gazed as the figure slowly grew to full size.The narrator seems to be mentally unstable, because he has a childish behavior. This can be seen in the quote â€Å"He had a triumphant smile upon his lips† (II. 21 p. 4). He attaches the doll human-like behavior, when he mentions the triumphant smile, which he does several times. This makes him very depressive, because he has a negative view on life, which can be seen by all the many negative adjectives he assigns his wife. He is afraid of being alone and abandoned; therefore he does not leave her in the beginning, even though she treats him badly.The narrator has a subjective interpretation of reality, because ther e is an exaggeration of the turmoil that can occur in the marriage. The main purpose of buying Henry is to use it to frighten off muggers- the wife mentions. It is going to sit beside the wife when she is driving, but Henry has gained more importance, since the wife acts like Henry is her new husband. At some point it becomes too much for her husband and that is why he wants to get rid of Henry. Eventually when his wife sees what he has done, she begins crying.At some point he hears her crying and then he repairs Henry, â€Å"Moved by her hysterical cries, I ran for my puncture kit and made a hasty repair. After much huffing and puffing at the pump, Henry was restored to his full 13-14 p. 3). The author has a humorous style of writing, which makes the text entertaining. An example might be the episode where the wife explains that she bought Henry to frighten off muggers, when she is driving. Here occurs a humorous comment from her husband â€Å"l smiled. My wife frighten off mugge rs without the help of a dummy† (II. 7 p. 2). The use of humor is also a way of distancing oneself from painful experiences. His own wife frightens the narrator; â€Å"l decided to wander round for a bit. Didn't want to be there when she discovered that he was missing. I smirked to myself. She was crazy about Henry. She would kill me if she knew what I had done† (II. 5-7 p. 4). The atmosphere in the couple's house, is unstable and filled with jealousy, because it seems like they are getting divorced. You would also expect that they would be getting a divorce in any moment. At Christmas, my wife cap, a long tartan scarf and a smart pair of driving gloves† (II. 34 p. 3) â€Å"He deserves them,' she said, ‘you're just useless! † (II. 5 p. 3) â€Å"A great surge of anger rose up in me. How I hated them both† (II. 6 p. 3) From the quotes above, it can be seen that the mood in the house is hateful. The reason they are together is not because they lov e each other, but because their title as a aired couple. Their relationship becomes more and more hateful when the man makes it worse by adding Henry human characteristics.