John Cheever
Literary Critique - The Country Husband
June/07/2016 01:50 PM Filed: Literary Critiques
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Order vs. Chaos: John Cheever’s Social Contrasts
In his 1954 story, “The Country Husband,” Cheever portrays a sophisticated, educated couple in a traditional setting where impressions and niceties are of paramount importance. Typical of a small town, Francis Weed’s elegant wife cares more about what people think than what she is doing with her life, while Francis has a secret.
He’s in love with a young acquaintance he met in France during World War II. This woman makes an appearance as a maid at a neighbor’s party. His affection manifests itself with a passion in sharp contrast to his blasé marriage.
Cheever introduces two disorderly characters, Gertrude and Jupiter, to provide a disruptive, chaotic backdrop to an organized lifestyle. Gertrude is a strange girl with a reputation for bothering people. She goes from residence to residence, imposes herself as a guest, and then refuses to leave. Humorous, but Cheever depicts the serious side to boredom and its behavioral manifestations.
Although well-mannered, Francis obsesses over this obnoxious visitor, alluding to his WWII infatuation. The outward contrast is subtle, while the inward similarity is striking. These eccentric women are wandering souls. Francis empathizes.
Cheever writes, “The fact that little Gertrude’s clothing was ragged and thin was her own triumph over her mother’s struggle to dress her warmly and neatly. Garrulous, skinny, and unwashed, she drifted from house to house around the Blenhollow neighborhood, forming and breaking alliances based on attachments to babies, animals, children her own age, and sometimes adults.”
Jupiter is a dog with a rebellious attitude. Cheever contrasts the community’s calm order with this animal’s refusal to comply. “Jupiter went where he pleased, ransacking wastebaskets, clotheslines, garbage pails, and shoe bags. He broke up garden parties and tennis matches, and got mixed up in the processional at Christ Church on Sunday, barking at the men in red dresses.”
In disposition, Francis is like Jupiter. Although this protagonist seeks counseling in an attempt to conform to conservative, upper middle-class standards, psychological turmoil feeds the man’s spirit and keeps him longing for adventure as he plays the role of a polished country gentleman.