“Perfection,” that is what people want. In today’s society, people desire in wanting to be perfect. The two stories, “The Falling Girl” and “They’re Not Your Husband,” shows how society’s standards have an overwhelming effect on people. The first story, “The Falling Girl,” is about Marta, a 19-year-old girl who falls off a roof of a skyscraper hoping to reach the bottom and metaphorically shows her journey through life. The second story, “They’re Not Your Husband,” is about Earl and Doreen, a married couple but Earl obsesses over that his wife is overweight so he pushes her to lose weight fit society’s requirements. Both stories “The Falling Girl” and “They’re Not Your Husband” present how society has standards that everyone should want to
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Marta changes her image by wearing a chic dress which then gains the attention of the beautiful people. In “The Falling Girl” it says, “The sun had not yet completely set and it did its best to illuminate Marta's simple clothing. She wore a modest, inexpensive spring dress bought off the rack. Yet the lyrical light of the sunset exalted it somewhat, making it chic” (Buzzati 1). Marta is wearing a dress which shines in the light even though it is not expensive, but does catch the attention of others. In addition to “The Falling Girl,” the story “They’re Not Your Husband” shows how Doreen is making a large effort in trying to lose weight. Doreen excitingly says to her husband, “Two mornings later she called him into the bathroom. ‘Look,’ she said. He read the scale. He opened a drawer and took out the paper and read the scale while she continued to grin” (Carver 105). Doreen is trying her best to make Earl happy by losing weight and she is going to continue losing weight to meet societal standards. Marta and Doreen are changing to achieve their goals and desires the approval of others for their own …show more content…
Marta loses the attention and affection she wants because wastes her life in trying to reach the goal which leads to her demise. The wife at the end of the story says, “‘An old woman,’ the wife answered. ‘A decrepit old woman. She looked frightened’” (Buzzati 4). She aspires to be part of the attractive people that she loses sight in the world around her. Marta is so set on becoming beautiful that she did not notice that she is wasting her life away. The beautiful people say, “‘You have your entire life before you,’ they told her, ‘why are you in such a hurry? You still have time to rush around and busy yourself’” (Buzzati 2). She is too busy focusing on being in their world that she did not know until the end that it was too late for her to enjoy life. Moreover, Doreen is losing too much weight that she is ignoring her own health. Doreen says to Earl, “‘People are saying things at work,’ she said to him. ‘What kind of things?’ he said. ‘That I'm too pale, for one thing,’ she said. ‘That I don't look like myself. They're afraid I'm losing too much weight’” (Carver 105). Doreen is becoming too skinny that her coworkers are noticing the weight going away rapidly and worries for her health because of the significant changes she has made. In both of these situations, the characters did not get what they desire because the stresses of societal standards lead them to not
Marta changes her image by wearing a chic dress which then gains the attention of the beautiful people. In “The Falling Girl” it says, “The sun had not yet completely set and it did its best to illuminate Marta's simple clothing. She wore a modest, inexpensive spring dress bought off the rack. Yet the lyrical light of the sunset exalted it somewhat, making it chic” (Buzzati 1). Marta is wearing a dress which shines in the light even though it is not expensive, but does catch the attention of others. In addition to “The Falling Girl,” the story “They’re Not Your Husband” shows how Doreen is making a large effort in trying to lose weight. Doreen excitingly says to her husband, “Two mornings later she called him into the bathroom. ‘Look,’ she said. He read the scale. He opened a drawer and took out the paper and read the scale while she continued to grin” (Carver 105). Doreen is trying her best to make Earl happy by losing weight and she is going to continue losing weight to meet societal standards. Marta and Doreen are changing to achieve their goals and desires the approval of others for their own …show more content…
Marta loses the attention and affection she wants because wastes her life in trying to reach the goal which leads to her demise. The wife at the end of the story says, “‘An old woman,’ the wife answered. ‘A decrepit old woman. She looked frightened’” (Buzzati 4). She aspires to be part of the attractive people that she loses sight in the world around her. Marta is so set on becoming beautiful that she did not notice that she is wasting her life away. The beautiful people say, “‘You have your entire life before you,’ they told her, ‘why are you in such a hurry? You still have time to rush around and busy yourself’” (Buzzati 2). She is too busy focusing on being in their world that she did not know until the end that it was too late for her to enjoy life. Moreover, Doreen is losing too much weight that she is ignoring her own health. Doreen says to Earl, “‘People are saying things at work,’ she said to him. ‘What kind of things?’ he said. ‘That I'm too pale, for one thing,’ she said. ‘That I don't look like myself. They're afraid I'm losing too much weight’” (Carver 105). Doreen is becoming too skinny that her coworkers are noticing the weight going away rapidly and worries for her health because of the significant changes she has made. In both of these situations, the characters did not get what they desire because the stresses of societal standards lead them to not