In Ethel Wilson’s “We Have to Sit Opposite”, we meet two well-off women on a train ride who have to cope with being seated next to a less than welcoming family. This story goes on to tell of them going to extremes of lying and making up stories to keep the family from bothering them. It has been said for centuries that humans fall easily for temptation, it is in fact the very premise of famous stories such as that of Adam and Eve. The narrator even goes so far as to say “They had been tempted into fear and folly.” meaning even the characters themselves recognized how easily they fell victim to the temptation of the rudeness of the family and allowed themselves to escalate the behaviour beyond measure. Confirming traits long known to be possessed
