In the story “Separating,” written by John Updike, Richard and Joan have a hard time trying to figure out when and how to tell their kids that they are planning on separating. Throughout the story, Richard hides his emotions by repairing things around the house. Richard and Joan agree to wait until summer arrives to tell the kids about their separation, so Richard finds projects around the house he can fix to get his mind off of the split: “So he had drudged away, in love, in dread, repairing screens, getting the mowers sharpened, rolling and patching their new tennis court” (PN). In the beginning of the story, Updike helps the reader understand the importance of repairing things when he mentions renovation multiple times. Because Joan wants
