![]() The narrator bemoans the distance and tension growing between him and his wife, as he remembers how happy they were before his injury. ![]() When the narrator complains to her about the mess in the house, she snaps, telling him to get over his obsessive need for control, and reminding him that he should have recovered by now. ![]() Once Claire is home, the narrator shares a brief moment of laughter with his wife about the nativity set, but it is obvious that she is tired and frustrated. When his youngest child, Evie, notices how much pain he’s in, she hands the narrator a cushion and tells him to lie down. His doctor has warned him against any physical exertion, and as the narrator pulls the nativity scene towards him, pain soars through his body, causing him to drop and break the contents of the box.ĭetermined to salvage what is left of their family Christmas traditions-but miserable from pain and humiliation-the narrator orders his children to turn the television off and help him decorate the tree. Unable to dissuade his three children from watching television, the narrator climbs the stairs to the attic to find the Christmas tree decorations. Again, he is reminded and ashamed of his ineptitude when acknowledging that Claire has had to take extra shifts at her job because he is unable to provide for the family financially. When they return home, his wife Claire rushes off to the hospital-where she works as nurse-while the narrator is left to care for his three children, Ben, Sam, and Evie. The narrator is unable to help but be embarrassed by his own uselessness. The story begins with a description of the humiliation the narrator experiences as he watches his wife and children drag their newly purchased Christmas tree to the car. After nearly sixteen weeks confined at home, he spends his days watching his family from the living room floor where he lies to rest his back. ![]() ![]() Suffering daily from the excruciating pain of his back injury, the unnamed narrator is unable to work and can barely move. In “Like a House on Fire,” Cate Kennedy tells the story of an ordinary man whose whole life is turned upside down when he has an accident at work. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2022
Categories |