The Life of Rose and Bane Philips - Essay Example

Story Rose and Bane were a happily married couple with three children; two sons and a daughter. Rose performed all the duties a wife is expected to perform in a traditional conservative family. Rose cooked food, did the laundry, cleaned and washed the house, ironed the clothes, and spent time with the children. She guided the children in their studies. Bane was responsible for financially supporting the family. He performed his duties efficiently even if that meant having to stay up to 10 hours at work from 8a.m. to 6 p.m. This was a happy family, or this was how Bane thought at least. Mr. and Mrs.

Philips lived in the neighborhood. They had very good terms with Rose and Bane. They would often invite Mr. and Mrs. Philips over the dinner as it was often only the dinner that Bane could manage to have with his entire family. Mrs. Philips was a rather shy and silent person. She did not participate in the discussions much, though, from her looks and expressions, one could never infer that she was not happy to be part of the group. Mr. Philips was a very jolly and extroverted person. He was quite verbose and had good oratory skills.

No one could win an argument with him. Bane liked him for his talkative nature as Bane liked being a listener more than a speaker. Rose also enjoyed the discussions. One day, on his return from the office, Bane brought Laura with her. He introduced Laura to his wife as a helpless girl from another city with no room or shelter there. They decided to offer her the guest room for a week as the arrival of Laura’s aunt was expected after that. Laura was not a very social person. She did not tell much about herself.

Rose realized she did not really like her personality. She happily wished her at the end of the week. Laura left. Bane would often find Rose at the neighbors’ on his return from the office. She would go there to offer Mr. and Mrs. Philips a share of the new recipe of pizza she had tried or a portion of fried Tuna. Bane liked her for her caring nature and generosity. Nine months later… Laura showed up at Rose’s home carrying a one-week-old baby. She claimed that the baby is Banes. Bane was shocked to hear the news as he knew he had not done anything to be in this situation.

Nothing could be worse for Rose. She could not take the shock and burst into tears. She asked Bane why he did this to her. Bane kept saying that the girl was lying but Rose wouldn’t believe it. Laura demanded Bane take responsibility for the child and provide for her and the child. Bane could not understand what was really happening. Rose demanded from Bane to get the baby tested for genes to prove his innocence. Bane happily agreed to it as he knew the baby wasn’t his. Laura hesitated to accept the proposal.

Rose insisted and said that she would file a case against her if she wouldn’t allow the baby to be tested. Laura had to agree. They went for the test. Bane went to receive the reports. The doctor told him not to be worried because the genes didn’t match. Moreover, he could anyway never be the baby’s father as the reports had suggested that Bane was impotent. Bane went into a state of utter dismay. Overcome with anger, he stormed out of the office deciding that he would not believe the doctor until he had undergone the tests again.

He believed the reports were wrong as he already had children. But Bane’s mind was being constantly clouded with other possibilities… As expected, Rose was at Mr. and Mrs. Philips’s when Bane reached home. He went over to their home and as he reached the door, he could hear the words coming from inside, “Rose, it’s not a big deal. Men are like that… I am like that. What to talk of men, even you are like that. How can you be so furious over your husband when you yourself have cheated upon him with all three of your children?

Or rather our children? Calm down! It’s not that I care about that fat ugly son of a …..it’s just that I can’t see you crying.” Mrs. Philips’s muffled cries could be heard in the background, which was taken care of by Mr. Philips as “shut up you …..!”