Rewards and Challenges of Marriage - Book Report/Review Example

Rewards and Challenges of Marriage In his book, Ten Little Indians, Sherman Alexie uses the story ‘Do you know where I am?’ to portray the pros and cons of building a life with another person. The narrative is about a couple that ‘met at the first mixer dance of their freshman year’ (pp. 150) and end up sharing all their life together. Their relationship is so real that its survival is vividly evident from the way they did things together. David remarks that they ‘were in love and happy and skinny and beautiful’ (pp. 151). Although their love is faced with many challenges such as divorce and distrust, it eventually passes the test of time. The writer does not tire from giving his readers exclusive snippets of the life of Sharon and David including the not so good ones. Ultimately their shared life comes to an abrupt halt after almost fifty years of companionship when Sharon ‘lay on her deathbed’ (pp. 168). Even in death, their love is still evident in the four children that they had sired together: they cried and hugged her and left them alone (pp. 168). This article is a continuation of this love story and analyzes the rewards and challenges of sharing a life together in marriage. Mental health and happiness is perhaps one of the best portrayed advantages of marriage in the short story. Though no direct linkage is drawn to show that David or Sharon’s good mental state was achieved through the sharing of their life, it is evident that they ended up being happy by being together. The writer writes that ‘her joy was always rowdy, rude and pervasive’ (pp. 152). The benefits of companionship in relation to a good mental health and happiness are varied in nature and cannot be exhausted in writing. When he did not see Sharon for one month, David ‘assumed that Sharon had left him forever’ (pp. 158). This was a clear sign that he was in distress. Most importantly, a person’s attitude towards life is clearly enhanced giving one a positivism approach in life. Ever since the time of their meeting, David and Sharon did little things together that made their life full of happiness. Actually, even when they faced the largest threat to their marriage – when Sharon was unfaithful – they still resolved the issue to ensure their continued happiness. Clearly, were it not for the earlier strong foundation that the two had built at the beginning of their dating life, their marriage would have crumbled at that point. David confesses that they ‘were inseparable’ and ‘ate their meals together and fed each other’ (pp. 151) It is believed, and scientifically proven that people in marriages suffer less chances of depression as opposed to their opposite counterparts. The happiness that marriage life brings ensures a good mental health for both the man and the woman. When one looks at the life of Sharon and David together, one cannot stop, but awe at the physical health that they too enjoyed. In fact, it comes out as somewhat ironic that Sharon ultimately dies of cancer, a terminal illness. Nevertheless, their entire life together is full of vigor and vitality as evidenced by the many activities they did together. At some point, David is by how they reached the 66-year milestone so ‘suddenly and mortally’ (pp. 167). This is enough evidence that their life together ensured that they felt younger and stronger with every passing day. David claims that ‘they fought hard for their happiness’ and ‘won often enough to develop a strong taste for winning’ (pp. 167). There is no clear link between good physical health and marriage. However, experts have found out that couples enjoy the luxury of emotional support thus translating to good mental health. Another possible reason for good physical health in married people could be the fact that they find less time to engage in drug abuse and other vices that impact negatively on human health. In fact, David regrets having spent most Fridays and Saturdays ‘watching other people’s children playing football, basketball and volleyball’ (pp. 160). Maintaining a single faithful partner also guarantees ones immunity from sexually transmitted illnesses. Perhaps this was the main reason why David was so disturbed when Sharon confessed to having been faithful. Building a life with another person brings along economic wealth and affluence. As couples pool together their resources and help each other to grow, they eventually become economically independent and live a good life. David jokingly says that they, ‘were going the wrong way on the social class map’ because they ‘made less than their parents did’ (pp. 167). However, this is not a reflection of their true financial state. In fact, he contradicts himself by remarking: How glorious! (pp. 167). Moreover, Sharon runs a shop, a symbol of a higher social class at their time. The reason why couples end up being more affluent than their single counterparts is because they learn to be more responsible and even work harder. For example, David attests that he ‘covered high school sports and reviewed movies for the local alternative weekly’ (pp. 159). It is a rarity to find married couples that are prodigious in spending money. Actually, most spendthrifts are single people who have fewer responsibilities. In addition, spouses can rejoice in knowing that they will be pulled out of murky waters by their partners when they get stuck in problems. There is no other known, or proven, way of ensuring the continuity of one’s progeny other than through marriage or companionship. Eventually, everyone faces the fate that is death and therefore, only those that have children can be guaranteed of their name’s longevity. David and Sharon had ‘four kids (Sarah, Rachael, Francis, and Joshua)’ (pp. 158), perhaps as a replacement of the many relatives they had buried in their life together. The pain of losing relatives, parents particularly is not one to anticipate. David says that they ‘buried her mother and father and my mother, all of our grandparents, and many of our aunts, uncles and cousins’ (pp. 159). However, bearing children can ease this pain. Actually, many people like to name their children after their parents to ensure the continuity of their family names. Even on her deathbed, Sharon could still afford to smile because of the joy of seeing her children and their children all around her. It was ‘Good-bye Rachael! Good-bye Sarah! Good-bye Francis! Good-bye Joshua!’ (pp. 168). Though marriage life is advantageous to both parties, it still has its equal share of troubles and disadvantages. These challenges are well recorded in the story of Sharon and David, from their first meeting to the end. One of the biggest challenges that faced the couple was sticking together during hard times. In particular, their union was largely bruised when Sharon engaged in ‘an extra-marital affair’ (pp. 159) with a white man. The threat of separation was largely imminent, but they managed to talk things over as evidenced by how hurt David was ‘by the frankness of her words, by her deal-making’ (pp. 159). Many men and women find it strangely hard to stick to one partner and this is evidenced by the high number of reported cases of unfaithfulness in families. Perhaps this unfaithfulness can be attributed to the boredom and monotony of having to stay with one partner throughout one’s lifetime. Many marriages, worldwide, are faced with the threat of separation and many couples end up divorcing due to family misunderstandings. During their wee days of dating, Sharon insisted, crying ‘save him’ (pp. 154) that they keep a cat that they had just saved from a thicket of blueberries. Though David was protesting that they ‘can’t keep him’ (pp. 154), Sharon prevailed upon him and they called the owners of the cat from an advert that Sharon had seen in the dailies. What happened next is reflective of the normal marriage life that is full of distrust. David lied that he was the one who had saved the cat, taking all the honors from Sharon. In fact, Sharon accuses David of ‘taking their money and lying to them’ (pp. 157). From then on, Sharon distrusted David and called him ‘my husband, the liar’ (pp. 159). Although they ended up marrying each other damage had already been done and the distrust grown between them. This is a classic example of how couples act towards each other. Pride and ego of partners suffices thus leading to total distrust of one another. In fact, David’s relationship was almost coming to an end because of this particular incident. The same thing happens in the contemporary society where marriages are dogged with distrust and dishonesty. The result of these challenges is seen in the many divorce cases filed in the courts of law. Some people even joke that the best paying job currently is practicing family law. The story of David and Sharon and their shared life is a perfect example of the challenges and the rewards of sharing a life with another person. In their fifty years of togetherness, they faced what couples currently face today. This uniformity goes to show that challenges and rewards of marriage are not exclusive to a specific time, but are uniform over different time periods. Though the challenges of marriage life are many, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Works cited Alexie, Sherman. Ten Little Indians: Stories. , 2013. Internet resource. Read More