I hope you don't mind me answering again :0) I'm not a crazy, honest !
I liked this story because that part of it reminded me of my husband and I. I used to work in a big office block while my husband was finishing his degree (as a mature student). He would come to meet me each day and, because we are a devoted and soppy couple, I would run out into his arms. he would swing me round and kiss me and take my bag and we would walk home together. Several people in different offices told me that they watched us each day and it gave them a lift to see how happy we were. Kind of creepy, but kind of nice too.
I think Anne is that kind of person. The sort of relationship that is empty at its core because the couple are consumed with work, with materialism, with their separate lives and with the modern world. Anne can't understand what the woman sees in her husband because he has none of the trappings and appearance she is herself attracted to. To her he is a "novelty act". In a way there is no need for attraction; the couple are the "other half" of each other literally.
The woman sees herself in the man, and in their children. She sees their future bound together come what may. She sees their past stretching out behind them; the road already travelled. She knows there can be no other way. |