Consistently throughout “The 80 Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling simply refuses to communicate and express his true feelings. Although Christian Darling acts as though he is incapable of communication, personally, I believe he is unwilling. Christian Darling can express the dissatisfaction he has with his life through drinking, affairs and rude remarks to his wife. However, Christian chooses not to communicate when it matters the most. Even though Christian sees the separation and tension growing between him and his wife, he does not spend time with her. He refuses to go on walks or to art exhibits with her. He feels like he has disappointed her, but does not ask her about it or apologize. He tells her to take the new art she bought off of the wall and to stop calling him “baby.” He does not explain to her why these things bother him, but orders her to do so. “She looked up at him from the bath, her eyes quickly full of sorrow, halfunderstanding what he meant.” Louise does not understand him, but knows he will not explain. After this, Christian begins “kissing her desperately, searchingly, regretfully” but still does not express emotion to her in any way. He chooses not to communicate, even if he knows he will regret it. His sole focus is to hold her back so that he can be the “important figure” again, like he was in college. Christian Darling is proud, too proud to show emotion and feeling. When he considers the fact that Louise may be thinking of a divorce, he realizes he needs her and cannot live without her and the familiarity of her. He decides that he will go out with her and make some sort of effort. Perhaps, this made the marriage last longer, but he still did not exchange his feelings and worries with Louise. On the verge of losing his wife, he chooses to look away from her. “Deep within him he hoped fiercely, longingly, for her to say, "No, Baby, you stay right here," but she said, as he knew she'd say, "I think you'd better take it."Christian could have tried to save his marriage and said he did not want to leave, but he stays silent. Communication is not impossible for anyone, but sometimes pride gets in the way.
In “The 80 Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw it is apparent that Christian Darling refuses to be honest and communicate. After Christian and Louise moved it was obvious that Christian lost all of his drive while Louise gained motivation and determination. Louise became the important figure between the two which Christian was used to. Although Christian felt insecure about himself and his life he stayed reluctant to communicate and he drank his feelings away instead of expressing them. In one instance his wife came home asking him if he would like to go see an art show, take a walk, or go out and all he did was replied saying that he wanted to stay home and drink whiskey. At this point it is apparent that Christian has given up on his wife because he feels so small compared to her. He is sitting here drinking whiskey while she is filling her life with exciting experiences. Not once has Christian tried to talk to her about how he felt. He doesn’t express the obvious insecure feelings that readers can see. Another instance where Christian failed to communicate was when he was offered a job selling tuxes and asked his wife if he should go. When he asked Louise that question Christian was hoping that she would say no and to stay here with her. However she said no, leaving him devastated. Instead of communicating and saying that he wished she would say no or that he wishes she would want him here with her he turned his head to hid the look of disappointment. This proves his pure refusal to communicate because he failed to communicate with the woman he cares immensely for. Deep inside Christian was upset with the fact that he is no longer the important figure. When he was in college he was the one who ran the 80 yards in practice. Louise even called him an important figure. Now that Louise is that important figure he feels useless and refuses to explain to her the situation he is in. Christian is bothered by the success which is why he dislikes the pictures on the wall, and the people she goes out with. When he told her to stop calling him baby as well so she would stop making him feel insecure. All the things that he does just hold Louise back, but have no explanations. These actions don’t make sense to Louise because he doesn’t give a reason for them. Christian could communicate with Louise if he wanted to, but it was a matter of giving up his self pride that he thought he still had.
Even at the beginning, Christian Darling from Irwin Shaw’s short story “The Eighty Yard Run” shows a complete unwillingness to communicate with anyone. When his future wife constantly dotes on him, giving him countless presents and tokens of affection, the passage states that “Darling protested” about her constant gifts, and the words that he says hint at his disapproval, but he never comes out at saying directly that he doesn’t want her gifts. It doesn’t seem like much of a lack of communication, but it serves only as the beginning of the period in which Darling proves himself to be inadequate at voicing his opinions and thoughts exactly as they are, if at all. Later in the story, Darling refuses to tell his wife what is really bothering him, that her successes and his failures are making him feel like she is surpassing him. Instead, while she goes off to parties and galleries, he sits there with a drink in his hand or has affairs with other women. He has too much pride in what he once was to talk to Louise about anything that is happening in the present except to complain to her about everything that she is doing wrong. He complains that he doesn’t like the pictures she hangs on the walls and that he doesn’t like the new style of clothing that she wears, but that’s not really what was bothering him. Darling is really too concerned about maintaining his “important figure” status to realize that he is not communicating clearly to his wife and chooses not to try further methods of communication. He doesn’t seem to understand that there is no direct correlation between disliking a painting and disliking his wife’s new status as an important figure. Finally, when Christian tells Louise about the offer he receives for work and wishes for her to tell him to stay, he chooses not to tell her about it. “He had to get up and stand with his back to her, looking out the window, because there were things plain on his face that she had never seen in the fifteen years she'd known him.” Instead of telling Louise what is really on his mind, that he wants to stay with her and hopes that she’d beg him to stay with her, he allows his pride to consume him once more. It is not an inability to communicate that made Christian Darling’s life depressing. It is his unwillingness to humble himself and acknowledge that others are not mind readers and will not always be able to understand our deepest feelings, no matter how up-front they appear to be.
In Irwin Shaw’s “The Eighty Yard Run”, it is clear that Christian Darling struggles with communication. The most evident example of this is in his relationship with his wife, Louise. Darling also has a major pride issue. This goes hand-in-hand with his communication problem. He knows that his wife is in a higher position than him. He has a very difficult time expressing how he feels about this. Darling used to be the one that everyone wanted to be associated with. Louise flaunted him around showed him off because of how “accomplished” he was. However, when something did not go his way, Darling was too proud to do anything about it. This is what started the downward spiral concerning his communication skills. He feels that he has not accomplished enough in life to match up to his wife. Therefore, he is unwilling to communicate with her to a certain extent. This is partly because he feels that he does not truly deserve to be with her. When Louise calls her husband “baby”, he says “I wish you wouldn’t call me ‘Baby.’” This is a decisive statement in which Darling is intentionally decreasing communication with his wife. He did not have to say that. Also, when Louise tells Darling that she thinks he should take the job offer, he is deeply upset about this. Yet, he consciously turns away from her so that she can’t see any emotion on his face. He is too proud to have any real, meaningful communication with his wife. He is unwilling to do so.
In the short story, “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, The main character is unwilling to communicate with his wife. The main character, Christian Darling, and his wife Louise experienced marital problems. Darling never worked hard to accomplish his goals. Christian Darling grew up with everything always given to him. His girlfriend smothered him with gifts and her dad provided him with a job. This is a major reason Christian is unwilling to communicate with Louise. Christian Darling thinks of himself as the bigger figure and does not want to be the one who makes the relationship work. Receiving everything he desired in his younger days spoiled Christian Darling. When Louise becomes the bigger figure, because of her new job and will to learn more, the relationship begins to fail. Darling is unwilling to communicate with Louise to make their marriage work. He refuses to tell himself that he is no longer the prized husband. His wife surpassed him in that way. Not admitting the truth to himself, Christian Darling drinks away his thoughts. Darling rejects all his opportunities to go with Louise to the top of the social world. This also shows Darling’s unwillingness to communicate. Darling never wanted to go out with Louise. Darling would rather stay home and drink then see his wife grow. This shows Christian Darling refused to communicate with his wife.
In the short story “The Eighty- Yard Run”, by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling has many problems with communicating with others. Throughout the whole story he consistently shows his unwillingness to even try communicating with anyone. Darling shows this in many ways, one being that he tries to drink away his problems, at one point in the story he even says that all he wants to do is drink his whiskey when Louise asked him to do something like go on a walk with her. Darling is unwilling to communicate with his wife because he does not want to accept the fact that she has surpassed him. While they were still in college Darling was better than Louise, he was the big man on campus and she would want to show him off because he was a big deal. But now that Louise got a great job and got promoted to a higher position Darling is lower than her and is unwilling to admit it. His poor communication shows mostly at the end after he gets asked to take the job, this is because he was hoping for Louise to want him to deny the job and stay with her. This shows because after Louise tells him to take the job all he does is turn around so that he does not have to communicate with her and tell her that he wants her to want him to stay. He is unwilling to talk the whole situation through because he does not want to have to communicate.
In the short story “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, the main protagonist Christian Darling, cannot express his feelings to others. He is unwilling to expose his true feelings because he doesn’t want to disappoint his wife, Louise. In the beginning of the story, Louise relied on Darling and his football star image. As Darling started to lose his touch after his one amazing run in practice, things started to plummet for their relationship. While Louise picked up responsibilities and made her way up in the world, Darling was slowly fading in the background. Christian drank his problems away instead of opening up to his wife while she went and pursued her newly attained career. As doors opened for Louise, all seemed to be slamming in front of Christian. By the time she surpassed him, he felt it was too late to show the real feelings he had been keeping inside. Although I’m not sure either was in love, at one point in the relationship, they both needed each other and both failed to show it. Not once did Darling tell Louise he needed or loved her. At the end of the story when Christian decides it’s time for him to get his life back together, he poses the opportunity for a new job away from home. Secretly wishing she’d say no, Darling asks Louise if she wants him to stay. When the answer is not what he was hoping for, he turns away from his high school ashamed for her to see his true feelings. Darling feels many emotions but is too proud to show them. If he would have shown the feelings, he could still be with Louise and live to have a better high point in his life, not just the practice run.
Communication is important in any relationship. In order for a relationship to blossom, communication is a necessity. In “The Eighty Yard Run,” by Irwin Shaw, Charles Darling, the main protagonist, is incapable of communicating with his wife. While Louise is sitting in the bathtub, Darling thinks about how much he needs her. However, this is not what he tells her. He tells her that he does not want to be called baby. He does not say what he is really feeling. In the most opportune time, when Louise is alone, innocent, and still “the simple little wife under the hat,” Darling is unable to verbally explain what he feels, so he resorts to short, concise, superficial phrases. Darling has an opportunity to strengthen his relationship with his wife by taking a walk with his wife. Instead, he rejects her. He swears about the paintings in the house and drinks. Darling does not even explain why he does not want to go for walk. He simply says “I drink in the afternoon.” The same day when his wife returns after getting a job, Darling lacks remorse. He shows no sign of regret, no sign of remorse for not going for a walk. His lack of regret and lack of emotion over both his action and the immediate reactions of his wife show his inability to communicate properly. After Louise buys Darling a gift, Louise says that Darling is an important figure and that she is in love with him. Darling quickly dismisses this fact and asks why she bought such a heavy gift. There is no sense of love expressed from Darling. There is not even a thank you. It is as if Darling expects this and thinks that he deserves it. It is this kind of thinking that prevents an individual from communicating. When everything is handed to individual, from a job, to gifts, to a beautiful wife, the individual lacks the opportunity to work and communicate for what they want and need. They lose the opportunity to fully appreciate what they have. Without this opportunity, they lack the ability to grow and to communicate with people.
The main character of Christian Darling in the short story “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw is both unwilling and incapable of communication. At first, it is the unwillingness to communicate his thoughts and feelings that prevents him from ever sharing with others what is on his mind. He is too proud and conceited to feel that anyone should get a true look into his heart and mind because of the eighty-yard run he made in the one practice. He would have rather act like an “important figure”, as Louise claims he is toward the beginning, and cheat and drink than simply tell Louise or anyone else what is plaguing him. However, after years of keeping his feelings and thoughts to himself out of pride, he forgets how to communicate truly and genuinely with others, which is tragic for him. Because he becomes incapable of communicating his feelings, he loses the woman he fell in love with, either falling when they attend college, or after he realizes that he needs her to make life bearable. He doesn’t tell her not to go to galleries, not to have dinner with authors and lawyers and so on and so forth because he doesn’t know how to cull those feelings into words and sentences that he thinks she’d understand. He isn’t unwilling to say them, as the reader is able to point out with the scene in the bathroom. From a personal perspective, I don’t think he knows how to convey his feelings not only because he has forgotten, but also because Louise is a stranger growing more distant as the years add on. He doesn’t know how to form sentences from a boy that a woman would understand.
In the short story “The Eighty-Yard Run,” Christian Darling causes his life to go downhill due to many of his actions and overall traits. One reason his high point becomes his high point is because he is incapable of communicating with people, but most importantly his wife. There are multiple times that Darling wants to tell his wife something, but chooses not to and instead keeps quiet and occasionally drinks instead. Even at the start of their relationship, it seems as if their relationship is not built on trust and communication but on pride. They don't tell each other they love each other, but instead Louise just tells Darling he is important and gives him gifts. This causes problems later in their marriage when they actually face challenges. When the depression hits, instead of talking to Louise about their problems and telling her why he hates the artwork on their walls, he complains about the art and drinks. Then when Louise gets a job at a fashion magazine, he finds that he can't communicate with her now because she has become successful and talks about, reads, and watches things that he doesn't understand. Finally, when he tells her he is leaving, Darling can't even tell her that he doesn't want to leave. Darling is not just unwilling to communicate with his wife, he is incapable.
In regard to communication, Christian Darling is more unwilling than incapable. In the beginning of the story, he got along fairly well with Louise, and they seemed to be very similar to any other teenage couple. Particularly, he tells her about his successes on the football field at practice with his 80 yard run, while at the same time that scenario seemed to be low key enough to insinuate that they spoke like this often. Then when the stock market crashed, he became unwilling to communicate because of his own social standing. He was so used to being the “important figure” Louise made him out to be, that it seemed he couldn’t face opening up and admitting to anyone else, let alone himself, that he no longer was that figure. Once or twice he tries to communicate with her, but on the whole he failed. When she first comes home with her new hat, he touches on the fact that he doesn’t like it (extremely rudely), that it makes her seem different. This weak attempt at communicating his emotions may have been brought up in the wrong way, but it was an attempt nonetheless and it showed that he was capable on some level of communication. Also, in the bathtub, he tells Louise that he wishes she wouldn’t call him baby, and it says that she understands him on a level beyond what was actually said. He did indeed communicate, just in his own extremely subtle way. Also, in the ending scenario when she doesn't stop him leaving, he has tears in his eyes that he won't show her. It's not that he doesn't feel these things or can't talk about them, it's just that he chooses not to. Christian Darling can communicate; he is just reluctant to because of all he has lost since his 80 Yard Run.
Communication is key for every challenge of one’s life. In the short story, “The Eighty-Yard Run”, the main character, Christian Darling struggles to communicate and show his emotions. As his once, perfect life is slipping away and is being replaced with a strange, different life, Darling is finding it difficult to keep up. Louise, his wife, is becoming a different person and learning how to strive ahead in the economy at the present time, and Darling can’t seem to find the same groove. He is too proud to express his worries about his marriage with his wife; instead he is watching it fall apart. Countless times, Darling declines to go and spend time with Louise out in the world. He drinks away his own world and falls farther behind. Christian Darling is unwilling to communicate. He gave the new life one shot, just once, and the reader could tell that Darling did it half-heartedly. Then, one time he went into the bathroom as she was taking a bath, and asked her, “not to call me ‘Baby’”. He sank down and gave her a huge hug, and kissed her desperately. It is almost as if he was trying to talk through the kiss instead of talking, which his pride would not let him do. Darling admitted, “how badly he needed her”. Christian Darling was falling down and the only thing that kept him from going under was Louise. He needed to grab her and hold on tightly as she gained her spot in the new world. He knew no one that she brought home, he knew nothing on how to exceed in this life, and Christian desperately needed Louise to try and “get back onto the horse”. However, as he did eventually learn enough to get a job, he fell short again because he did not tell Louise how he felt. As Darling explained how it was going to be with the new job, he hoped that Louise would tell him to stay home and be there with him, but she didn’t. Instead of sitting her down and telling her how much it would mean to him if she wanted him to stay home, he turned around, symbolically cutting their relationship off. Due to his unwillingness to communicate, Christian Darling lost his perfect life, and spouse.
In “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling acts like a stereotypical male. He is one to not show his feelings when they make him seem weak or powerless. In the set time period, men held well over the majority of the power. He didn’t want to do anything to make himself seem weak, which if it means containing his feelings to himself. Emotions and communication go hand in hand. In trying to maintain his manly stature, he is unwilling to communicate. The unwillingness to communicate is apparent right off the bat. Louise likes to be around Darling because he is an ‘important figure.’ Even though they are together Darling sleeps with a lot of other women. He either does not have true feelings or very strong feelings for Louise. Why else would he cheat on her with so many other people behind her back? He refuses to verbally admit to her about his shenanigans. In some peoples’ minds, the more mates one has, the more powerful they are. Perhaps he does not want to admit something he knows is wrong because he does not want to lose his sense of power. Later on, after Louise tells him to take the job, he comes very close to revealing his emotions. In the end he turns away to hid his face from her. He physically is capable of showing his feelings. It’s just; here he is showing them to the wall instead of his wife. He is more concerned with protecting what little status he still has rather than let her know the truth.
Throughout Irwin Shaw’s story, “The 80 Yard Run,” it becomes increasingly apparent that Christian Darling has difficulty communicating with others. The most important and distressing example of this is between Darling and his wife, Louise. When the couple begins to drift apart, Darling doesn’t do anything to repair their relationship, even though the narrator makes it clear that he wants to. This shows that Christian Darling has an incapability to successfully communicate with the people around him. The one time he really seems to want to fix his relationship with his wife is when he goes into the bathroom when she is taking a bath, and instead of telling her how upset he is and how much he loves her, he just kisses her. One factor that could easily play into Darling’s incapability to communicate is that when he was younger, he had everything handed to him without really having to put a lot of effort into it. Christian Darling never had to learn how to successfully communicate his needs and feelings with others because the people around him were quick to give him whatever he wanted without a second thought. A few examples of this are all the gifts Louise gives him when they are dating, and the job given to him by Louise’s father. If Christian Darling hadn’t been doted on as much in his younger years, he would have been able to communicate with those around him, especially Louise, in a much better way.
In “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling seems quite unwilling to communicate. In the beginning, He finds communication to be unnecessary because he is put up on such a high pedestal. Louise’s flattery towards Christian gives him the original excuse to stop their communication. He sees himself as better than her and seems to think that she must communicate with him but not the other way around. From there Christian avoids communication. When he starts to realize the Louise is rising and he is not he seems to give up communication all together. He has many chances to communicate and Louise seem to want him to. He could have gone on a walk or to an art gallery with her to communicate and reconnect, but he chooses not to. Christian Darling also shows his unwillingness to communicate when he avoids Louise’s friends and going out with them. Louise’s insistence on calling him “baby” even after he asks her not to also show their lack of communication. Christian Darling also drinks by the end of the story. His drinking symbolizes the wall he has put up between him and Louise. Christian Darling seems to be unwilling to communicate with Louise and all other people in his life.
In “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling seems quite unwilling to communicate. In the beginning, He finds communication to be unnecessary because he is put up on such a high pedestal. Louise’s flattery towards Christian gives him the original excuse to stop their communication. He sees himself as better than her and seems to think that she must communicate with him but not the other way around. From there Christian avoids communication. When he starts to realize the Louise is rising and he is not he seems to give up communication all together. He has many chances to communicate and Louise seem to want him to. He could have gone on a walk or to an art gallery with her to communicate and reconnect, but he chooses not to. Christian Darling also shows his unwillingness to communicate when he avoids Louise’s friends and going out with them. Louise’s insistence on calling him “baby” even after he asks her not to also show their lack of communication. Christian Darling also drinks by the end of the story. His drinking symbolizes the wall he has put up between him and Louise. Christian Darling seems to be unwilling to communicate with Louise and all other people in his life.
In “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw a main cause of conflict is communication. This is due to the fact that Christian Darling does not do such, but this is not because he is incapable, it is because he is unwilling. Christian just does not want to show that he has feelings or to show any type of inferiority. He thinks that if he tries to communicate with his feelings then he is showing weakness. This is demonstrated when his wife instructs him to take the job. Instead of communicating with her and having an actual conversation with Louis he just turns his head and doesn’t say a word. He was perfectly capable of telling her how he felt about what he was feeling, but he just chooses not to. He once demonstrates that he is capable of communication, but does not try or put anymore effort to it when he instructs Louis not to call him baby. He is able to communicate with his wife, but just chooses not to because he is supposed to be the man of the house and feels he does not need to communicate because things are just supposed to go right for him. Christian Darling is capable of communication, but is just unwilling because he feels it will make him seem weak.
In “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, there are two ways to view Christian Darling’s communication flaws; unwilling or incapable. After reading the piece, it seems as though Christian Darling is unwilling to communicate. Louise is just as much to blame for the lack of communication in their relationship. When she picks Darling up from practice she drives with the top down and doesn’t really say much. Instead of asking Darling how practice was, she asks if he was good. Also they never tell each other “I love you”. Instead, Louise tells Darling that he’s an important figure. Along with Louise’s communication quirks, Darling doesn’t say much to Louise other than that he was pretty good that night. Their connection was the way the other made them look. Pride ruled the relationship between Darling and Louise. She liked being with Darling because of his popularity. However, later in life, the two end up switching roles. When the stock market crashed, so did Louise’s father’s company along with Darling’s pride. With the collapse of his pride, Darling’s life spiraled downhill and Louise’s skyrocketed. Louise began a journey up the social ladder, leaving her husband behind. This created more tension within the relationship because Darling felt that this made him look inferior to his wife. He would sit home drinking while Louise went to work or went out with friends. Instead of talking to Louise or trying to find a new job to catch up to her, he did nothing. He refused any invitation to go for a walk, theater or museum with Louise and her friends. When Louise came home with a new hat, he simply told her that he did not like it. He didn’t bother to explain how he felt or why he didn’t like it. When Louise began calling Darling ‘Baby’, he asked her not to call him that anymore and then hugged and kissed her as if to speak through the kiss. In the closing scenario, when Louise tells him to take the new job he was offered, he turns away so as not to let her see the tear in his eye. It’s not that he was incapable he was merely unwilling to confront his wife. If Darling had had better communication skills and learned to set is pride aside and tell Louise how he felt, it could have saved their relationship but pride overruled communication. Christian Darling is more unwilling than incapable of communicating.
Christian Darling in “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw repeatedly shows himself to be incapable of expressing himself or how he feels. After college and after losing his company because of the Great Depression, Darling turns to drinking as a way to forget his problems rather than dealing with them. That fact in itself shows that Darling does not know of any other, healthier, coping mechanisms because rather than facing his issues he decides to drown them in alcohol. Another thing that shows Darling’s inability to express himself was the way he handled seeing Louise in her new hat. As he watches Louise surpass him and take over more and more responsibility, it makes Darling feel useless and pathetic as a husband and as a man. Then, when Louise begins to call him “baby,” it makes Darling feel even more helpless. Despite all of this tension that has built up in him over his role as a man, as well as other issues, the only thing he manages to express to Louise was that he doesn’t like to be called baby. Even though Louise is able to partially understand what Darling means by the comment, Darling did not truly make his feelings known to her or try to tell her why he feels this way. He really seems to be incapable of talking about his feelings. Finally, a theme that recurred throughout the story was Darling looking at Louise and finding himself thinking about just how beautiful she was. Even though, based on this, he clearly must love Louise and he must truly have feelings for her, Darling never once tells Louise that he loves her or that she is beautiful. Even when things between him and Louise are rough he cannot bring himself to tell Louise how he feels about her. Whether it is pride or foolishness that stops him, it is unclear but Christian does not appear to have the ability to express himself to others.
Christian Darling is incapable of communicating. In the story, the author writes, “I came in here," he said, "to tell you I wish you wouldn't call me 'Baby."' She looked up at him from the bath, her eyes quickly full of sorrow, half understanding what he meant (Shaw 5). This quote shows that Darling is at least attempting to communicate his feelings with his wife. Despite his efforts to communicate his true feelings with his wife, he was unable to make his point clear because Louise continues to call him ‘Baby’. Throughout the story Darling realizes that he has made mistakes and tries to fix them. When Darling figures out how much he really needs his wife, he goes out and gets a job to try and regain his place as the “man in the family”. This nonverbal communication is incapable of displaying Darling’s intentions because he never made any money and his wife kept her job that was paying the bills. As the story progresses, Darling becomes less and less able to communicate with his wife. Because of all the new people Louise is meeting and all of the art galleries she is visiting, she learns more information rapidly. Louise’s wealth of knowledge is expanding every day, while Darling sits at home and drinks whiskey. When Louise talks to Darling about artists, events, and authors that Darling has never heard of, he is incapable of communicating with her because he has nothing important to offer. Near the end of the story, Darling is unable to communicate the fact that he wants Louise to refuse him the new job offer. Christian darlings few attempts at communicating were feeble and unsuccessful. These attempts show that he is willing to communicate, but the failures show that he is incapable.
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ReplyDeleteConsistently throughout “The 80 Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling simply refuses to communicate and express his true feelings. Although Christian Darling acts as though he is incapable of communication, personally, I believe he is unwilling. Christian Darling can express the dissatisfaction he has with his life through drinking, affairs and rude remarks to his wife. However, Christian chooses not to communicate when it matters the most. Even though Christian sees the separation and tension growing between him and his wife, he does not spend time with her. He refuses to go on walks or to art exhibits with her. He feels like he has disappointed her, but does not ask her about it or apologize. He tells her to take the new art she bought off of the wall and to stop calling him “baby.” He does not explain to her why these things bother him, but orders her to do so. “She looked up at him from the bath, her eyes quickly full of sorrow, halfunderstanding what he meant.” Louise does not understand him, but knows he will not explain. After this, Christian begins “kissing her desperately, searchingly, regretfully” but still does not express emotion to her in any way. He chooses not to communicate, even if he knows he will regret it. His sole focus is to hold her back so that he can be the “important figure” again, like he was in college. Christian Darling is proud, too proud to show emotion and feeling. When he considers the fact that Louise may be thinking of a divorce, he realizes he needs her and cannot live without her and the familiarity of her. He decides that he will go out with her and make some sort of effort. Perhaps, this made the marriage last longer, but he still did not exchange his feelings and worries with Louise. On the verge of losing his wife, he chooses to look away from her. “Deep within him he hoped fiercely, longingly, for her to say, "No, Baby, you stay right here," but she said, as he knew she'd say, "I think you'd better take it."Christian could have tried to save his marriage and said he did not want to leave, but he stays silent. Communication is not impossible for anyone, but sometimes pride gets in the way.
ReplyDeleteIn “The 80 Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw it is apparent that Christian Darling refuses to be honest and communicate. After Christian and Louise moved it was obvious that Christian lost all of his drive while Louise gained motivation and determination. Louise became the important figure between the two which Christian was used to. Although Christian felt insecure about himself and his life he stayed reluctant to communicate and he drank his feelings away instead of expressing them. In one instance his wife came home asking him if he would like to go see an art show, take a walk, or go out and all he did was replied saying that he wanted to stay home and drink whiskey. At this point it is apparent that Christian has given up on his wife because he feels so small compared to her. He is sitting here drinking whiskey while she is filling her life with exciting experiences. Not once has Christian tried to talk to her about how he felt. He doesn’t express the obvious insecure feelings that readers can see. Another instance where Christian failed to communicate was when he was offered a job selling tuxes and asked his wife if he should go. When he asked Louise that question Christian was hoping that she would say no and to stay here with her. However she said no, leaving him devastated. Instead of communicating and saying that he wished she would say no or that he wishes she would want him here with her he turned his head to hid the look of disappointment. This proves his pure refusal to communicate because he failed to communicate with the woman he cares immensely for. Deep inside Christian was upset with the fact that he is no longer the important figure. When he was in college he was the one who ran the 80 yards in practice. Louise even called him an important figure. Now that Louise is that important figure he feels useless and refuses to explain to her the situation he is in. Christian is bothered by the success which is why he dislikes the pictures on the wall, and the people she goes out with. When he told her to stop calling him baby as well so she would stop making him feel insecure. All the things that he does just hold Louise back, but have no explanations. These actions don’t make sense to Louise because he doesn’t give a reason for them. Christian could communicate with Louise if he wanted to, but it was a matter of giving up his self pride that he thought he still had.
ReplyDeleteEven at the beginning, Christian Darling from Irwin Shaw’s short story “The Eighty Yard Run” shows a complete unwillingness to communicate with anyone. When his future wife constantly dotes on him, giving him countless presents and tokens of affection, the passage states that “Darling protested” about her constant gifts, and the words that he says hint at his disapproval, but he never comes out at saying directly that he doesn’t want her gifts. It doesn’t seem like much of a lack of communication, but it serves only as the beginning of the period in which Darling proves himself to be inadequate at voicing his opinions and thoughts exactly as they are, if at all. Later in the story, Darling refuses to tell his wife what is really bothering him, that her successes and his failures are making him feel like she is surpassing him. Instead, while she goes off to parties and galleries, he sits there with a drink in his hand or has affairs with other women. He has too much pride in what he once was to talk to Louise about anything that is happening in the present except to complain to her about everything that she is doing wrong. He complains that he doesn’t like the pictures she hangs on the walls and that he doesn’t like the new style of clothing that she wears, but that’s not really what was bothering him. Darling is really too concerned about maintaining his “important figure” status to realize that he is not communicating clearly to his wife and chooses not to try further methods of communication. He doesn’t seem to understand that there is no direct correlation between disliking a painting and disliking his wife’s new status as an important figure. Finally, when Christian tells Louise about the offer he receives for work and wishes for her to tell him to stay, he chooses not to tell her about it. “He had to get up and stand with his back to her, looking out the window, because there were things plain on his face that she had never seen in the fifteen years she'd known him.” Instead of telling Louise what is really on his mind, that he wants to stay with her and hopes that she’d beg him to stay with her, he allows his pride to consume him once more. It is not an inability to communicate that made Christian Darling’s life depressing. It is his unwillingness to humble himself and acknowledge that others are not mind readers and will not always be able to understand our deepest feelings, no matter how up-front they appear to be.
ReplyDeleteIn Irwin Shaw’s “The Eighty Yard Run”, it is clear that Christian Darling struggles with communication. The most evident example of this is in his relationship with his wife, Louise. Darling also has a major pride issue. This goes hand-in-hand with his communication problem. He knows that his wife is in a higher position than him. He has a very difficult time expressing how he feels about this. Darling used to be the one that everyone wanted to be associated with. Louise flaunted him around showed him off because of how “accomplished” he was. However, when something did not go his way, Darling was too proud to do anything about it. This is what started the downward spiral concerning his communication skills. He feels that he has not accomplished enough in life to match up to his wife. Therefore, he is unwilling to communicate with her to a certain extent. This is partly because he feels that he does not truly deserve to be with her. When Louise calls her husband “baby”, he says “I wish you wouldn’t call me ‘Baby.’” This is a decisive statement in which Darling is intentionally decreasing communication with his wife. He did not have to say that. Also, when Louise tells Darling that she thinks he should take the job offer, he is deeply upset about this. Yet, he consciously turns away from her so that she can’t see any emotion on his face. He is too proud to have any real, meaningful communication with his wife. He is unwilling to do so.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story, “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, The main character is unwilling to communicate with his wife. The main character, Christian Darling, and his wife Louise experienced marital problems. Darling never worked hard to accomplish his goals. Christian Darling grew up with everything always given to him. His girlfriend smothered him with gifts and her dad provided him with a job. This is a major reason Christian is unwilling to communicate with Louise. Christian Darling thinks of himself as the bigger figure and does not want to be the one who makes the relationship work. Receiving everything he desired in his younger days spoiled Christian Darling. When Louise becomes the bigger figure, because of her new job and will to learn more, the relationship begins to fail. Darling is unwilling to communicate with Louise to make their marriage work. He refuses to tell himself that he is no longer the prized husband. His wife surpassed him in that way. Not admitting the truth to himself, Christian Darling drinks away his thoughts. Darling rejects all his opportunities to go with Louise to the top of the social world. This also shows Darling’s unwillingness to communicate. Darling never wanted to go out with Louise. Darling would rather stay home and drink then see his wife grow. This shows Christian Darling refused to communicate with his wife.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story “The Eighty- Yard Run”, by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling has many problems with communicating with others. Throughout the whole story he consistently shows his unwillingness to even try communicating with anyone. Darling shows this in many ways, one being that he tries to drink away his problems, at one point in the story he even says that all he wants to do is drink his whiskey when Louise asked him to do something like go on a walk with her. Darling is unwilling to communicate with his wife because he does not want to accept the fact that she has surpassed him. While they were still in college Darling was better than Louise, he was the big man on campus and she would want to show him off because he was a big deal. But now that Louise got a great job and got promoted to a higher position Darling is lower than her and is unwilling to admit it. His poor communication shows mostly at the end after he gets asked to take the job, this is because he was hoping for Louise to want him to deny the job and stay with her. This shows because after Louise tells him to take the job all he does is turn around so that he does not have to communicate with her and tell her that he wants her to want him to stay. He is unwilling to talk the whole situation through because he does not want to have to communicate.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, the main protagonist Christian Darling, cannot express his feelings to others. He is unwilling to expose his true feelings because he doesn’t want to disappoint his wife, Louise. In the beginning of the story, Louise relied on Darling and his football star image. As Darling started to lose his touch after his one amazing run in practice, things started to plummet for their relationship. While Louise picked up responsibilities and made her way up in the world, Darling was slowly fading in the background. Christian drank his problems away instead of opening up to his wife while she went and pursued her newly attained career. As doors opened for Louise, all seemed to be slamming in front of Christian. By the time she surpassed him, he felt it was too late to show the real feelings he had been keeping inside. Although I’m not sure either was in love, at one point in the relationship, they both needed each other and both failed to show it. Not once did Darling tell Louise he needed or loved her. At the end of the story when Christian decides it’s time for him to get his life back together, he poses the opportunity for a new job away from home. Secretly wishing she’d say no, Darling asks Louise if she wants him to stay. When the answer is not what he was hoping for, he turns away from his high school ashamed for her to see his true feelings. Darling feels many emotions but is too proud to show them. If he would have shown the feelings, he could still be with Louise and live to have a better high point in his life, not just the practice run.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is important in any relationship. In order for a relationship to blossom, communication is a necessity. In “The Eighty Yard Run,” by Irwin Shaw, Charles Darling, the main protagonist, is incapable of communicating with his wife. While Louise is sitting in the bathtub, Darling thinks about how much he needs her. However, this is not what he tells her. He tells her that he does not want to be called baby. He does not say what he is really feeling. In the most opportune time, when Louise is alone, innocent, and still “the simple little wife under the hat,” Darling is unable to verbally explain what he feels, so he resorts to short, concise, superficial phrases. Darling has an opportunity to strengthen his relationship with his wife by taking a walk with his wife. Instead, he rejects her. He swears about the paintings in the house and drinks. Darling does not even explain why he does not want to go for walk. He simply says “I drink in the afternoon.” The same day when his wife returns after getting a job, Darling lacks remorse. He shows no sign of regret, no sign of remorse for not going for a walk. His lack of regret and lack of emotion over both his action and the immediate reactions of his wife show his inability to communicate properly. After Louise buys Darling a gift, Louise says that Darling is an important figure and that she is in love with him. Darling quickly dismisses this fact and asks why she bought such a heavy gift. There is no sense of love expressed from Darling. There is not even a thank you. It is as if Darling expects this and thinks that he deserves it. It is this kind of thinking that prevents an individual from communicating. When everything is handed to individual, from a job, to gifts, to a beautiful wife, the individual lacks the opportunity to work and communicate for what they want and need. They lose the opportunity to fully appreciate what they have. Without this opportunity, they lack the ability to grow and to communicate with people.
ReplyDeleteThe main character of Christian Darling in the short story “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw is both unwilling and incapable of communication. At first, it is the unwillingness to communicate his thoughts and feelings that prevents him from ever sharing with others what is on his mind. He is too proud and conceited to feel that anyone should get a true look into his heart and mind because of the eighty-yard run he made in the one practice. He would have rather act like an “important figure”, as Louise claims he is toward the beginning, and cheat and drink than simply tell Louise or anyone else what is plaguing him. However, after years of keeping his feelings and thoughts to himself out of pride, he forgets how to communicate truly and genuinely with others, which is tragic for him. Because he becomes incapable of communicating his feelings, he loses the woman he fell in love with, either falling when they attend college, or after he realizes that he needs her to make life bearable. He doesn’t tell her not to go to galleries, not to have dinner with authors and lawyers and so on and so forth because he doesn’t know how to cull those feelings into words and sentences that he thinks she’d understand. He isn’t unwilling to say them, as the reader is able to point out with the scene in the bathroom. From a personal perspective, I don’t think he knows how to convey his feelings not only because he has forgotten, but also because Louise is a stranger growing more distant as the years add on. He doesn’t know how to form sentences from a boy that a woman would understand.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story “The Eighty-Yard Run,” Christian Darling causes his life to go downhill due to many of his actions and overall traits. One reason his high point becomes his high point is because he is incapable of communicating with people, but most importantly his wife. There are multiple times that Darling wants to tell his wife something, but chooses not to and instead keeps quiet and occasionally drinks instead. Even at the start of their relationship, it seems as if their relationship is not built on trust and communication but on pride. They don't tell each other they love each other, but instead Louise just tells Darling he is important and gives him gifts. This causes problems later in their marriage when they actually face challenges. When the depression hits, instead of talking to Louise about their problems and telling her why he hates the artwork on their walls, he complains about the art and drinks. Then when Louise gets a job at a fashion magazine, he finds that he can't communicate with her now because she has become successful and talks about, reads, and watches things that he doesn't understand. Finally, when he tells her he is leaving, Darling can't even tell her that he doesn't want to leave. Darling is not just unwilling to communicate with his wife, he is incapable.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to communication, Christian Darling is more unwilling than incapable. In the beginning of the story, he got along fairly well with Louise, and they seemed to be very similar to any other teenage couple. Particularly, he tells her about his successes on the football field at practice with his 80 yard run, while at the same time that scenario seemed to be low key enough to insinuate that they spoke like this often. Then when the stock market crashed, he became unwilling to communicate because of his own social standing. He was so used to being the “important figure” Louise made him out to be, that it seemed he couldn’t face opening up and admitting to anyone else, let alone himself, that he no longer was that figure. Once or twice he tries to communicate with her, but on the whole he failed. When she first comes home with her new hat, he touches on the fact that he doesn’t like it (extremely rudely), that it makes her seem different. This weak attempt at communicating his emotions may have been brought up in the wrong way, but it was an attempt nonetheless and it showed that he was capable on some level of communication. Also, in the bathtub, he tells Louise that he wishes she wouldn’t call him baby, and it says that she understands him on a level beyond what was actually said. He did indeed communicate, just in his own extremely subtle way. Also, in the ending scenario when she doesn't stop him leaving, he has tears in his eyes that he won't show her. It's not that he doesn't feel these things or can't talk about them, it's just that he chooses not to. Christian Darling can communicate; he is just reluctant to because of all he has lost since his 80 Yard Run.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is key for every challenge of one’s life. In the short story, “The Eighty-Yard Run”, the main character, Christian Darling struggles to communicate and show his emotions. As his once, perfect life is slipping away and is being replaced with a strange, different life, Darling is finding it difficult to keep up. Louise, his wife, is becoming a different person and learning how to strive ahead in the economy at the present time, and Darling can’t seem to find the same groove. He is too proud to express his worries about his marriage with his wife; instead he is watching it fall apart. Countless times, Darling declines to go and spend time with Louise out in the world. He drinks away his own world and falls farther behind. Christian Darling is unwilling to communicate. He gave the new life one shot, just once, and the reader could tell that Darling did it half-heartedly. Then, one time he went into the bathroom as she was taking a bath, and asked her, “not to call me ‘Baby’”. He sank down and gave her a huge hug, and kissed her desperately. It is almost as if he was trying to talk through the kiss instead of talking, which his pride would not let him do. Darling admitted, “how badly he needed her”. Christian Darling was falling down and the only thing that kept him from going under was Louise. He needed to grab her and hold on tightly as she gained her spot in the new world. He knew no one that she brought home, he knew nothing on how to exceed in this life, and Christian desperately needed Louise to try and “get back onto the horse”. However, as he did eventually learn enough to get a job, he fell short again because he did not tell Louise how he felt. As Darling explained how it was going to be with the new job, he hoped that Louise would tell him to stay home and be there with him, but she didn’t. Instead of sitting her down and telling her how much it would mean to him if she wanted him to stay home, he turned around, symbolically cutting their relationship off. Due to his unwillingness to communicate, Christian Darling lost his perfect life, and spouse.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling acts like a stereotypical male. He is one to not show his feelings when they make him seem weak or powerless. In the set time period, men held well over the majority of the power. He didn’t want to do anything to make himself seem weak, which if it means containing his feelings to himself. Emotions and communication go hand in hand. In trying to maintain his manly stature, he is unwilling to communicate. The unwillingness to communicate is apparent right off the bat. Louise likes to be around Darling because he is an ‘important figure.’ Even though they are together Darling sleeps with a lot of other women. He either does not have true feelings or very strong feelings for Louise. Why else would he cheat on her with so many other people behind her back? He refuses to verbally admit to her about his shenanigans. In some peoples’ minds, the more mates one has, the more powerful they are. Perhaps he does not want to admit something he knows is wrong because he does not want to lose his sense of power. Later on, after Louise tells him to take the job, he comes very close to revealing his emotions. In the end he turns away to hid his face from her. He physically is capable of showing his feelings. It’s just; here he is showing them to the wall instead of his wife. He is more concerned with protecting what little status he still has rather than let her know the truth.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Irwin Shaw’s story, “The 80 Yard Run,” it becomes increasingly apparent that Christian Darling has difficulty communicating with others. The most important and distressing example of this is between Darling and his wife, Louise. When the couple begins to drift apart, Darling doesn’t do anything to repair their relationship, even though the narrator makes it clear that he wants to. This shows that Christian Darling has an incapability to successfully communicate with the people around him. The one time he really seems to want to fix his relationship with his wife is when he goes into the bathroom when she is taking a bath, and instead of telling her how upset he is and how much he loves her, he just kisses her. One factor that could easily play into Darling’s incapability to communicate is that when he was younger, he had everything handed to him without really having to put a lot of effort into it. Christian Darling never had to learn how to successfully communicate his needs and feelings with others because the people around him were quick to give him whatever he wanted without a second thought. A few examples of this are all the gifts Louise gives him when they are dating, and the job given to him by Louise’s father. If Christian Darling hadn’t been doted on as much in his younger years, he would have been able to communicate with those around him, especially Louise, in a much better way.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling seems quite unwilling to communicate. In the beginning, He finds communication to be unnecessary because he is put up on such a high pedestal. Louise’s flattery towards Christian gives him the original excuse to stop their communication. He sees himself as better than her and seems to think that she must communicate with him but not the other way around. From there Christian avoids communication. When he starts to realize the Louise is rising and he is not he seems to give up communication all together. He has many chances to communicate and Louise seem to want him to. He could have gone on a walk or to an art gallery with her to communicate and reconnect, but he chooses not to. Christian Darling also shows his unwillingness to communicate when he avoids Louise’s friends and going out with them. Louise’s insistence on calling him “baby” even after he asks her not to also show their lack of communication. Christian Darling also drinks by the end of the story. His drinking symbolizes the wall he has put up between him and Louise. Christian Darling seems to be unwilling to communicate with Louise and all other people in his life.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling seems quite unwilling to communicate. In the beginning, He finds communication to be unnecessary because he is put up on such a high pedestal. Louise’s flattery towards Christian gives him the original excuse to stop their communication. He sees himself as better than her and seems to think that she must communicate with him but not the other way around. From there Christian avoids communication. When he starts to realize the Louise is rising and he is not he seems to give up communication all together. He has many chances to communicate and Louise seem to want him to. He could have gone on a walk or to an art gallery with her to communicate and reconnect, but he chooses not to. Christian Darling also shows his unwillingness to communicate when he avoids Louise’s friends and going out with them. Louise’s insistence on calling him “baby” even after he asks her not to also show their lack of communication. Christian Darling also drinks by the end of the story. His drinking symbolizes the wall he has put up between him and Louise. Christian Darling seems to be unwilling to communicate with Louise and all other people in his life.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw a main cause of conflict is communication. This is due to the fact that Christian Darling does not do such, but this is not because he is incapable, it is because he is unwilling. Christian just does not want to show that he has feelings or to show any type of inferiority. He thinks that if he tries to communicate with his feelings then he is showing weakness. This is demonstrated when his wife instructs him to take the job. Instead of communicating with her and having an actual conversation with Louis he just turns his head and doesn’t say a word. He was perfectly capable of telling her how he felt about what he was feeling, but he just chooses not to. He once demonstrates that he is capable of communication, but does not try or put anymore effort to it when he instructs Louis not to call him baby. He is able to communicate with his wife, but just chooses not to because he is supposed to be the man of the house and feels he does not need to communicate because things are just supposed to go right for him. Christian Darling is capable of communication, but is just unwilling because he feels it will make him seem weak.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Eighty Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw, there are two ways to view Christian Darling’s communication flaws; unwilling or incapable. After reading the piece, it seems as though Christian Darling is unwilling to communicate. Louise is just as much to blame for the lack of communication in their relationship. When she picks Darling up from practice she drives with the top down and doesn’t really say much. Instead of asking Darling how practice was, she asks if he was good. Also they never tell each other “I love you”. Instead, Louise tells Darling that he’s an important figure. Along with Louise’s communication quirks, Darling doesn’t say much to Louise other than that he was pretty good that night. Their connection was the way the other made them look. Pride ruled the relationship between Darling and Louise. She liked being with Darling because of his popularity. However, later in life, the two end up switching roles. When the stock market crashed, so did Louise’s father’s company along with Darling’s pride. With the collapse of his pride, Darling’s life spiraled downhill and Louise’s skyrocketed. Louise began a journey up the social ladder, leaving her husband behind. This created more tension within the relationship because Darling felt that this made him look inferior to his wife. He would sit home drinking while Louise went to work or went out with friends. Instead of talking to Louise or trying to find a new job to catch up to her, he did nothing. He refused any invitation to go for a walk, theater or museum with Louise and her friends. When Louise came home with a new hat, he simply told her that he did not like it. He didn’t bother to explain how he felt or why he didn’t like it. When Louise began calling Darling ‘Baby’, he asked her not to call him that anymore and then hugged and kissed her as if to speak through the kiss. In the closing scenario, when Louise tells him to take the new job he was offered, he turns away so as not to let her see the tear in his eye. It’s not that he was incapable he was merely unwilling to confront his wife. If Darling had had better communication skills and learned to set is pride aside and tell Louise how he felt, it could have saved their relationship but pride overruled communication. Christian Darling is more unwilling than incapable of communicating.
ReplyDeleteChristian Darling in “The Eighty-Yard Run” by Irwin Shaw repeatedly shows himself to be incapable of expressing himself or how he feels. After college and after losing his company because of the Great Depression, Darling turns to drinking as a way to forget his problems rather than dealing with them. That fact in itself shows that Darling does not know of any other, healthier, coping mechanisms because rather than facing his issues he decides to drown them in alcohol. Another thing that shows Darling’s inability to express himself was the way he handled seeing Louise in her new hat. As he watches Louise surpass him and take over more and more responsibility, it makes Darling feel useless and pathetic as a husband and as a man. Then, when Louise begins to call him “baby,” it makes Darling feel even more helpless. Despite all of this tension that has built up in him over his role as a man, as well as other issues, the only thing he manages to express to Louise was that he doesn’t like to be called baby. Even though Louise is able to partially understand what Darling means by the comment, Darling did not truly make his feelings known to her or try to tell her why he feels this way. He really seems to be incapable of talking about his feelings. Finally, a theme that recurred throughout the story was Darling looking at Louise and finding himself thinking about just how beautiful she was. Even though, based on this, he clearly must love Louise and he must truly have feelings for her, Darling never once tells Louise that he loves her or that she is beautiful. Even when things between him and Louise are rough he cannot bring himself to tell Louise how he feels about her. Whether it is pride or foolishness that stops him, it is unclear but Christian does not appear to have the ability to express himself to others.
ReplyDeleteChristian Darling is incapable of communicating. In the story, the author writes, “I came in here," he said, "to tell you I wish you wouldn't call me 'Baby."' She looked up at him from the bath, her eyes quickly full of sorrow, half understanding what he meant (Shaw 5). This quote shows that Darling is at least attempting to communicate his feelings with his wife. Despite his efforts to communicate his true feelings with his wife, he was unable to make his point clear because Louise continues to call him ‘Baby’. Throughout the story Darling realizes that he has made mistakes and tries to fix them. When Darling figures out how much he really needs his wife, he goes out and gets a job to try and regain his place as the “man in the family”. This nonverbal communication is incapable of displaying Darling’s intentions because he never made any money and his wife kept her job that was paying the bills. As the story progresses, Darling becomes less and less able to communicate with his wife. Because of all the new people Louise is meeting and all of the art galleries she is visiting, she learns more information rapidly. Louise’s wealth of knowledge is expanding every day, while Darling sits at home and drinks whiskey. When Louise talks to Darling about artists, events, and authors that Darling has never heard of, he is incapable of communicating with her because he has nothing important to offer. Near the end of the story, Darling is unable to communicate the fact that he wants Louise to refuse him the new job offer. Christian darlings few attempts at communicating were feeble and unsuccessful. These attempts show that he is willing to communicate, but the failures show that he is incapable.
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