Marges Discontent in The Bridle
Laura Smith Portfolio Draft March 25, 2002 Marge’s Discontent and its Presence in “The Bridle” In the short story, “The Bridle,” Raymond Carver, the author, clearly demonstrates his ability to link seemingly unrelated aspects of a story into one concurrent idea. Narrated by a joint owner of an Arizona apartment complex, Marge, “The Bridle” appears to follow the actions of the Holits, a family presented in the opening of the story, and their interactions with the other tenants in the apartment complex. By using a New Critical approach when reading this story, however, the reader can observe that “The Bridle” actually relays a contrasting message as it follows the inner thoughts and desires of a rather unanticipated main character. ... Rather, the reader is not told these observations for the sake of learning about these individuals, but these events and observations are placed there to reveal the dissatisfaction the narrator of “The Bridle” exhibits with her life. ... Conversely, when separated by incident, the remarks made by Marge on the others are not there just to give background information or keep the reader up with the plot; they are there to clue the reader into what Marge is missing in her life as well as her discontent. ... Perhaps the most convincing evidence that “The Bridle” and all of its components connect to the implicit theme that Marge has great displeasure with her situation is that evidence which is given to the reader through Marge’s own actions. ... Marge’s actions toward her husband Harley and the tenants in her building also exhibit discontent, as well as a presence of hopelessness in changing her circumstances. ... In this short story, the bridle is an easy symbol to recognize, but what it represents is not quite so evident. While many readers would think that the bridle seems to represent direction, as in the Holits’ promising past and dreams, the story also leads us to see the bridle as a representation of adversity and misfortune.