Shady Hill is first portrayed as the perfect town. Located in the suburbs of New York City, Shady Hill appears to be the ideal place for a family to live and is the setting for the book “The County Husband” by John Cheever. Unsurprising, once the plastic wrap is pulled away the cities flaws come into focus. In addition to the setting, the actions of the characters and description of the characters all play significant roles in shaping “The Country Husband”.
“It seems to me what is really wrong with Shady Hill is that it doesn’t have any future. So much energy is spent in perpetuating the place-in keeping out undesirables, and so forth…” (74). Clayton Thomas described the city of Shady Hill in this light to the main character, Francis Weed and his wife Julia Weed. While the reader learns that Clayton Thomas is not considered the most upstanding citizen by other residents of Shady Hill, his point is both true and blunt. Clayton Thomas proclaiming statement is one of the reasons he is not welcomed in Shady Hill.
This story does not begin in Shady Hill; it begins on a plane ride hundreds of miles away. Mr. Weed’s is returning from a business trip in Minnesota and experiences what all travelers openly fear, an emergency landing. When Mr. Weed’s arrives home to his seemingly perfect house to tell his tale of adventure, he is ignored by his family. This part is interesting because while Francis Weed may consider himself the main focal point in his family’s lives, he simply is not. This is shown by the lack of enthusiasm that greets Mr. Weed’s when he arrives home. Each of his family members is wrapped up in his or her own world, unaware of their father/husbands dramatic events that occurred earlier.
When Mr. Weed arrives home, the reader sees the first glimpse of Shady Hill on numerous levels even though the city itself is never technically described. The narrator goes to great lengths to describe the Dutch Colonial home that the Weed’s reside in giving such animated description as “It was not the kind of household where, after prying open a stuck cigarette box, you would find an old shirt button and a tarnished nickel.” (63). The in-depth description of the house may not seem to describe Shady Hill but in many ways it does. The reader begins to form an opinion of a city that contains this type of residence, a residence where “roses on the piano were reflected in the polish of the broad top…” (63). The opinion is that Shady Hill is one of statute and a persons house is always kept in pristine condition. The reader may not realize that perhaps the house is kept in such tidy condition not for the sake of the family, but to impress others that may come over unannounced. The description of the house should show a reader that material possessions are of great importance to Shady Hill community members.
The story continues on to describe the family members of Francis Weed. He has four children and a wife. It appears that the wife’s main happiness is derived from the number of social events she is invited to. When a reader first learns this fact about Mrs. Weed, he or she might not think twice about this bit of information. However, this fact greatly shapes Mrs. Weeds character and also gives insight to Shady Hill. According to Francis Weed himself, his wife’s main concern when attending a party is that she may be missing a better party somewhere else (66). As a reader, this trait of Mrs. Weed’s should help define her personality and give an individual insight to how Julia Weed would react to certain news or events. This is a woman who defines herself by what others think. She feels accepted and complete only when she is being included in a luncheon or social event. This would make the reader guess that perhaps this is a woman who is not truly comfortable with herself and believes being invited to events means she is accepted and well-liked by the community.
In addition these social events are held in high regards by other characters besides Mrs. Weed’s. The reader follows the Weed’s to a party where Francis Weed recognizes a server from his war days (67) that was a prisoner and forced to take off all of her clothes. Mr. Weed’s realizes that he cannot tell this tale to anyone in the room because none of the other guests want to acknowledge the fact that a war has occurred. This fact makes the reader recognize that the population in Shady Hill is one that sweeps messes under the rug. In other words, this community does not want to see negative things like war and poverty. This is a community that may donate to charities, however does not want the needy in his or her face but rather, a comfortable distance away.
At the half way point through the story the reader should get begin to form an opinion that Francis Weed’s is not happy in his seemingly easy life. This point is made more apparent by the introduction of Francis Weed’s babysitter, Anne Murchison. Anne Murchison is a character that Shady Hill would brush under the rug with the war and all of her neighbors on the poor side of town. Her father is portrayed as an alcoholic and it appears Anne leads a simple and sad life when Francis Weed first meets her (68). The surprise of Anne kissing Francis Weed after she is dropped off at home comes as a shock the first time read. However, after rereading the circumstances around the act, it may make sense. Anne clearly has father issues and after Francis Weed comforts her, it makes sense that Anne would be grateful for an older male’s attention. Granted the action itself might not have been the most appropriate choice, but individuals with an upbringing like Anne are not expected to know the appropriate response (as this story stereotypically portrays). Anne does not realize that this one act of a kiss sets off the events for the remainder of the story.
Francis Weed becomes obsessed with Anne and goes as far as buying her a bracelet and writing he loves her on a notebook paper (73). Other events play an insignificant role in Francis Weed’s mind including Christmas photos which the reader learns is a ceremony that Julia Weed truly enjoyed (73). These small sideline stories give the reader a better understanding of the characters of Shady Hill and the type of town Shady Hill is. The more the reader learns about the other characters in the book the more the reader begins to understand Francis Weed’s obsession with Anne. Anne is something completely different than what Francis Weed is typically around. Anne is not on a social climbing nor does she know what is proper to say or how to act. For Mr. Weed’s, Anne is rejuvenating.
Francis Weed feels that he is trapped in a world where he does not wish to live. Mr. Weed realizes that he has been playing a role for quite a while. He smiles when needed and listening to mundane topics with great interest. Francis Weed attributes Anne for waking him up and showing him how pathetic and ordinary his life is. Based on this realization, he is rude to a neighbor, Mrs. Wrightson, while in the city. Almost immediately after he feels refreshed and “as if light were being shaken about him…” (70)
The ending of the story finds Francis Weed with the opportunity to leave his wife and start over. However, he does not take it. He ends up pitying his wife and feeling sorry for her. Mr. Weed decides that she does not know how jobs or money work in the real world (77) and she could not possibly survive without him. It may seem odd to the reader that Francis Weed does not take his out when it is presented to him. However, perhaps Francis Weed secretly and even unknowing to himself enjoys his life. Meaning, Mr. Weed’s knows what to expect and while he talks about hating the mundane life he is leading, he knows no other life. In addition, Francis Weed might take comfort in the fact that he feels his wife must rely on him to survive. He does not think she is capable of living on her own without him. Lastly, another life could be worse than the one he is currently in. In addition, he has been in that life so long, it is hard to escape it. The longer someone is in their ways the harder it is to get up and walk away.
This short story is filed with intriguing characters, an interesting city as the setting, and actions by the characters that are both unexpected and enlightening to a reader. “The Country Husband” is a short story with numerous layers that must be pulled gently and with equal attention in order to fully embrace the whole story that John Cheever is attempting to tell.
Work Cited
Cheever, John. “The Country Husband”. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton 2006. 62-81
