Colette Sidonie

When it comes to marriage and what it stands for, the short story “The Hand” written by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is a complete mockery. It symbolizes anything but what love and marriage should reflect. The young wife, clearly the protagonist, seemed to have found disgust with the antagonist, “the hand” of her husband. The young woman and older man with more power and experience seemed to set a stage of disaster. Marriage should be between two people bound by love with all of their mind and heart.

In this case it is all open for questioning. The hand described the thoughts of a newly wedded young woman’s thoughts as she lay down next to her husband that she barely knew. At first, she was pleased with her the man’s “blond hair, ruddy-complexioned… his mouth, full and likeable his skin like pink bricks and eyelashes that are so long. ” The young bride felt “too happy to sleep… holding her left arm around her husband’s neck with authority. ” However, she began to rationalize her marriage to her husband.

She apparently loved the older man but She has become aware of how much stronger this older man was in comparison to her. The strong and powerful hand that was “bigger than her whole head. ” She needed to adjust to her new life with her husband which was more experience than her. She compared her life to where she lived as a little girl where her curtains were “apricot-pink. ” Now she is in a room with periwinkle blue curtains with a stranger in her arms fearing what might be in store for her in the near future.

She began to show signs of fear in her mind as she examined the husband’s hand as if it were some microbe under a microscope. The young woman described the hand as an animal with apelike appearance. The young woman appeared to be having second thoughts however during her time that may have not been a possibility. She had to choose to live with the frightening hand of her husband or else. The unsuspecting hand, not knowing the true feelings of the love which it had embraced, was fearful and disgusted with it.

The hand antagonized the young woman by the power in which it represented in the newly wedded young lady. She felt as if this hand might not love her and take advantage of her. The writer painted a portrait of the hand as something hideous and indecent. The hand evoked turmoil in the young woman’s heart as she said “and I’ve kissed that hand… how horrible. ” Afraid that maybe if she had taken a better look at the hand then maybe she would not be with her husband. I can only see this as a movie with someone having been caught in a serious dilemma and not knowing what the next move would be.

The bride was mortally frightened of the hand to the point of not wanting the husband to butter her toast. The hand loved the young woman. It showed no signs of harm or the need to hurt the young woman. But the young woman was new to the experience and was clearly in need of serious time adjustment. Marriage is something that is sacred and should be shared among two people bound by love. Love needs more than two weeks to evolve into a lifetime commitment such as marriage.

This story unfortunately is as real for today’s time as it could have been for this young lady in her time. So many people get married for all the wrong reasons and round up feeling antagonized by their partner’s presence. Even if the marriage is between a man with a woman that makes more money and carry a prominent title than he does at his place of employment or a poor woman with a wealthy man a person’s fear and insecurities might start to take shape and might take over the place where love once lived.

Maturity is also one of the greatest considerations that should be analyzed prior to marriage. We have to ask ourselves if that person is ready to make such a commitment. The young bride in the story, although I did not agree with her, did an outstanding thing by kissing that “indecent hand” and not telling her husband how much she really disliked “the veneer of pink” that he had painted his nails. I can only imagine how that would have hurt her husband who apparently is very athletic, handsome and probably was trying to flatter the young woman by manicuring his nails.

When it comes to marriage and what it represents, Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle’s short story “The hand” is a serious eye opener for all the young people infatuated by love at first sight and failing to allow the time needed to study and familiarize yourself with the person you think you are falling in love with. If anyone is thinking about getting married I would definitely suggest they read this short story before their lives become the life of this young woman or “The Hand. ”