SSRJ #3 Collette

My first Response to the story "The Hand" was that I could relate to the woman in that bed. She was so enamored and excited for her new love that she was looking through rose colored glasses. It takes time to really get to know someone and it is not until that honey moon stage is over until that starts happening. I loved in the story how that hand symbolized so much of her new husbands personality and how he reacts.

Collete used the hand in the story as her literary symbol. This hand symbolized the young brides future with her new husband that lies by her side. This beautiful, flawless hand she saw is now transforming into the gnarly, hairy man hand that is slightly starts to disgust her. I think that the author used the hand to symbolize the unfolding of a relationship and marriage. The characters in this short story will soon find out all of these characteristics of each others personalities. His hand is reacting to all the noises and sounds but it is to symbolize fear and defense. His hand takes on these beastly forms and she sees his darker side in  his hand. This hand is showing the new bride what she will start to find out about her husband. In the story, the husband does not wake up or open his eyes at all. The author kept the focus on the hand only to for the readers to imagine this hand as the husband himself. The hand takes on forms when awakened or startled. For example when a car comes by in the story, the hand....

"....offended, reared back and tensed up in the shape of a crab and waited, ready for battle."

This hand, in defense took on the symbolic for of a crab and was defending itself. The author makes this hand mutate into other living things so the reader can imagine this hand as its own entity. In the end, even as the wife is grossed out by the hand, in he morning she kisses it to show her husband of her unconditional love.

I would have love to read this story if the roles were reversed and the man was in the same position.