Discuss Lucy's thoughts on having a home without William and her view that to deny her husband the chance of comforting her was "an unspeakably awful thing."

Lucy says she couldn't really have a home without William, but William could have a home without her. What do you think she means by this?

To deny her husband the chance of comforting her, Lucy says, was "an unspeakably awful thing." What do you think she means by this? Do you agree? Why or why not?

She was more dependent on William in their marriage and "needed" him more than he needed her. Thus he could easily move on. Denying him the chance to comfort her shut down an opportunity for closeness in their relationship. It was another wall erected.

I agree with Marcia S that Lucy was more dependent on William than he on her.

I didn't like the denial of allowing her husband to comfort her as "an unspeakably awful thing," because it merely amplified her perceived responsibility to cater to his needs over hers.

Lucy comes to the realization that it is important to allow someone to comfort you and understand your pain when William refuses to discuss his feelings after the trip to Maine. When you love someone it hurts to be shut out when they are suffering. She is sorry that she never allowed William to get close when she was the one in pain and realizes how much that must have hurt him.

There's no worse feeling than knowing your spouse is in pain and not being allowed to help. Marriage is a partnership, and when one spouse freezes out the other, regardless of the issue, it breaks that bond (or at least strains it severely).

In a marriage or other close relationship sometimes one person is suffering. If the other person can comfort the sufferer it benefits both persons. But not allowing the other to comfort can create a big distance between the two. A few days before my husband died he made a remark that made me realize he had been holding painful things to himself the whole time we were married. It made me realize he never trusted me enough to tell me. It really hurt me and left me wondering after he died whether I truly knew him at all.