Say Yes

A detailed Summary of Say Yes

In the short story "Say Yes" by Tobias Wolff, the couple is able to keep romance in their marriage as shown through their routine arguments, the symbols in the story, and the end result of making up.

They spice up their marriage through routine arguments, with the expectation of romance later on. When they first start the night's arguments, the husband notices a "look" in his wife's eyes that tells him, through experience, "he should keep his mouth shut"(444). The husband never does though. "Actually it made him talk more"(444). This is not the first time there has been a battle of words between them as shown when after a particularly touching debate, the wife goes into the living room and the husband then hears "her turning the pages of a magazine"(446). Knowing by the sound of it "that she was too angry to be actually reading it"(446). Showing that this had happened before between them, he thinks "she didn't snap through the pages the way he would have done"(446). It is also shown that the argument will be resolved in time when the husband says, "It's shallow"(445), referring to not only his wife's c

As the years pass them by, the couple struggles to keep romance alive and their relationship zestful. The couple's routine arguments, the symbols provided in the story and their making up shows their endeavor to keep the relationship refreshing. Thus renewing the spice of excitement and the spark of their passions together.

Wolff, Tobias. "Say Yes." Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense; 7th Edition. Ed. Thomas R. Arp. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1998. 444-447.

Several symbols convey the couple's feelings, and what the ultimate result of their arguing will be like. The wife seems to mold their conversation in the direction she wants to make it go when she "began washing the bowl again, turning it...as though she were shaping it"(444). The husband's resentfulness at many of her words and the turn in the conversation have made the mood dull just as "the water had gone flat and grey"(445) in the sink. Inevitably the heat of the dispute was at hand but would cool in turn like the metal of the silverware they were washing. As the heat of the water hit it, it was "darkene

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tobias Wolff, Worth Harcourt, , routine arguments, Sound Sense, spice marriage, arguments symbols, routine arguments symbols, dogs alley,

Approximate Word count = 753
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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