By the conclusion of the story, the wife realizes the power he has over her. In realizing this, she has the chance to free herself of this role of submission. However, she chooses to succumb. The final line, "Then she concealed her fear, bravely subdued herself, and, beginning her life of duplicity, of resignation, and of a lowly, delicate diplomacy, she leaned over and humbly kissed the monstrous hand" (Colette, 198), shows that she decides not to change her situation, but rather accept her role of submission. Why does she choose this life? For the young wife, as for many women who accept the same path, there is security in the non-dominant role. All the decisions are made for them. Also, it might be that she knows no other love. This is her first relationship and she is still an adolescent. She does not know if these roles are normal and excepted, but she also doesn't know if they are not. This life is still exciting and new to her, and for the most part she enjoys it. He is not abusive all the time; in fact he is often charming. The next morning he shows his charming side when he asks "Do you want this slice, darling? I'll butter it for you" (Colette, 197). The wife, as do many women, almost trick themselves into thinking that he is not bad because he can good sometimes. And the times he is good, he is really kind. The wife decides she can accept her fate in the role of resignation because she begins to think it isn't that bad all the time. Also, she was used to submitting under her parent's authority. This is the first time she is not under the watchful eye of her parents. That wasn't that long prior to this story. Therefore, the submissive role is familiar and less frightening than change. People are afraid of change, and for many women diminishing these roles would require change.

of the sexes and portray some reasons and situations that are common in our society, such as Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, in her story "The Hand", and James Joyce, in "Eveline". These two authors both, even though each describes a woman in a very different, yet remarkably similar, situation, discuss one of the major reasons women succumb to males.

Colette uses the description of the characters to emphasize the unbalance of power. Not only does the husband outweigh the wife in power in the relationship; he is physically dominant as well. The young wife is described as slim and adolescent. The husband, on the otherhand, is described as having physical, not only mental, prowess. He is handsome, athletic, and physically dominant. He has very big arms, hands larger than the wives whole head, and "powerful knuckles and the veins engorged by the pressure on his arm" (Colette, 197). By describing him such as big, powerful, and hair on his hands and arms, the author portrays him as an animal of sorts. At one part of the story, the wife even remarks on this when she says, "It's as if I were laying on some animal" (Colette, 197). The hand is described as "apelike" and "lowered its claws, and became a pliant beast" (Colette, 197). The author uses this as a tool to show unbalance of power. It is used to help the reader understand that the male is dominant in all respects of the relationship.

James Joyce's story "Eveline" further illustrates on this fear for change. In this story, the woman is not dominated by

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hand Colette, James Joyce's, Roles Sexes, Hand Eveline, Joyce Eveline, Compact Bedford, Introduction Literature, Martin's Boston, Goncourt Academy, Meyer Bedford, colette 197, role submission, compact bedford, bedford introduction, introduction literature, compact bedford introduction, bedford introduction literature, joyce 428, st martin's boston, bedford / st, literature michael, michael meyer, behavior hand, physically dominant, / st martin's,
Approximate Word count = 2231
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)