Friday, June 01, 2007

A simple question

Why did Ken marry Johanna?
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6 comments:

Erin said...

She had a lot to offer him. He needed the kind of determination and level-headedness and organizational skills in his life that Johanna could provide. She would be able to make things happen in his life that he hadn't been able to do for himself. That's my take anyway.

11:45 PM, June 01, 2007
kc said...

Because Johanna is the wolf from "Pulp Fiction."

11:50 PM, June 01, 2007
Ben said...

It was a good match for him, but would he have seen that (meaning would a character like that be able to see it)? Did he see that?

And (this is almost completely unrelated) why did she want to marry him? Was it a good match for her?

11:29 AM, June 02, 2007
kc said...

Of course he saw it, probably much more so than other men who have women taking care of their every need. It was in his self-interest. Having someone care for him like that, to look after daily necessities, freed him to look at the big "manly" picture of his life. And remember that his first wife, Sabitha's mom, was high maintenance — a drain on him. I think he may have been a little abashed as to why Johanna was so willing to care for him and manage his affairs, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Johanna is the exact opposite of high-maintenance.

She wanted to marry him because she wanted a lover and a companion and a different sort of life from what she had been living. She had always cared for people and looked after them, and if that was going to be her lot, then she was going to do it on her terms. She might be playing the same role of maid that she had always played, but at least now she was the lady of the house, and she was damn good at it. It was a good fit for her. If she had lived in another time and place, she may have put her organizational, industrial talents into being a corporate CEO. As it was, she put her energy and talents to use in the best way she knew how.

And there's definitely a sense in Munro that for household purposes, the best match may not be a love match. Maybe that's why so many of her characters have a lover or extramarital interests.

12:41 PM, June 02, 2007
cl said...

Hehe. "The Wolf," indeed.

Ken's reasons were chiefly mercenary -- that peek at her respectable bank book -- and like kc said, she was a gift horse. A gift horse of a work horse.

I think he also appreciated what she offered in contrast to his current lot of lovers: All he had got from them recently was howling and complaining, punctuated with their angry assertions that they loved him.

9:43 AM, June 04, 2007
Erin said...

Yes, I think Ken knew immediately that Johanna was not the kind of woman to behave like his past girlfriends.

11:35 AM, June 04, 2007

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