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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Did anyone else read “The Apple Tree” by Daphne Dumaurier?  This post reminds me of it.

https://fictionfanblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/tuesday-terror-the-apple-tree-by-daphne-du-maurier/

“The Apple Tree tells the tale of a recent (unnamed) widower, bereaved but not bereft. Frankly, he had found his wife Midge irritating for years. A self-appointed martyr, she had always managed to make him feel guilty about how little he did around the house and how hard she worked, though he always felt she took on tasks that could easily have been left undone or left for the daily maid. She had always taken the pessimistic view of any piece of news and for years he had felt she sucked the joy out of life. So he happily admits to himself, though not to the world, that her death from pneumonia was more of a relief than a loss. And suddenly he’s enjoying life again – until one day he looks out of his window and spots that one of his apple trees bears an uncanny resemblance to the hunched, drudging image of his late wife…

This is a fine example of what du Maurier does best – creating a chilling atmosphere just bordering on the supernatural but never clearly crossing that line. Although the story is told in the third person, we see it unfold through the widower’s eyes, giving it the effect of an ‘unreliable narrator’. If Midge was as the widower saw her, then his happiness at her death is understandable. But how much did he contribute to making her what she became? We catch glimpses of the young woman she once was, trying to please the husband she loved and having her enthusiasm stamped on by this man who clearly looked down on her. Is the widower to be pitied or condemned? And is the story one of a ghostly haunting or of self-inflicted psychological horror brought on by guilt?

As the seasons wear past, the tree affects the widower more and more – its blossom horribly overblown to his eyes, while seeming to be admired by others; its fruit disgusting to him while seeming fine to his daily maid; the smell of the wood from a fallen branch that he burns nauseating…choking. And in all its oversized ugliness, it hides the beauty of the little tree next to it – a tree that reminds the widower of a girl he once knew, perhaps a little too well. At last he decides to do what he has been putting off for too long – he will chop the tree down…”

[/quote]

This is quite interesting. When one party is smarter, wealthier, more charismatic, etc. than the other, the dynamic can become one of the “better” holding the “lesser” in contempt while the “lesser” seeks to earn the “better’s” attention. Meanwhile, the “lesser” internally grows frustrated that their life is always lived for the “better” and the “better” yearns for their equal. Both would do better on their own terms, yet something holds them together. Perhaps, the “lesser” feels important with “better,” and “better” feels superior with “lesser.”  [/quote]

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