Brian Bertolucci Eng 1B T-Th 12:30-2:00 9/28/99 Essay #1 A Point by Point Analytical View of Tobias Wolff’s “Say Yes” “Say Yes” is an emotional sorry of love and its pitfalls. The husband loves his wife dearly but fails to really know that all she wants to hear is affirmation of her proposal of love despite the racial undertone involve. The Husband does not come to the realization of this concept until the end of the story when he accepts the proposal and puts forth the effort to “make it up” to Ann The story begins around dusk, one evening in a non descript kitchen on El Camino Street in some unnamed American ghetto. The mood of the evening soon changes for the worse. While a husband and a wife wash dishes they quibble about inter-racial marriage, specifically Caucasian and African. Ann, the wife, proposes a question, “…I’m black, but still me, and we fall in love. Will you marry me?” Tobias Wolff parallels the narrative tone with the considerate loving attitude of the Husband, which makes the delicate subject matter of inter-racial marriage easier to confront in the short story “Say Yes”. There are only two Characters mentioned in the story. The Husband has extensive knowledge of African-American culture, although not being of that particular race himself. He is considerate and devoted to his wife Ann. This is displayed while helping his wife with the dishes every night and assisting with the remainder of the housework. A friend of his wife’s congratulated her on having such a considerate husband; it was true he “tried” to show consideration towards his wife through his works. The second individual is Ann. Wolff does not divulge Ann’s everyday character, but displays Ann’s “indifference” to her Husband’s assessment of the subject matter. As Ann turns “the pages of a magazine….she was too angry to ...
