I just finished listening to a podcast of Edith Wharton's "Fulness of Life." I found this short story thought provoking, so I decided to whip up a short article about it. I've summarized the story below and added a few of my own thoughts at the end.
Summary:
This story begins with a woman dying. She meets up with Life and they discuss her reward, presumably for a life well lived. In this story, if a person does not find a soul mate during their time on earth, they meet their soul mate in the afterlife and then spend eternity with that one.
As she explained to Life just how misunderstood she was by her earthly husband, I started to imagine "What Dreams May Come," starring Robin Williams. I have to admit that I like that movie and found the concept of choosing your own eternal world view to be intriguing. In Wharton's world, the protagonist was able, in a limited sense, to achieve the same. In this case, that meant she could find her soul mate.
And find him she did.
They hit it off, obviously, finishing each other's sentences as if they were of one mind. One would have to wonder if having another person that in sync might not become wearisome. One would never be able to complete a thought without the other person snatching words from one's mouth.
Her soul mate suggests that she and he build a home to start their new existence together. She pauses as her thoughts return to her earthly husband. He never understood her and ceaselessly vexed her pet peeves, but she was not ready to turn her back on him yet. She did not given up on her soul mate immediately, though. This is the turning point.
She questions Life if her husband would as well find his soul mate after he died. Life responds that he would not because he considered her to be his soul mate. Barely missing a beat, she decides to forego eternity with her soul mate so as to wait for her husband.
Thoughts
This story poses many interesting topics to ponder, one of which is how do we actually define a soul mate. Initially the protagonist narrowly defined it by shared interests and a common world view. By the end of the story, though, the definition widens to encompass comfort and need.
The husband is a fixture in her life that she had come to rely upon, thus the comfort aspect. The sounds of his boots and his penchant for slamming doors underscore the petty irritations she experienced in their relationship. When she considered eternity without those quirks in her existence, they morphed into bearable, even endearing, traits that she could not and would not be without.
Over the years, I have often contemplated the true nature of relationships, both romantic and platonic. In my experience I have found there is always a concept of "need," whether it is to need or the need to be needed. In the case of this protagonist, she emphasizes how much her husband needs her, but the verbiage and rote recital of the list of how he needs her highlights her own desire to be needed in ways that her soul mate would not have needed her.
In conclusion, Wharton's story shows that sometimes when we are presented with what we believe will make us happiest, it can help to show us what we already have. Additionally, sometimes love is as simple as a matter of comfort and need. In the end that might not be so bad.
