Mark of Cain

Mark of Cain

            The Mark of Cain is a narrative by an American writer called Roxanne Gay. The story is a critical evaluation which gives an account of a young lady’s life on the great efforts she puts in a bid to uphold her marriage life. The narrator, Gay begins the story with a sexual scene from which the reader is able to learn how the couple frequently makes love as one among many deeds of affection that the wife engages in as a way of pleasing her husband. Even though the husband is not as active as the lady is portrayed to be, she is always up in the middle of the night to make sure everything he is emotionally satisfied. Based on this exhilarating narrative, one is able to gain knowledge of about the extensive efforts that a particular individual can make in life with an aim of acquiring maximum satisfaction. For example, the narrator asserts that she wears heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick because her husband once said that he always wants her to look the same way she looked when they first met.

The second part of the story is a demonstration of the insecurities present in the story teller’s marriage. She is always worried when the husband leaves her alone splayed on the matrimonial bed waiting for the time he will be back for more love acts. The writer further introduces a character called Jacob who is the husband’s identical twin brother. This segment opens up the reader to the perception of the ills that prevail within marriages when there is lack of trust. Men are portrayed as treacherous and violent since they are mostly involved in unfaithfulness. For example, Caleb’s father was short dead by a woman whom he had beaten up after sleeping with several times. Based on that, one can clearly connect the happenings to the modern world where women are viewed as sex objects by the society. It is possible to note that a woman’s role in the narrator’s generation was to make love for the man, prepare dinner and stay awake to make sure nothing terrible happens to the man.

The theme of extramarital affairs is evident as demonstrated by the writer. As much as she is married to Caleb, she enjoys Jacob’s company who has a girlfriend called Cassie. Ignorance and slyness have their share in this story since one can see that the two brothers sleep with both women since they are hard to different one from the other in terms of physique and character traits. The narrator says that none of them smokes, they are both left handed, have dark hair, blue eyes among other features. However the story teller is able to differentiate her husband by the manner he makes love s compared to his twin brother. Cassie, a university graduate and Jacob’s girlfriend is portrayed as one who is less concerned by the fact that the husbands swap homes. Relating this segment with the modern life, one is able to see the minimal aspects that are ignored which generate troublesome consequences like spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Betrayal is exhibited in the narrator’s marriage. This happens after dinner and her husband, Caleb is drunk due to too much wine. The bustle that follows is an act of love is making with the wrong partner. The narrator passionately gets laid by Jacob even with the knowledge that whatever she is doing is sinful thus committing adultery. Unfaithfulness is coupled with hate as the narrator begets visions of conceiving a child with Jacob’s seeds though the husband is Caleb. As she tries to avoid eye contact in the morning after a night of making love, the storyteller suffers morsels of fear running through her conscious soul. The aftermath of this betrayal is showcased when the chronicler misses her periods only to realize that she is six months pregnant with her brother-in-law but the husband Jacob appreciates the child as his without the definite knowledge.

In conclusion, the writer, Roxanne Gay wants to inform her audience the moral lesson of how disloyalty breaks families apart. Based on the story the Mark of Cain, it is possible for one to gain knowledge of the best way to avoid passionate temptations. The writer also portrays ignorance as the major contribution to ills of the society.