Hutcheon Desperation Pass
What should those that seek marriage look out for? What perils are born out of wedlock? Is marrying a good idea? Does marriage become a beautiful journey with time? Or does marriage become another chain that can tether an individual to despair? Such questions are raised and explored in Phil Hutcheon’s Desperation Passes. The story rejects the common belief of “eternal happiness after marriage” and boldly presents a new, realistic idea: there are many struggles and impurities found in holy matrimony. Hutcheon shatters the joyful preconceptions of marriage through Wade’s own personal marriage experience, and Yoshi’s desire to get a green card. Hutcheon starts breaking down the perfect image of marriage early into the story with Wade’s recollections
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This concept can be seen through the character Yoshi, a Japanese exchange teacher, when she attempts to get Wade (and later Allenby) to marry her. Yoshi is only interested in becoming a citizen and is willing to abuse the idea of marriage to achieve her goals. Her intentions to marry are not out of love, and her lack of affection for Wade is fully apparent when she blackmails him for his job. She threatens him by saying that she’ll tell his boss that “’[he] touch[es] [her] at work” if he won’t give up his counseling position at CSU (Hutcheon 102). Her threat reveals that she cares more about her own career than Wade’s livelihood. Furthermore, her lack of affection for Wade breaks the common notion that everyone marries out of love. Although I’m not married, I have seen my fair share of disastrous relationships. Most of the failed relationships that I have seen were caused by greed. However, I wouldn’t say that being greedy in a relationship is necessarily a bad thing. Finding a good compromise between focusing on an individual’s own needs and the needs of his or her significant others is essential to any successful relationship. I can understand why marriage is an overarching theme in Desperation Passes. Many television shows and novels depict marriage in a brighter light and their depiction can create the illusion that marriage is perfect. To conclude, marriage is not perfect. And marriage
This concept can be seen through the character Yoshi, a Japanese exchange teacher, when she attempts to get Wade (and later Allenby) to marry her. Yoshi is only interested in becoming a citizen and is willing to abuse the idea of marriage to achieve her goals. Her intentions to marry are not out of love, and her lack of affection for Wade is fully apparent when she blackmails him for his job. She threatens him by saying that she’ll tell his boss that “’[he] touch[es] [her] at work” if he won’t give up his counseling position at CSU (Hutcheon 102). Her threat reveals that she cares more about her own career than Wade’s livelihood. Furthermore, her lack of affection for Wade breaks the common notion that everyone marries out of love. Although I’m not married, I have seen my fair share of disastrous relationships. Most of the failed relationships that I have seen were caused by greed. However, I wouldn’t say that being greedy in a relationship is necessarily a bad thing. Finding a good compromise between focusing on an individual’s own needs and the needs of his or her significant others is essential to any successful relationship. I can understand why marriage is an overarching theme in Desperation Passes. Many television shows and novels depict marriage in a brighter light and their depiction can create the illusion that marriage is perfect. To conclude, marriage is not perfect. And marriage