Marriage Case - Another Evening at the Club - Review

Marriages are a major turning point in every one's lives. They change people's life styles forever. However, they can either lead to ultimate happiness, or can be a main cause of misery. The story, "Another Evening at the Club" by Alifa Rifaat, represents the second path. Samia, the main character in the story is trapped in her unhappy marriage. However in the movie, The Namesake directed by Mira Nair, Ashima found true happiness in her marriage. Willingness to compromise is key factor for marriages to be successful. Yet, the behavior of both characters and their husbands contradicts between the story and the film.

In the story "Another Evening at the Club", Samia's husband lacks the key factor for marriages to be successful. He was dictatorial by controlling her and her actions. He was not willing to understand the concept of couples' shared life together, and what it needed. He was not even able to compromise and negotiate to reach a suitable solution with his wife, but rather he always imposed his opinions at her expense. His selfishness is the main reason of their unhappy marriage. Samia was very young when she got her marriage "offer"; she was still in secondary school and did not exactly know how to interact with elders. For example, when Abboud Bey asked about her age, she kept quiet and "lowered her head modestly" (351), and was not courageous enough to answer him. Thus, as her husband, he had the ability to control her. On the wedding day he told her that "she was marrying someone with a brilliant career," which reflected his true feeling of superiority over her. He told her that " the most important things in life was the opinion of others" which shows that he expected her to change her lifestyle to meet with the expectations of other people no matter what it has impact on her own desires. She had to force herself to drink almost everyday to satisfy her husband's social position, and she could not even talk him to drop the case of the stolen ring at the police station too free the oppressed servant. These incidents show reflects his selfish personality and his desire to pose his opinion and refuse to compromise.

In contrast, marriages should be a complementary relationship between two people. Husbands usually stand by their wives' side expecting in return caring and respectful woman to spend their lives with. Couples share a life together, and this life should be complementary, where two equal people should share their opinion, ideas, and believes in order to reach a medial solution to satisfy both sides. It was not the case in Samia's marriage, where Abboud Bey took all the decision without giving the chance to his wife to express her self. Add to that, Samia was not happy in her marriage is because she did not have the choice to choose her own husband, which is a normal right for any woman to have. If she had the chance