The Problem of Relationship in ‘The Silent Wife’ by U.S.A Harrison

The Silent Wife is a novel written by U.S.A Harrison. The author uses a third person perspective in telling stories in this novel. The author uses third person pronouns, namely the names of the characters in this story. This can be proven in the following novel quotes. "It's early September, Jodi Brett in her kitchen, making dinner" (Harrison, 2018: 3). In addition, the author also uses a single third person pronoun in the chapter title, namely "her" (Harrisson, 2018: 3). This story is set in Chicago, precisely in Jodi's apartment. This can be proven in the following novel quotes. "She came to Chicago as a student more than twenty years ago and felt immediately at home" ((Harrisson, 2018: 9) and "The sense of containment is what she loves most about living here, in her aerie on the twenty-seventh floor ”(Harrison, 2018: 3).

In this story there are two types of characters, namely the main character and the secondary character. The main character of the protagonist is played by Jodi Brett. She is 45 years old and she is a psychologist (counselor). She lives with a man named Todd (antagonist), a property contractor. Even though they were not married, Jodi considered Todd as a husband because they had lived together for 20 years. They are not blessed with children.

Until one day, Todd had an affair with Natasha Kovacs (secondary character). Todd has been having an affair with her for more than a year while still with Jodi. Natasha is a 20-year-old student and is also the daughter of Todd's best friend, Dean Kovacs (secondary character).

Before impregnating Natasha, Todd promises to marry her and leave Jodi, but when Natasha is pregnant, Todd advises Natasha to have an abortion. Natasha was angry at the suggestion. He insisted Todd immediately notify his wife and leave him. Natasha forced Todd to move with him. Todd realizes that he likes Jodi far better than Natasha in terms of his personality, only better sex with Natasha. But he was stuck with Natasha because he was pregnant.

Natasha's father Dean told Jodi about his daughter relationship with Todd. Despite hearing bad news, Jodi responded as if nothing had happened and did not show sadness. Jodi pretends to know nothing about this until Todd comes home and tells him he will move the next day. Hearing Todd's words, Jodi began to express his anger by hitting Todd.

In the fight Todd lets Jodi beat him while calming Jodi. Todd told Jodi that he might have AIDS. This was conveyed by Todd because he noticed the foam in his mouth. In addition, he also had sex with different women. Todd's fear of AIDS did not prevent him from getting in touch with another woman, Ilona. He had sex with Ilona a few days before his marriage with Natasha. Long story short, before his marriage to Natasha, Todd was shot dead by an unknown person.

Police suspect Jodi of being a suspect in Todd's murder but Jodi is calm even though the police interrogate him. A few days later, the police told him that they had arrested Dean, Natasha's father for the murder of Todd. In Jodi's mind that time it was his fault for hiring a hitman to kill Todd. Jodi thought it was impossible for Dean to kill the husband of his daughter. But then he realized that maybe the hitman didn't do it and maybe the hitman Dean did it. Finally Jodi doesn't know who the assassin killed Todd. Jodi went crazy and was sent to the hospital.

Rejection and betrayal is indeed the most visible problem that appears in The Silent Wife. This will bring us to the issue of the character's point of view of marriage. From a feminist perspective we can assume that Jodi Brett has a reason why he did not marry Todd. On the other hand, Natasha also has a reason why she chose to marry Todd and Todd instead.

With his extraordinary mind being said to be a feminist and this could also be one reason why he refused to marry Todd Gilbert. Natasha, on the other hand, has her own reasons why she wants to marry Todd and Todd instead. People have their own reasons why they want and don't want to marry someone. This will bring us to the concept or point of view of the character of marriage. When associated with the lives of people outside of literary works at the time of making this story. Of course, the phenomenon in the novel 'The Silent Wife' reflects how the lives of the people of the United States are not bound by the rope of marriage.

In interacting with the opposite sex, they may live together with or without a plan to get married. The trend of living together before marriage is becoming increasingly common in the United States. They believe that living together as a way to test their relationship is good and solution. Therefore, sex before marriage is also common in the United States. So it is difficult for others to determine married couples and couples who live together. Then, they can also easily determine not to live together if they separate. This condition can cause fighting, betrayal and even murder in a household.

            There are several things that can be concluded in this novel, namely as follows. First, this novel tells the story of the difficulty of maintaining a harmonious relationship in a family. This is illustrated in this novel, at the beginning of the story of Jodi's relationship and Todd looks like a happy relationship. However, over time the shortcomings of each individual began to appear clear. This weakness, makes Todd have an affair with another woman. Finally, the climax of Todd's betrayal must be paid dearly with his life. Second, this novel can be said to be a reflection of people's lives when this novel was made. This is reflected in the trend of living together without undergoing marriage ties in Western countries. This kind of relationship can trigger betrayal and even murder of a partner.