Henry's Return to Eating Meat

In "Gender Studies," Nell mentions that her husband Henry had stopped being a vegetarian without telling her, and this is a symbol both of the lack of communication and intimacy in their marriage, and Henry's lack of self-control. Henry claimed that he returned to eating meat because it is "just so satisfying" (6). Nell sardonically makes a connection between this minor duplicity and Henry's affair with a younger woman, "...hadn't she been warned? An admiring twenty-three-year-old graduate student was, presumably, just so satisfying!" (7).

You Think It, I'll Say It

The You Think It, I'll Say It game from "The World Has Many Butterflies" is a symbol of Julie's dissatisfaction with her marriage and her life, and her naive belief that Graham was the answer to her problems. The game allowed Julie to speak her mind in a bluntly honest fashion, and while playing...