Can-Can Arturo Vivante

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Critics describe Arturo Vivante as a modest man, which want to bring out the importance of the small deed we do to each other through our actions. In his short story “Can-Can”, the author tells us about an adultery committed by a husband with mixed feeling concerning his wife, who has no idea of the issue. Rather than trying to save their union, he arranges a rendezvous with another married woman in a café so they could drive together to a house by the lake. Throughout the events, the narrator details the thoughts of the man, which are for the most part about his wife. “Can-Can” evokes the theme of ego that leads to a broken relationship and Arturo Vivante uses irony from the beginning till the end of the story to help us perceive this theme. …show more content…

In the following excerpt: “All right, his wife said brightly, as though he were doing her a favor” (Vivante 1). In other words, the author is saying that the woman pretends to be glad of the departure of the man. Thus the last part of the quotation describes perfectly the wife’s ego by not admitting that she desired him to stay home. On account of her self-pride, she did not want to be seen dependent on the husband's company. Following this small talk, the narrator describes the spouse as someone to be missed, ironic, knowing that her companion couldn’t stop thinking about her alongside his affair. In addition, the man’s ego is disclosed more subtly through some ironical statements. The first one that can be seen is: “Mr. Fix-it, his wife called him”(2). At first, this remark would seem insignificant but in this way, the author mocked the husband that is unable to fix his own marriage. We can analyze the man behavior to understand that he would rather find a way to evacuate his stress than to confront the problem he has with his wife so that he won’t have to admit his mistakes. Both examples show us that every character acts, as they are inconsiderate to each other but consider nonetheless doing the right

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