Mrs. Baines 'Fall In The Story The Basement Room'

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Similar to The Destructors, there are many consequences of the fall seen throughout the story, The Basement Room, as well. The most obvious display of man’s fallen nature is seen through Baine’s affair with another woman while his Mrs. Baines is out of town. Through committing this act of adultery, Baines is not only letting down his wife of many years, but also letting down Philip, who has put all of his trust in this man who ultimately represents a symbol of distrust throughout the story. If Baines would have stayed faithful to his wife, Mrs. Baines would most likely be alive and he could have given Philip the chance to live his life fully and happily. Another example of Baine’s fallen nature is seen through him fighting Mrs. Baines near …show more content…

Philip’s loss of innocence is represented after he sees Mrs. Baines’s death and says, “Let grown-up people keep to their world and he would keep to his, safe in the small garden between the plane-trees,” (Basement Room 12). After living his life in a sheltered community and suddenly experiencing more life than he could handle, Philip wishes for everything to go back to the way it was before. His only picture of life is filled with sin, deceit, and death, and Philip cannot handle the reality of it. Also, at the end of the story, Philip responds to Baine’s actions and says, “That was what happened when you loved-- you got involved; and Philip extricated himself from life, from love, from Baines,” (Basement Room 16). This quote demonstrates how consequences of the fall can affect mankind either for the better or for the worse. In Philip's case, he was so corrupted and distorted by the reality of life, that he thought it would be better to never truly live again. In doing this, Philip missed out on all of the joys that can be found in the essence of life as well. In the end, Philip's response to mankind’s inclination towards sin is seen as his response to the consequences of the fall, because he would rather live a meaningless life, than live in a world full of

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