o drinking. Not only is his past a contributor to his affliction but the uncaring ways of his family and friends also play a part. These are the times when Wade needs support the most and he is getting nothing. The only support he was getting was from Margie. Wade even proposes this idea, Ive been thinking that maybe we should get married sometime. You and me. (Banks 174) But that will never happen in their relationship. Marrying Wade, however, was something she had not thought about once, not in all the years she had known him, which might seem strange: she was a single woman in her late thirties in a town where such a woman was suspect, and Wade was the one man in town whose company she enjoyed. Wade was smart, everyone knew that, and not bad-looking, and he could be funny when he wanted to, and he worked hard, although he did not make much money, and a chunk of that went to his ex-wife. He drank too much, sure, but most men did, especially unmarried unhappy men. And he had that reputation for violence, his sudden bursts of anger. But most of the unmarried unhappy men she knew had that same reputation: it seemed to go with the territory. They were disconnected men, cut off from what calmed them a home, children, a loving loyal woman who comforted and reassured them when everyone else treated them as if they were useless and expendable. Of course, Wade had once possessed all that, and he had still been violent, not down at Tobys Inn, as now, but worse, at home and against his own wife. Remember, Margie thought, Wade Whitehouse was a wife-beater. (Banks 205-206) Margie was Wades comfort zone. He knew she was there and her presence helped him get through some rough days of his life. Being in bed with Margie made Wade feel safe and free in ways that he rarely felt. (Banks 169) This only lasted for a while because she too finally had enough of him. Even with this being the case Wade considered Margie the woman who would b...
