The Bigfoot In Carlson's Book

In the short story “Bigfoot Stole My Wife”, the author Ron Carlson reveals to us the misfortune of his circumstances, his wife is neglected by him and his attention being directed toward his gambling addiction. The man is neglectful and confused on what to do other than believe that, in fact, Bigfoot stole his wife rather than believing that he was in denial of his own actions and that his wife ran away with someone else. He does not take credibility of his lack of attention he was giving his own wife , but feeding into his gaming addiction and that lead to his wife leaving. Instead of putting the blame on himself as he should, he chooses to blame Bigfoot. The theme that has stood out was denial, and the character in the story displayed an internal conflict throughout the story.

The man’s denial shows that his attention was directed towards gambling instead of his wife making it easier for her to leave and find someone better. The man tries to hide the fact he has a gambling problem knowing that it is the biggest impact for his wife leaving him. He is so convinced on this idea of the mystery Bigfoot and the certainty of his wife being taken because it protects his personal issues onto a zealous explanation. The conflict of the story is man vs reality because the man doesn’t want to face reality in this situation because his wife left him, and the man chooses to believe someone like Bigfoot can carry his wife away. In the short story, the author represents a metaphor stating “so, in a way it was my fault. But what could I have done? Bigfoot steals your wife. I mean: even if you’re home, it’s going to be a mess” (Carlson 80). The story is a journey of the author going back and forth with himself about accepting the situation and more truthfully demonstrating the detachment between him and his wife as well as the stability of their marriage. The disconnection between them plays a vital role in their marriage because as he gets sidetracked by gambling his connection with his wife disappears and she eventually gets that attention from someone else. The internal conflict is that the man’s marriage was on the line and instead of taking credibility he decides to play victim. His marriage was taking a toll on his life and he chose not to accept it. The author states “One of these days I’m not going to be here when you get home” (Carlson 79). His wife Trudy was giving him a warning and he took it as a normal thing as if marriages are supposed to fallout willingly. The satirical humor in the story is ironic to the audience because a mythical creature stealing somebody's wife is funny of itself, and his explanations contribute to further humor later in the story. The man even announced, “I believe he is being good to her” (Carlson 79). He already knew it was over his wife packed her things and left. Adding more humor to the plot because he didn’t want to believe that his wife was having an affair.

Even though the author uses a melodramatic tone it still signifies the unhappiness and his commitment to hide the truth. As stated in the story, “I close the fridge door. It’s the saddest thing I’ve ever done” (Carlson 80). He makes the metaphor of closing the fridge door as a part of his life. He cannot accept the fact that he is not good enough for his beautiful wife and tries to play as the victim when he was the one pushing his wife away. His bad habits lead to him not giving his wife enough attention so, he uses Bigfoot to take the blame for his mistakes because he is denial of his own actions. He's in a state of denial and deep down he knows he's been abandoned but simply won't admit it to himself. In the storyline, the man’s tone is extremely flat, he doesn’t seem too concerned with the disappearance of his wife. He only has the feeling of sadness. As he reminisces that “there’s a picture of Trudy and me leaning against her Toyota taped to the fridge door” (Carlson 80). The man is thinking back to the good memories of his marriage because he believes that every marriage goes through tough time while hiding the fact that his wife really left him. He isn’t as worried of his wife going rogue therefore, this shows how little the man blames himself because of the way he nonchalantly expresses his extreme justification. He had the slightest reaction for a person who is losing someone so beloved to him. Throughout this whole story the man’s pride made him refuse to believe his wife clearly left him for another man. The signs are all there she left with everything she had and would repeatedly warn him “One of these days I’m not going to be here when you get home” (Carlson 79). It’s his own fault for putting the behaviors of his lifestyle before his own marriage. He is in denial for his personal actions considering he can’t admit to himself; he further goes on and says “She’s gone. Believe it.” As if he doesn’t really care for the matter of the situation. This further expands the concept that he in fact is feeling remorse for how things went down, but believes he plays no fault for his wife leaving him.

To conclude, the man had challenges to face in his relationship with his woman as he struggled to become his own man. He was in denial for his personal actions and internally conflicted with himself. The man wants people to believe “Bigfoot stole his wife” because he doesn’t believe he played a part of his wife leaving him for someone better. He was negligent and lost on what to do other than believe that.