"The Accident"

In “The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggests that the husband is having an affair with the women’s husband and the woman has just come to the realization that this is going on. Funkhouser uses descriptions, reactions, and other subtle ways to suggest the affair is going on.

In the first part of the poem, Erica Funkhouser subtly suggests that there may be ahint of something going on but she doesn’t completely give it away. “She heard the hasty scraping of sole and heel/ against the clipped turf of the doormat;/ than the neighbor rushed in. (Line 1-3)” This quote is one of the first ways Erica Funkhouser shows that this is no ordinary situation. As the neighbor comes in she doesn’t knock or even say hello. “She slid a chair from underneath the kitchen table and sat down,/ her long legs straight in front of her /like a ladder to a different world, (Lines 16-19)” This quote is interesting, it shows that the wife thinks as though the neighbor is completely different world to her, like she has no way of comprehending the neighbor.

In the second part of the poem, Funkhouser shows us that the neighbor almost gave up the secret of the affair. “It was when the neighbor answered “yes”/ to a question the women’s husband had not yet asked/ that the women finally understood.(line 20-24)” This quote shows that the speaker finally sees what is actually going on in the picture. She can see that there is an unspoken connection between the neighbor and the husband. “How many times had they eaten together,/ the women watching wondered. Enough. (lines26,27) This quote in it self gives away the fact that the speaker knows the husband and the neighbors are having an affair. She knows they have eaten together many times before.

In the third and final section of the poem the speaker raps up her assumption. “She had never seen him do it like this before two-handed,/ He always liked to show off /by breaking the eggs with one hand. (Lines 40,41)” It shows that today for some reason the husband wasn’t showing off. This action makes you wonder what is going on in this scene. “This evening his hands were trembling/ as he cracked the eggs on the skillet’s rim,(Line 44-47)” This is the last way that the speaker hints the husband is having an affair. It shows that he was obviously shaken up at something that had happened earlier that day. It may have been the wife walking in on the neighbor and the husband having the affair.

In conclusion, in “The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggests that the husband is cheating on his wife with the neighbor. Funkhouser suggests this in subtle ways using different quotes and certain lines to show the imagery in the poem.