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Major Essay #3 Analysis of Fiction Societal tradition and stereotyping suggests that in marriage the man will enjoy more power in the relationship than the woman; moreover, that the man will be in control of the relationship and his wife. That in Aleppo Once, by Vladimir Nabokov, within its theme of loss and love, explores this concept. In a letter written during the opening days of WWII, Nabokov uses the character of the narrator to present his ideas of control and power in relationships. Through the narrator’s writings Nabokov shows that from the point of view of a man, control is not necessarily a reality in marriage, especially a broken marriage. Nabokov develops his story of loss by introducing denial as a way to ease the pain of a lost relationship. At the beginning of his letter the narrator says, " Although I can produce documentary proofs of matrimony, I am positive now that my wife never existed. You may know her name from some other source, but that does not matter; it is the name of an illusion. Therefore, I am able to speak of her with as much detachment as I would speak of a character in a story (one of your stories, to be precise)"(241). Denial is perhaps our most powerful human emotion. Sometimes denial is what allows us to keep going day to day during times when we are suffering emotionally; sometimes it allows us to escape hurt, self-blame, and the blame of our spouse, as in the case of the narrator. The narrator uses denial as a way to deal with his emotions over the break-up; he does not want to face his feelings over what has happened. After all if he remains detached he will not have to admit that he has failed at what society expects of him: to be a man in control of his marriage, and to keep his wife by his side.
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