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Smith
Nettie Smith is Smith’s overly affectionate wife. According to Smith, Nettie constantly smothers him with hugs and kisses and rarely lets him out of her sight. Although Smith knows he should be grateful for Nettie’s loving nature, he also feels suffocated by his wife and longs for a little break from her—even just one night a month. However, at the end of the story, it’s clear that Nettie wanted a break from her husband, too, and purchased a marionette of her own. Smith’s repeated observation that Nettie has been even more affectionate than usual the past month suggests that he has been unknowingly living alongside a marionette for over a month—thus, the real Nettie doesn’t appear in the story whatsoever. When Smith realizes that the bulk of their money is gone, his first thought is that his wife gluttonously purchased several thousands of dollars’ worth of hats, handbags, and perfume, consequently depicting Nettie as thoughtless and vain. However, Smith’s second thought is that Nettie purchased—without permission—the small vacation home alongside the Hudson that she’s been talking about for months. This small detail feels similar to Braling’s desire to go to Rio, and his plan to buy a marionette to allow him to do so. This suggests that perhaps Nettie did the same thing, buying a marionette and running off to the place she’s been dreaming about that her husband has barred her from. In addition, Smith’s horror that Nettie did something without his permission implies that he is a domineering, controlling partner, and that perhaps the pair had an unhappy marriage.
Nettie Smith Quotes in Marionettes, Inc.
The Marionettes, Inc. quotes below are all either spoken by Nettie Smith or refer to Nettie Smith. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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“Marionettes, Inc.”
Quotes
“[I’m] married to a woman who overdoes it. I mean, after all, when you’ve been married ten years, you don’t expect a woman to sit on your lap for two hours every evening, call you at work twelve times a day and talk baby talk. And it seems to me that in the last month she’s gotten worse. I wonder if perhaps she isn’t a little simple-minded?”
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“Thank you […] You don’t know what this means. Just a little respite. A night or so, once a month even. My wife loves me so much she can’t bear to have me gone an hour. I love her dearly, you know, but remember the old poem: ‘Love will fly if held too lightly, love will die if held too tightly.’ I just want her to relax her grip a little bit.”
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“Really, you make me feel like a criminal. You have been such a good, loving wife. Sometimes it is impossible for me to believe you married me instead of that Bud Chapman you once liked. It seems that in the last month you have loved me more wildly than ever before.”
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And then, the horrid thought. And then the terror and the loneliness engulfed him. And then the fever and disillusionment. For, without desiring to do so, he bent forward and yet forward again until his fevered ear was resting firmly and irrevocably upon her round pink bosom. “Nettie!” he cried.
Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.
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Nettie Smith Quotes in Marionettes, Inc.
The Marionettes, Inc. quotes below are all either spoken by Nettie Smith or refer to Nettie Smith. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
“Marionettes, Inc.”
Quotes
“[I’m] married to a woman who overdoes it. I mean, after all, when you’ve been married ten years, you don’t expect a woman to sit on your lap for two hours every evening, call you at work twelve times a day and talk baby talk. And it seems to me that in the last month she’s gotten worse. I wonder if perhaps she isn’t a little simple-minded?”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Thank you […] You don’t know what this means. Just a little respite. A night or so, once a month even. My wife loves me so much she can’t bear to have me gone an hour. I love her dearly, you know, but remember the old poem: ‘Love will fly if held too lightly, love will die if held too tightly.’ I just want her to relax her grip a little bit.”
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“Really, you make me feel like a criminal. You have been such a good, loving wife. Sometimes it is impossible for me to believe you married me instead of that Bud Chapman you once liked. It seems that in the last month you have loved me more wildly than ever before.”
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Page Number and Citation:
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And then, the horrid thought. And then the terror and the loneliness engulfed him. And then the fever and disillusionment. For, without desiring to do so, he bent forward and yet forward again until his fevered ear was resting firmly and irrevocably upon her round pink bosom. “Nettie!” he cried.
Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.
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