Horrors of the Road

Main Characters: Piers wife

Other Characters: Piers, Miss Jacobs

Story:
The whole story is Piers wife talking to her psychotherapist
(people who treat mental sickness and impairment) about her
husband Piers and their trip in France. Throughout the story she
keeps saying she loves her husband, and its others fault of
making problems for them.

Page 97
She went to the therapist because Piers said so. She mentioned
that her legs have stopped working one day without reason, and
still no doctor can find out what and why it happened. Then he
started to talk about his husband Piers of how handsome and
clever he is.

Page 98
She went on and she also said she and Piers have 4 children. She
said Piers is a Nobel Prize winner, and that he is a particle
physicist. She then started mentioning their trips to France. They
kept going to France in holidays until their largest son, Brutus, is
15. Its been 5 years since then. She told us the scene about the
families lining up for the ferry.

Page 99
She started to mention how bad the French drivers are and how
impossible their road signs are, while saying their cars
condition is very bad, because of the bumps and cracks. She
changed her topic to how her legs stopped working. It started in
their thirtieth wedding anniversary. They are going to France
again in Piers new car. It can go to 110 mph, but she said he will
only drive to 55 mph, the safety speed in the States. (Remember

they are British, States usually mean United States) She also said
he forgets to drive on the right when they are in France. (British
drive on left side, while most places drive on the right side) She
said she likes to take Valium (A medicine which calms people and
stop anxiety), because she always have fast heartbeats. She said
Piers like melons, and he will even try to touch every melons,
including the melons in the boxes of the shop to see which is best.

Page 100
She said when she is going to get into the car after buying melons
her legs stopped working and havent walked since. Her heart
problem stopped since then too. She then talked about their
camping trips. Piers prefer less crowded sites.

Page 101
She said once the campsite is too crowded that Piers requested
some campers to move their tents to give him space at ten in the
evening. She said it was the camp watchers fault, and Piers
knocked his door to request a space for him. She said he was
over-reacted, but said it wasnt his fault. She also said Piers like
picnic lunch at 3 pm. She blamed the French for being not nice, by
beeping at them while they drove the wrong direction in a
roundabout (a circle road).

Page 102
She said once they crashed with someone else and he even forgot
to brake the car after he went out in gear (gear: possibly a
weapon). She said not much damage is done but peoples car are
always smooth and new, better looking than theirs because they
waste their money often. They always got pulled out of the car
and being honked. She thought Piers is a safe driver and blames
the road signs for not being straight-forward and the French
drivers being terrible.

Page 103
She complains how bad the road signs are and how it is hard to
see. She sometimes takes Valium when they have accidents in

their trip. She told us their children, Fanny went to New Zealand
after college, David is a racing driver, which Piers said its
dangerous, Angela is doing psychiatric nursing.

Page 104
She keeps on complaining the drivers in France. She went on
about how Piers asked about every dish in the menu, how long
they take when eating in restaurants. He also tasted every wine in
the free wine-tasting events, without buying any. She said Piers
dont adjust the back mirror before driving, and that she would
take another Valium. She again blamed the French, not his
husbands actions.

Page 106
She then started blaming the therapist Miss Jacobs, accusing Miss
Jacobs as a feminist (feminism: once a term for male-female
equality, now sometimes a word meaning female domination) and
that her husband was right every single time. She then called for
Piers to take her away.

Story Summary:
This story is about the wife of Piers who is completely loyal to his
husband, even if his husband is terrible at some point. Her loyalty
is too much that she believes everything is other peoples fault,
not his husbands. In fact, his husband is greedy, not being careful
enough while driving, somehow violent, and is not sensitive to
other peoples feelings. He is so closed-minded and have only his
set of mind. Yet his wife kept supporting him and blame for
everything else rather than himself, even if he is the one being
wrong. Maybe Piers wife knows, but dont want to accept it.
Perhaps, Piers realized his wife is not right, and took her to the
psychotherapist to try to change her attitude, but she is just too
reluctant to accept that her husband is wrong in many ways.

Important notes:
-Piers was waiting in Miss Jacobs drawing room when she is
talking with Piers wife.
-Piers wife fell twice after the incident: once on a sofa, once on
sand.
-Piers and his wife went to Paris, New York, Tokyo to seek for
medical help, but they all said it was hysterical paralysis
-Piers is a particle physicist, and Piers wife mentioned cyclotron
(a device used to observe the behavior of atomic and sub-atomic
particles) while talking about Piers.
-Their new car was a MG (Morris Garages), a sports car.
-Valium, or Diazepam, a depressant used to treat a variety of
conditions, including anxiety, muscle spasms, restless legs
syndrome, and is also used to cause memory loss. Side effects
include sleepiness, increased risk of seizures, occasional agitation
and cognitive problems which can be in effect for more than six
months. (Piers wife is a habitual Valium taker. The side effect of
valium might be the reason of her legs not being functional. Her
usual taking of Valium is probably because of Piers exciting
driving skills)
-frites a French meaning fried potatoes.
-Piers have left our car in gear this possibly means he is armed
with a weapon.
-Piers have 4 children: Brutus, Angela, David, Fanny
-Angela is a psychiatric nurse, David is a racing car driver, Fanny
went to New Zealand after college.
-Piers said eating slowly in a restaurant is good because a) it is
bad for digestion if they hurry, b) they are happy to see people
appreciate their food.
-Abreaction: A release of repressed emotion. Piers wife knew it
was difficult to live with Piers but she tries to hide it here.

-Feminist was a term meaning male-female equality, but in

modern days it is sometimes meant female domination. The
reason is some people mistaken this word as another meaning,
which should be sexual equality. Probably Piers wife meant the
second meaning when she spoke it out. (Possibly slightly
negative)
-Valium is also said to give extreme thoughts or suicidal thoughts,
Piers wife might be affected by the side effects of the drug.