Abuse and Power Dynamics
“Flexion” focuses on Frank and Mrs. Slovak, a married couple whose relationship is riddled with abuse, neglect, and alienation. This is largely due to the couple’s imbalanced power dynamic: Frank is dominant to the point of cruelty, while Mrs. Slovak is submissive to a fault. However, when Frank is seriously injured in a farming accident and becomes disabled, this dynamic is switched: suddenly, Mrs. Slovak has power over Frank, as Frank is entirely dependent…
read analysis of Abuse and Power DynamicsCommunication
In addition to the outright abuse that plagues married couple Frank and Mrs. Slovak’s relationship, a lack of communication also has a devastating effect on them. The Slovaks are notably closed off and lack any vulnerability or emotional intimacy, a dynamic that leaves them miserable and estranged from each other. However, this status quo is threatened when Frank has a farming accident that leaves him disabled, and communication becomes necessary for the couple to…
read analysis of CommunicationTrauma and Support
Neither Frank Slovak nor his wife, Mrs. Slovak, are strangers to trauma: Mrs. Slovak suffers a miscarriage prior to the events of “Flexion,” and Frank has a farming accident at the beginning of the story that leaves him permanently disabled. Though the couple has a troubled marriage and they’ve been alienated from each other for years, they have similar experiences as they suffer from their personal traumas: both are devastated and ashamed, and neither…
read analysis of Trauma and Support