Smith Character Analysis in Marionettes, Inc.

Smith is Braling’s good friend and Nettie Smith’s husband. He’s about thirty-five years old and has been married for ten years. He feels suffocated by his wife, who constantly dotes on him and overwhelms him with affection. Smith craves a short “respite” from her—even just one night per month—and consequently decides to buy a marionette of his own to let him do so. However, it’s notable that Smith is willing to spend eight thousand dollars (more than half of the couple’s fifteen-thousand-dollar savings) for this short break, which suggests that he actually wishes to escape his wife more than one night per month. Smith seems like a controlling husband, seen by the way he accuses Nettie of buying a small vacation home by the Hudson River without his permission, and the implication that he’s been ignoring her dreams about the Hudson (just as Mrs. Braling impedes Braling from going to Rio). He’s also horrified when he realizes that Nettie tapped into their savings account, even though he was about to secretly do the very same thing. Even though he resents his wife in many ways, Smith knows that he should be grateful for her love and loyalty. Even though it’s been ten years, he still can’t believe that Nettie chose him instead of Bud Chapman, a man she used to like.

Smith Quotes in Marionettes, Inc.

The Marionettes, Inc. quotes below are all either spoken by Smith or refer to 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:

“What did you do, put sleeping powder in your wife’s coffee?”

“No, that would be unethical.”

Related Characters: Smith (speaker), Braling (speaker), Mrs. Braling

Page Number and Citation: 234

Explanation and Analysis:

While walking home from their unsatisfyingly short night out together, Smith asks his friend Braling how he managed to get out of the house in the first place, insinuating that Mrs. Braling would never agree to Braling’s plans to get a drink with his friend. According to Smith, the only way Braling could have possibly escaped from his wife’s clutches that night was if he drugged her. Although Smith appears to be making a joke, his hyperbolic comment says a lot about Mrs. Braling, as it depicts her as a controlling, bossy wife. Braling thinks using sleeping powder is “unethical,” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Veli

“[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: Smith (speaker), Nettie Smith, Braling

Page Number and Citation: 235

Explanation and Analysis:

As Smith and Braling walk home from their night out, they talk about their respective marriages, which are both unhappy ones. While Braling’s problem is that his wife (so he claims) is hateful and controlling, Smith’s problem is that his wife is overly loving and attached at his hip. Smith depicts Nettie as being childlike, obsessive, and “simple-minded.” Smith is clearly uncomfortable with Nettie’s lavish displays of love, underscoring how important mutual affection is in a marriage. Furthermore, Smith’s assertion that “in the last month she’s gotten worse” is an important moment of foreshadowing—later, he comes to understand that this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio

MARIONETTES, INC.

Duplicate self or friends; new humanoid plastic 1990 models, guaranteed against all physical wear. From $7,600 to our $15,000 deluxe model.

Related Characters: Braling, Smith, Braling Two

Related Symbols: Business Card

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 237

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage discloses what’s on the Marionettes, Inc. business card, which Braling gives to Smith when he voices interest in purchasing a marionette for himself. The business card lists the towering financial cost of a marionette, consequently revealing that Braling spent somewhere between eight thousand and fifteen thousand dollars for the sake of avoiding his wife. This underscores just how desperate Braling is to have time away from Mrs. Braling (and to finally fulfil his dream of going to Rio). The detail about the marionettes being “guaranteed against all physical wear” seems like a bonus for customers, reassuring them that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possi

“It may be splitting hairs, but I think it highly ethical. After all, what my wife wants most of all is me. This marionette is me to the hairiest detail. I’ve been home all evening. I shall be home with her for the next month. In the meantime another gentleman will be in Rio after ten years of waiting.”

Related Characters: Braling (speaker), Smith, Braling Two, Mrs. Braling

Page Number and Citation: 237

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Braling defends his plan to distract his wife with a marionette, telling Smith that it is actually “highly ethical.” Using the idiom “It may be splitting hairs,” Braling asserts that arguing the moral rightness of the marionette is inconsequential and unnecessary. Of course, the moral rightness of Braling’s plan seems to be exactly the issue at hand. Furthermore, Braling appears defensive about the plan, which suggests that he is aware that it is ethically problematic. In addition, in saying that Braling Two “is me to the hairiest detail,” Braling reaffirms that the marionette is so convincingly lifelike Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minu

“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.”

Related Characters: Smith (speaker), Nettie Smith, Braling

Related Symbols: Business Card

Page Number and Citation: 238

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Braling has just given Smith the business card for Marionettes, Inc. so that Smith can purchase his own marionette and have “a little respite” from his wife, Nettie. Smith quotes an anonymous poem, which reads, “Love will fly if held too lightly, love will die if held too tightly.” This means that if someone is too indifferent toward their spouse, then their spouse may leave them. On the other end of the spectrum, if someone tries to control and cling to their spouse too much (like Nettie does), the relationship will suffocate. Through the poem, Smith points Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perfere

“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.”

Related Characters: Smith (speaker), Nettie Smith, Bud Chapman

Page Number and Citation: 240

Explanation and Analysis:

After his night out with Braling, Smith returns home and watches his wife sleeping peacefully. He tells the sleeping Nettie that she makes him “feel like a criminal” for wanting to escape her grasp. Once again, it doesn’t seem that Smith actually loves his wife. In this passage, he merely expresses guilt for not warmly receiving her indulgent displays of love, and he voices pride in that she chose him “instead of that Bud Chapman [she] once liked.” The mention of Bud Chapman is interesting because it is fairly jarring, as his name appears suddenly and is never brought up Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus e

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.

Related Characters: Smith (speaker), Nettie Smith

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 241

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Smith frantically begs his wife to tell him what she’s done with ten thousand dollars of their money (which Smith refers to as his money). In this moment, it seems as if Smith realizes what ten thousand dollars can buy—a marionette. When he grasps this, Smith is “engulfed” by horrible feelings of “terror,” “loneliness,” “fever,” and “disillusionment.” For much of the story, Smith has been planning on deceiving Nettie with a marionette of his own, and never seemed to consider the dubious ethical nature of the plan or the emotional impact it would have on Nettie were Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum

Smith Character Timeline in Marionettes, Inc.

The timeline below shows where the character Smith appears in Marionettes, Inc.. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Smith and Braling walk down the street together around 10:00 P.M. Both men are about thirty-five... (full context)

Smith says he doesn’t know how Braling “managed” to go out tonight at all. He says... (full context)

As the two men turn a corner, Smith says that he knows Braling has a terrible marriage. Braling tries to attest it hasn’t... (full context)

Smith continues, recounting how the future Mrs. Braling “tore her clothes,” “rumpled her hair,” and “threatened... (full context)

Smith reflects that the Bralings have been married for ten years. With his “gray eyes steady,”... (full context)

Sighing, Smith says that he wishes he could go to Rio, too. Braling notes that Smith’s marriage... (full context)

The two men arrive at Braling’s house, and Braling tells Smith that he will now reveal his big secret regarding how he snuck out of the... (full context)

Smith exclaims in disbelief that the man in the window looks exactly like Braling. When Braling... (full context)

Smith “stagger[s] back,” and his eyes “flutter.” Reaching out to touch Braling Two’s warm cheeks and... (full context)

Still in disbelief, Smith asks how long “this [has] gone on,” and Braling answers that he’s had Braling Two... (full context)

Smith says Braling Two even smells like the real Braling—“Bond Street and Melachrinos” (cigarettes). Braling admits... (full context)

After mulling the situation over for a few moments, Smith asks if Braling Two can go without some sort of “sustenance” for a whole month.... (full context)

Shaking with excitement, Smith asks how long Marionettes, Inc. has been in business, and Braling says they’ve been operating... (full context)

Braling says that Smith is actually fortunate—Nettie loves Smith too much, while Mrs. Braling simply hates Braling. Smith says... (full context)

Walking down the street, Smith smiles to himself and begins to whistle quietly, business card in hand. The card reads,... (full context)

Smith thinks to himself that he doesn’t wish to seem “ungrateful.” Turning the business card over,... (full context)

Smith arrives at his house and wanders into his bedroom and finds Nettie—“pale, huge, and piously... (full context)

Crying, Smith suddenly feels like he wants to rip up the business card and forget about the... (full context)

Humming, Smith opens his desk drawer and reaches in for the bankbook. He tells himself that he’s... (full context)

Smith runs back into the bedroom, yelling for Nettie to wake up explain what she’s done... (full context)

Suddenly, Smith has a “horrid thought,” and “terror and loneliness” overwhelm him, followed by “fever and disillusionment.”... (full context)

Smith walks alone in the street in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, Braling and Braling... (full context)

Smith Character Analysis

Smith Quotes in Marionettes, Inc.

“Marionettes, Inc.” Quotes

Smith Character Timeline in Marionettes, Inc.