Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The End of the Affair, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Hatred
Faith, Acceptance, and the Divine
Jealousy and Passion
Adultery, Deception, and Honesty
Summary
Analysis
After reading Sarah’s diary, Bendrix is elated and consumed with feelings of love and a desire to go to Sarah. Bendrix immediately calls her, but the maid who answers the phone tells him that Sarah is out. Suspicious that the maid is lying, Bendrix calls back and asks for Sarah again, but disguises his voice to sound like one of Henry’s coworkers. This time, Sarah answers the phone and is surprised to hear Bendrix on the other end. Bendrix tells her that he is coming over despite her protestations that she is too sick to see him. Bendrix tells Sarah that he still loves and wants her to run away with him. Sarah tells him that she will leave the house if Bendrix comes, but he ignores her and runs out the door to get to her.
After reading Sarah’s diary, Bendrix’s primary focus is on the fact that she still loves him. Bendrix’s own lack of belief in God prevents him from understanding Sarah’s, which means he also doesn’t take it seriously. For Bendrix, Sarah’s belief in God is acceptable as long as it doesn’t continue to prevent him from gratifying his own desire to possess Sarah. However, this also reveals how selfish Bendrix is capable of being: even after reading about how hard Sarah fought to keep her promise to God, Bendrix decides to try and talk her out of it instead of respecting her well-documented desire to keep her vow.
Themes
Outside, Bendrix realizes that the weather is much worse than when he saw Henry outside the other night—there is sleet instead of rain, making it so that he can’t run. As he nears Sarah’s house, Bendrix sees her step outside and take off down the road. Without trying to get her attention, Bendrix follows her. He briefly loses sight of Sarah once, but recalls the address of the church Mr. Parkis followed her into once and goes there; sure enough, Sarah is in the church. Bendrix sits next to her after seeing her struggle with a painful coughing fit. Sarah asks Bendrix to leave her alone, but he refuses. When Sarah asks why his behavior is so different from the other day at lunch, Bendrix reveals that he read her diary and tells her how he got it.
Once again Bendrix illustrates that he is incapable of respecting Sarah’s boundaries by chasing her into a church, even though he knows she wants to be alone and get away from him. In his determination to get what he wants, Bendrix also doesn’t give due attention to Sarah’s cough; what to many would be a clear indication that she is seriously sick (especially considering that she had several coughing fits when she went to lunch with Bendrix), to Bendrix is insignificant compared to his overwhelming desire to get Sarah back.
Themes
Sarah, exhausted by her coughing fit, leans against Bendrix while he tells her of his plan to take her away so they can start over. Bendrix acknowledges that he was a “bad lover” due to his insecurity, but assures her that he is “secure now.” Sarah doesn’t respond to Bendrix’s assurances, but she doesn’t stop leaning on him, either. Bendrix takes this as permission to go on and tells her that she should go home and stay in bed until she’s well enough for him to help her pack and take her away. As Bendrix talks, he notices that Sarah has fallen asleep. While Sarah sleeps on his shoulder, Bendrix whispers to her of his love, tells her that she shouldn’t worry about Henry, and says that nobody can stop them from being together.
Bendrix’s apology for being a “bad lover” and promise to be better are reminiscent of Henry’s earlier apology for being a bad husband and his promise to try to be better. Bendrix evidently does not realize how ironic and similar his assurances are, even after reading Henry’s words in Sarah’s diary. Furthermore, Bendrix still refuses to acknowledge that Sarah’s belief in God is what has kept her from returning to him. He still looks for earthly reasons for why they aren’t together (namely Henry), unwilling to admit that the forces keeping them apart are more powerful than that.
Themes
When Sarah wakes up, Bendrix tells her to go home and rest. Sarah, however, refuses and tells him that she wants to stay in the church a while longer. Sarah urges Bendrix to leave so she can have some time to herself. Bendrix agrees, but only after making Sarah promise not to stay long. When he tries to get her to promise to call him, however, she crosses her fingers and then, crying, begs him to “have a bit of mercy” and go away.
It is telling that Sarah feels she has to cross her fingers to deceive Bendrix. It shows that she has no faith that he will respect her wishes, because she recognizes that he is determined to get his way. This moment also shows how deep Sarah’s religious belief has become, since she used to deceive Henry routinely without ever crossing her fingers or seeming otherwise bothered by it.
Themes
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Bendrix remembers that when he gave Sarah a goodbye kiss, she told him, “God bless you.” This, Bendrix remembers, was the same thing Sarah crossed out in her goodbye letter to Henry the night she tried to leave him As he gives Sarah a final departing glance, Bendrix can imagine “a God blessing her: or a God loving her.” In the present, Bendrix notes that although this story was supposed to be “a record of hate,” all of his hatred seems to have gotten misplaced. In fact, Bendrix asserts, Sarah “was better than most.”
On some level, Bendrix recognizes that when Sarah said “God bless you,” she was telling him goodbye forever the same way she had planned to tell Henry goodbye forever. Upon reflection, Bendrix is able to recognize how hard Sarah was trying to do the right thing, which is why he says she “was better than most” despite her evident faults.
Themes
