Marriage is Like A Hutch. Analogy, Metaphor, Comparison. Likely not an Allegory...

    Ah, marriage. What an institution! It works for many, and it stops or ends for some, through separation, divorce, or death. Some people avoid the ceremony or the papers but they end up being married in the eyes of the law and the rest of us. 

    Marriage. I am not an expert, certainly, but I have my points of view and understandings.

    I was thinking about it lately, perhaps making the comparison to be a hutch. A piece of furniture that has its purposes. Maybe there is more apt metaphor, like a car or a truck, or a house. You tell me if there is something better.  I will try this, based on some thoughts.

    What is a hutch's purpose? To hold plates, pictures, valuables, to show beauty and be a part of the home, that also stores things hidden away in a few shelves or drawers. It stands as a functional yet decorative piece, normally in a dining room, that gives off a glow of warmth and strength.

    Are marriages like that? Happy and strong ones are, yes.

    Like many furniture pieces, a hutch can age over time, and even decay or corrode. I am not familiar with how many hutches go out to pasture, so to speak, and how soon they fall apart or decrease. How many hutches stand the test of time and survive for over a hundred years? How many only last five years? Ten? Twenty?

    Like marriages, this formidable furniture staple can last for the long haul. Should it not? Of course, we know that many marriage contracts fizzle right away, while others burn out. This comparison could be made to the quality of the design and material of the hutch. Or, perhaps there are external factors that determine how the hutch survives: floods, fires, perhaps a well placed shove or kick can damage the hutch beyond reasonable repair.

    The hutch. It displays nice things, perhaps memorabilia or collectibles. It also can guard and hide things, like anything the owners wish to shelve out of sight. Candles, albums, silverware, keepsakes, even junk. The knives held within, or the other cutlery, can metaphorically be things that we hide or conceal in our relationships. Doubts, fears, resentments, lies, jealousies, and on. Negatives can be hidden within those drawers. Perhaps there are positives sitting in the hidden shelves of the hutch that are not drawn upon enough? Either way, there are dormant quantities that are stored in those less seen parts.

    Are there dangerous things lurking in there, or are they only things that turn harmful if inappropriately handled? Of course, if the knives guarded in the displayed or out of sight place are used or abused in the wrong vain, the hutch has become a place of discomfort, displeasure, or pain. This can happen in marriages. We forget how to use the tools that we share, one with another. Or we never have learned them! Perhaps the partner feels like they are neglected or underappreciated because of the lack of proper usage of these hidden or kept instruments or knick knacks. The valuables in open display may cause problems between the partners as well.

    We think about that. Hidden and visible objects and sentiments are part of the hutch. Some are removed, some stay, some spring to life and grow, while others may fester, rot, rust, go bad. Other items can flourish and become sweeter with time. More beloved, more intrinsically beautiful and meaningful.

    The hutch.

    Our marriages embodied in this metaphor.

    What kind of hutch do we possess? Is it long-lasting, or made to be scrapped? Does it merit love and care? (of course it does).

    Marriages. We can build, procure, maintain, clean or let waste our own contracts. Our matrimonies.

    How do we display our most cherished things? What do we keep out of sight, and how do we removes them and use them?

    I can stop here, for now.

    A metaphor, not an allegory.