In Calvin TrillinÆs (440) ôOld Marrieds,ö the narrator expresses his concerns that couples who have stayed faithful to their marriage vows for a long number of years are becoming viewed as a relic in contemporary society, something the author tells us is associated with ôLawrence Welkö music and a ôfifties revival package.ö Despite ôOld Marriedsö being written two decades ago, married couples who have been married for twenty years or more are still considered rare and a quaint throwback to an earlier eraÆs values and lifestyle.
In Sarah DobsonÆs ôYou Can Go Home Again,ö the author describes how a greater number of younger people are delaying the transition to adult life by delaying major life changes that used to represent rites of passage into adulthood. Among such delays are leaving home, attending college, getting married, and having children (Dobson 3). Despite the Religious Right and a current Administration that promote family values and underscore the sanctity of American marriage, Dobson (3) reports that ômarriage is losing its cloutàamong 20- to 24-year-olds, 14% of men and 26% of women were in a union in 2001 compared to 27% of men and 46% of women in 1981.ö
When the above statistics are coupled with the fact that on average one in two marriages in the U.S. ends in divorce, the sentiments expressed by Trillin are not only still valid but they are perhaps more valid now than the two decades ago when he wrote ôOld Marrieds.ö As Trillin (4) laments in the story about the rarity and oddity of he and his wifeÆs twentieth anniversary celebration, ôIn the Village, a lot of people donÆt get married, and a lot of those who do seem to get unmarried prettx much.ö Today, people are avoiding marriage in even greater numbers, living together in common-law situations when they do, and getting divorced about half as often as they are getting married. As Dobson (3) reports, delaying marriage and living
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