Damage: Part 1

After reading the first section of Damage, I am at a loss for words. To read about how "happy" the narrator is with his life and what he ends up doing completely surprised me. He is living a good life with a great wife and children. He is an MP and earlier, a doctor. Loved tremendously by his wife, Ingrid and his children Martyn and Sally, he has what I would call a double-affair.

I say "double affair" because the woman with whom he commits such an act with is one by the name of Anna. Anna is the current girlfriend of his son Martyn. Therefore he is not only betraying his wife, but also his son. Hence, the term "double affair". I do not understand how from a short greeting from Anna he says he "was home". That is a very strong thing to say about someone one has just met. 

His wife doesnt like Anna and almost instantly upon meeting her, says that she is strange and not a good match for her son. She says that there is just something about Anna that makes her uneasy and uncomfortable but she just hasnt figured out what it is yet. I myself wondered what is was exactly Ingrid was seeing in Anna. Why was she thinking that Anna was nothing more than bad news for the family and her son? As I read on I realized Anna was exactly what Ingrid expected her to be.... BAD NEWS!!! She has the same attraction to her boyfriends father as he has for her and gives in to temptation. 

As if I couldnt become more angry, when I read about the conversation the narrator has with Anna about who she is and where shes from, I became extremely enraged and my heart went out to Martyn and Ingrid even more. She admits that her brother committed suicide due to the confusion of the feelings he had for her as well as his deep love for her. She also says that her paremts are divorced due to an affair her mother had. She explains thst due to these events that have occurred in her life she is....Damaged! And she says that "Damaged people are dangerous" and that he should be careful! She says that people that are damaged have no pity for anyone because with everything they have been thtough they know that life goes on even during the worst of times.

I became angry after reading this convetsation because it showed that Anna didnt care that she was indirectly hurting Ingrid, Martyn and possibly the entire family structure. Of course, they werent hurting yet because they do not know about the affair. However, when they do find out no form of an apology will come from Anna. The narrator knows what he is doing isnt right but just cant control temptation however Anna does not feel the least bit ashamed of herself!

My heart goes out to Ingrid and Martyn because they have done nothing to deserve such heartache. Anna is the type of woman that drives men to become "players" and "cheaters" because once they want to settle down and their partner betrays them they feel that its not worth ever falling in love again. Ingrid looks to her husband for support about her feelings towards Anna and yet all of her feelings about her are not only right but her husband can guve her proof as to why they are...proof that will probably catch her completely off-guard and send her off of the edge!