Throughout the text, the reader clearly sees that John approached his wife's near-captivity with very tender and thoughtful words and actions. He always refers to his “little geese (Charters 228), his darling and his dear, and reads his bedtime stories. However, the protagonist, as well as the reader, soon begin to understand this act. John may act like he simply cares about his wife, and that's why he's putting her through this. But then why doesn't he listen when she says she feels worse instead of better? (Maps 232). Because he's not doing it for her at all. He is much more worried about his career. He is a doctor after all and having a mentally and physically unstable wife would be tumultuous for his future in that vocation. So he has to lock her away on this vacation, away from civilization, so that no one knows. It seems that the protagonist soon realizes her husband's motives, but is not willing to believe that what she fears is true. She willingly suspends her disbelief in her husband. He says things like: “Dear John! He loves me very much and hates making me sick” (Charter 231). In these statements he is not trying to communicate an idea to the reader, but rather he is desperately trying to convince himself of the idea. He ultimately succeeds, and this leads to his eventual mental collapse. Her willing suspension of disbelief causes her to do so