“The Buffalos” by William Carlos

No matter how strong are the values of a man or a woman they should never forget about feelings and happiness that are nowhere else to be found but in the heart of the beloved person. Men and women fight in relationships: fight for more independence, fight to prove their rightness and keep forgetting that love is not a fight but a “mutual support alliance”. William Carlos Williams in his story “The Buffalos” gives an outstanding example of a relationship between a man and a woman.

Francie in this story has a certain notion of what a relationship should be like. She seeks for being loved, understood, as any women does. But as far as it is possible to say – she has some kind of an inner conflict – she seeks love and at the same time she wants to show how independent and strong she is. She belongs to the type of women that will do anything to prove that they are not worse than man are and even better. Francie “had one defect-or habit, rather, which at first amused me. She was a great talker for woman's rights” says the storyteller. In her beloved one she saw love and an adversary at the same time. She got gentleness and love from him but afterwards she seemed to forget how precious it is and in this way she used the person she loved.

The man starts the story by telling: “Once I had a beautiful friend whom I loved and who loved me. It was not easy for us to see each other…”. This summation seems to reflect the whole story. The man loves, but in his relationship with Francie he seeks for pleasures. This is even supported by the fact that “it was sometimes months together before we could meet at all”. It seems to more of a “childish game” for him. The Buffalo story he tells her is some kind of reflection of his personal belief. Buffalos – are free animals, they do whatever they want. He tells it to outline the possibility for men and women live separately and freely like buffalos.

People should fight for their feeling if they want their relationship to work out. Love is not about being or not being dependent on each other. People should FEEL and think lesser than they do, stop constantly analyzing their relationship and just be happy, enjoying their moments together. This is the only way to really feel free. And at the end people are not buffalos, they are not animals- they are human being with hearts and souls. And the only thing really important thing to fight for is LOVE.