The Way Up To Heaven

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions and references to abuse and coercive control, accident, and death.

The motif of Mrs. Foster’s eye twitch is a recurring image that contributes to the story’s theme of The Limits of Tolerance for Abuse. Readers first see the twitch presented as something almost comic, “like a secret wink” (47), in alignment with the portrayal of Mrs. Foster’s “foolish” anxiety at the start of the story. As the story continues, the audience comes to understand that Mrs. Foster’s angst is well justified, and the twitch is the outward indicator of Mrs. Foster’s deep unhappiness and the repression of her feelings. It increases as her lateness becomes worse, and the story indicates that Mr. Foster observes it as an indicator of success in his emotional torment of his wife. The twitch serves to heighten the suspense of the story, as the reader is encouraged to wonder how long Mrs. Foster’s self-control will last, and what form any outburst might take. At the climax of the story, when Mrs. Foster decides to leave her husband at home to catch her flight, the twitch disappears.