One of the themes in "The Wife's Story" is loyalty. Early in the story, the wife falls in love because of her beloved's personality traits, which she believes will make him a good father and husband. He never "whines" when things don't go his way, and he seems devoted to his own mother and family. The wife appreciates that her husband is "fine-looking" and "a hard worker," and she is devoted to him. Even when he begins to change, the wife makes every effort to salvage their relationship. She doesn't press him too hard about his absences, and she defends him in front of their children.

Her loyalty shifts when she watches her husband transform into "the hateful one," a man. The sight of him causes her "mother anger" to rise to the surface, and she "snarls" at him. Almost immediately, the wife's loyalty transfers to her pack, and when they attack her husband (who is now "a man"), the wife makes no effort to stop them. In the end, the wife desires the community and safety of her pack over the love of her husband.

You could also examine the theme of perception versus reality. As readers begin the story, they imagine that the wife is a human herself and that her husband is some evil creature. His actions are suspicious, and the odd smells that linger in their bed seem to indicate that he has committed a crime against his faithful wife. When he begins to transform, it is easy for readers to initially assume that he is transforming into some sort of beast himself. In one line, readers must stop and recognize that their perceptions of these characters have been inverted:

He stood up then on two legs.

Because this sentence is isolated on the page, it carries a significant semantic weight. After all, it can only be odd that the husband stands on two legs if the wife herself does not.

As we recognize our own flawed perceptions of the characterization and conflict, do our sympathies then shift toward the husband? And if so, why? The story depicts the way perceptions, even those that are incorrect, impact an individual's reality.