In the opening paragraph of Absolution, Tricia tells Rainey, “[Y]ou have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives” (3). Through the characters of Tricia and Charlene, Absolution opens a window into the daily lives of young military wives during the early days of the Vietnam War. Alice McDermott explores how the war affected marital dynamics and altered the lives of young women in the 1960s.

Traditional, patriarchal dynamics follow military families to Saigon. A military wife is expected to be “the jewel in [her husband’s] crown” (5), supporting him as he advances his career. Husbands are often absent from the narrative, away at various meetings, conferences, and parties. In their absence, the wives keep up a revolving calendar of social events and domestic tasks. Membership in the in-group of military wives entails abiding by an elaborate and frivolous system of social rules: Tricia notes that something as small as a run in a stocking can brand a woman as “drunk, careless, unhappy, indifferent to her husband’s career, even to his affections” (3). The identity of a military wife is tied inherently to her husband.