Jim comes home to find Anna up and around and tells her to go back to bed. But she strongly objects and asks him who else will take care of their children. As Anna lays weeping, Jim climbs into bed with her and once again begins to make the same promises he has made in the past. The children see through their father’s lies and once agan hear the hollowness of these vows and that they are “only the attempt at comfort.” They listen as Jim is “stroking and kissing her [Anna’s] hair, silently making old vows again, vows that life will never let him keep.” This is a familiar scene that characterizes the cycle of abuse that has occurred throughout the novel—violence, promises, violence, promises, violence, promises. Anna believes Jim’s promises because she has no other options. Better Man is a song about a woman who is caught up in the cycle of abuse and must lie to herself because of her dependence upon a man who has destroyed her self confidence. She too is trapped in an endless cycle of abuse and left with only one option—trust the man who holds her captive.
However, Jim has to lie to himself as well.
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