An Analysis of Secretary
...ne reason for this is that he is disgusted with himself. The movie portrays this disgust by his facial expressions, something the book never mentions. He wrote a letter to her explaining that he was sorry and that he didn’t know why he did these things, which he later shredded. He seemed genuinely ashamed of himself for treating her the way he did, which is saying something because he has done this repeatedly before. This is evident in the movie when Lee was hired and her predecessor was walking out as she came in. Then, when Lee was fired, the secretary needed sign lit up. He was trying to fight against his fetish that he thought was sick, but he still enjoyed it. He went so far as to stop punishing Lee for a few weeks, until Lee provoked him by sending a worm to him in an envelope. She was ‘wooing’ Grey to keep up his fetish. Another reason Grey fired her was because he feared how much power she had over him. He was obsessed with her, jealous of Peter. He would watch her at the office and spied on her and Peter in the Laundromat. Lee had control over his feelings and he hadn’t planned on having this deeper regard for her. After all, he had been in a relationship before that ended in divorce. Grey finally came to the conclusion that the only way to prevent himself from abusing and falling for Lee again was to get her out of his sight, therefore, he fires her. In the book, Debby isn’t fired by the lawyer, instead she quits on her own free will and never speaks to him again. In the movie, when Lee runs back to Grey and professes her love for him, he puts her through a test. He was scared that Lee would turn out like his ex-wife and hurt him again. He wanted to make sure that Lee truly loved him and was completely devoted to him alone. Lee passed with flying colors and Grey realizes or finally admits that he loves her too. They accept each other and even though Grey abuses her, he takes care of her and cherishes her. They get married and Lee is finally content in life. They live happily, slightly scarred, ...