In today's society, the notion and belief of growing old, getting married, having children and maintaining a happy family seems to be a value common among most people. In Kevin Brockmeier's short story, "The Ceiling," Brockmeier implies that marriage is not necessary in our society. In fact, Brockmeier criticizes the belief in marriage in his literary work. Brockmeier reveals that marriage usually leads or ends in disaster. In particular, all marriages are doomed from the start. Throughout the story, the male protagonist, the husband, becomes increasingly separated from his wife. As tension increases between the protagonist and his wife, Brockmeier symbolizes a failed marriage between husband and wife by depicting the ceiling in the sky closing in on the town they live in, eventually crushing the town as a whole. The sign of “The Ceiling” is the lack of communication between the narrator and his wife, Melissa. An essential element of marriage is the ability to communicate optimistically between spouses; communication allows each spouse to effectively understand each other's feelings when faced with various situations and circumstances. The lack of communication within “The Ceiling” is noticeable when the narrator mentions “After putting Joshua to bed…across a ditch” (Brockmeier, 96). When he tells her, “You don’t look a day older than when we met, darling.” You know that, don't you? and she responds with a "light puff through the nose" that was a laugh, but he couldn't tell what her expression was, as well as a slight "thank you" (Brockmeier, 95). Melissa exposes her lack of interest in this particular scene. This scene shows the obvious lack of communication between the two spouses as he mentions that middle of paper ...... is showing signs or coming back to his side. Brockmeier's short story depicts a damaged marriage between a husband and wife simply due to a different set of values ​​and interests. Brockmeier reveals that there is a limit to love; husbands and wives will only go so far to continually show love for one another. Additionally, it reveals that love can change like anything in this ever-changing world. Most importantly, Brockmeier exposes the harshness and truth behind marriage and the detrimental effects on family members involved in it. Ultimately, loving people forever seems too good to be true because affairs and divorces continually occur in the lives of many couples in society. However, Brockmeier encourages couples to confront issues head on and continue moving forward in their relationship. Ultimately, marriage is not a necessity for living life to the fullest..