Discuss the man's role in "Together and Apart."

Mr. Serle is an interesting character in the short story. 
On one hand,  he is shown to be the conversationalist on topics that can display a sense
of wit, charm, and power.  Yet, he is also exposed to be someone who is psychologically
dependent on these superficial conversations.  The person who he is in public is the
person he likes hte most.  The person he is at home is different, meeker and not in as
much social control as he is when he engages in banter and displays his supposed
wit.

In this light, the man is more frail than Miss Anning,
a reflection of how social conformity and the need to appropriate what is socially
acceptable can be destructive to both genders.  When both of them make the startling
revelation of their states of being in the world, he fully understands his own condition
as she understands hers.  She has no need for this world of polite social conversation,
while he has nothing but a need for it.  Both of them recognize the startling experience
at the threshold of revelation and another incident prevents them from having to endure
it any more.

The man's presence in this dialogue and
process is essential because it demonstrates how social trappings impact those who are
apart from it and immersed together within it.