FFF: Before the Bath

I am really caught off guard by this story.  The story says he was in a tent in the army for a long period of time, nothing unusual.  He is getting in the tub when his face cuts into his neck.  I'm confused on why the scene is replayed, in a sense, several times.  Why does the wife want to kill him?  I do not particularly like this story.  I wish there was more information to provide reason behind everything.