Having studied literature, I really feel, that wife in this context was a fictional character, solely for the purpose of giving an audience that is not that tec

Having studied literature, I really feel, that wife in this context was a fictional character, solely for the purpose of giving an audience that is not that technically experienced something/-one to relate to. That on the other hand just makes this case a case of misinterpreting fiction for reality. Reminds me of a story the acclaimed author Umberto Eco once told about his book "Foucault's Pendulum": His main character walks through a named street in Paris and sees a burning hotel ... and so on. Eco receives a letter, in which a reader accuses him of not getting the facts right, as there never was a hotel in this street. So is Eco discriminating hotels in Paris with this book?