ZitatSatzkorrektur!
Ein BITTE klingt besser als ein Ausrufezeichen...
Von wem ist die Lektüre? Nur damit man sich mal Passagen im Netz davon durchlesen kann, um zu verstehen, was Du mit Deinen Anmerkungen meinst. Von Nevil Shute kann es nicht sein, denn da kommt kein/e Midge als Hauptperson vor...
1. I think to a marriage and its problems it always takes two. The protagonist cheated on his wife and was constantly in a bad mood. Midge (wer ist das? The protagonist?) has never criticized (wen? his wife?) no matter how bad things were she was doing. Both probably lived in their world which would not change.
2. The protagonist wants to touch the young tree, (vielleicht besser => which symbolizes the young lady. However, it (was?) gets stuck in the trunk of the old tree, which displays (darstellen) oder signifies / stands for his wife. I think it's an act of revenge of Midge. She wants him to get stuck, just as she suffers the marriage.