Page 56
“THINGS HAD CHANGED. What an areshole comment. I had changed things. Things don’t change. They’re not like the seasons moving on a diurnal round.”
This passage comes from when the author is talking with Jacqueline. Jacqueline is questioning about his relationship with Louise and their relationship as well.
It is interesting to try and conceptualize change and what changes; people or “things.” The author contrasts things changing with the changing of seasons. To me this is interesting because is the main character not doing the same thing as habitually as the seasons changing? It is said that people change and not the things comprised by people. Is the main character not insane by all accounts; doing the same thing repeated times and expecting different results? He claimed that things would be different with Jacqueline to her but when it comes down to it the issue is that he has not changed for her.
This passage could be interpreted in rationalizing and taking the burden off of his back in the sense that he believes Jacqueline should have expected this and that he is justifying his actions. The author writes on page 57 “There are victims of change but not victims of things.” That said he is admitting to being the culprit in the causing of pain. At the beginning of the book the saying “I love you” is talked about as an empty phrase. If the main character is so cynical to believe this, then perhaps the concept of love in itself is not a true feeling; therefor maybe he is not capable of empathy for Jacqueline in this situation and is able to just pass it off as change and much like with seasons, if we don’t adapt accordingly we wont survive. She is just a victim of circumstance.