“Why is the measure of love loss?” (9)
I chose this sentence because it repeats several times throughout the course of the novel. The narrator seems to be the type of person that falls in love very quickly and very deeply. However, for the narrator, each time their relationship ends with one of these people, they seem to be alright. In the case of the narrator’s relationship with Louise, this is not true. The narrator spends almost half the novel reflecting on how much they miss Louise, or how beautiful she is, or how much she loves her. It is evident that the narrator feels a great deal of loss from having to leave Louise, and perhaps did not realize just how much she loved her when she was actually with her. The form of this sentence is a question. This shows the narrator’s confusion, or lack of an answer. However, the form of the sentence also suggests that the narrator believes that the measure of love is loss, but is simply asking why that is. The cliché “You don’t know what you got until it’s gone” is very much like this sentence, however, as the narrator also reiterates several times “It’s the clichés that cause all the trouble.” Perhaps the narrator is simply restating this cliché in their own words so as not to cause any “trouble”. Though this sentence is perhaps not the best for close reading on its own, when taken into context, the narrator is often talking about their relationship with Louise. In conclusion, this sentence reveals the narrator’s opinion of love, in that one does cannot realize how much he/she loves someone until they are gone. This applies to the text as a whole because it becomes a theme. The narrator’s repetition of this sentence times reveals how much they love and miss Louise, even before we know that the narrator has left her. This sentence is imperative to the novel because it revolves around the love life of the narrator, and gives a deeper sense of how each relationship has impacted the narrator and shaped their opinions.
I think this is a really interesting post. I wrote about the similar topic of love and loss, and just how we can measure this sort of intangible feeling of love. I also see that you’re struggling with the gender of the narrator as you refer to them as “she” many times. I too have been itching to gender the narrator, but I’ve been leaning towards the male. Sometimes the narrator uses words like “penetrate”, and is described to be wearing baggy shorts. Although this could be a coincidence it is also interesting to think about. In terms of measuring love as a loss, don’t you think that in a way the narrator is belittling that cliche? That instead we should be measuring love by how we “write” on each other’s bodies?
Great post! I tend to disagree that the narrator didn’t know how much she (they) loved her during the relationship. A lot of the narrator’s writing involving the relationship, and even the adultery committed with Louise is coupled with incredibly beautiful, and arguably obsessive language about her feelings for Louise. I think the importance and validity of the question stands, but the love lost was a different kind of love for the narrator. It was a deep, emotional love that was unlike the affairs and short relationships they had before, arguably “true love”, rather than a temporary artificial form. I certainly think the topic of your post is interesting and thought provoking, though! Well done!