\u201cIt\u2019s as if Louise never existed, like a character in a book. Did I invent her?\u201d (189)<\/p>\n
At this point in the novel, the narrator has returned from their trip to London in search for Louise. Upon returning to their home, the narrator has a conversation with Gail in which they state the above passage during an explanation of their failed journey. \u00a0Although the narrator searches for Louise to the best of their ability, they do not find her. As a result, they express that \u201cit\u2019s as if Louise never existed.\u201d This could suggest that the narrator\u2019s feelings of loss have caused them to forget Louise. Yet, due to the vast amount of time the narrator spends thinking about Louise, this does not seem likely. Instead, I propose that Louise has never actually existed in the \u201creal world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The use of the word \u201clike\u201d in this passage establishes a simile in which the narrator compares Louise to a character in a book. When one reads a book, especially a novel with strong character development, he\/she may feel connected to a character on a personal level. A reader may even develop strong romantic feelings for a character, but this all exists within the reader\u2019s imagination and outside of the \u201creal world.\u201d Similarly, if Louise is like \u201ca character in a book,\u201d the narrator may develop strong emotions towards her, but not actually be able to interact with her in the \u201creal world.\u201d This does not make the narrator\u2019s love illegitimate. Instead, it shows how love can exist in different, sometimes fictional, contexts.<\/p>\n
The narrator then asks, \u201cDid I invent her?\u201d This may explain Louise\u2019s lack of autonomy as a character. Throughout the novel, the narrator seems to talk about Louise as though she is an all-knowing, active force in the narrator\u2019s life and, on page 91, the narrator even states that he\/she thought of Louise \u201cbeyond common sense.\u201d Yet, Louise has practically no voice in the novel, and even when she does, the narrator interprets her words. The narrator may have therefore \u201cinvented\u201d Louise, \u201clike a character in a book.\u201d To the reader, Louise is indeed a \u201ccharacter in a book.\u201d Through an analysis of this passage, the narrator\u2019s awareness of her character becomes evident as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt\u2019s as if Louise never existed, like a character in a book. Did I invent her?\u201d (189) At this point in the novel, the narrator has returned from their trip to London in search for Louise. Upon returning to their home, the narrator has a conversation with Gail in which they state the above passage … Continue reading The Invention of Louise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2594,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93618],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2594"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}