This section contains 2,215 words (approx. 6 pages at 400 words per page) |
Relationships
The novel places central importance on the role of interpersonal relationships, and the narrative primarily demonstrates this importance through the pain of personal isolation. Arguably, one of the most important character relationships in the novel is that of Mary and Eddie, despite the fact that they spend most of the novel—and most of their respective lives—apart from each other. At the beginning of the novel, they are high school sweethearts, but their relationship suddenly ends when Mary leaves Eddie and marries Walter. As the narration states, “Of course everyone thought she was going to marry Eddie” (47). Mary’s decision to marry Walter instead represents a major inflection point in the novel, and Mary and Eddie’s ensuing lives of unhappiness seem to indicate that they would have been happier if they had married each other. The novel thereby emphasizes the importance of fulfilling romantic...
This section contains 2,215 words (approx. 6 pages at 400 words per page) |