I Am Charlotte Simmons Style

I Am Charlotte Simmons Style

Point of View The book is mostly written from an omnipotent third person point of view. The reader is able to hear the thoughts of some of the characters and the author is able to jump in and out of the narrative to specific characters (both primary and secondary characters) to hear what they are thinking and feeling. This allows the reader to become part of the action and it is most significantly noted when Charlotte refers to herself in the first person as "I am Charlotte Simmons," and in the final lines of the book in the third person as "Jojo's girlfriend."

Setting Setting plays an important part of the book because it shows through the buildings and landscaping the very theme that Wolfe tries to relate to his audience. Wolfe wants to tell the readers about identity and warn them about the decline of the academia. He sets Dupont in the middle of a slum-like area of town and creates Dupont as a school that lives off of its past reputation. Formerly a Harvard-quality school, it now favors athletics over academics. The beautiful old buildings were designed to create an academic oasis, but even that gives way as buildings such as the Saint Ray house are slowly run down through the abuse of uncaring students. What was once beautiful about Dupont now seems shabby, with the exception of the dorm where the basketball team lives and the entire athletic department. Because they have an income, they live and work in plush surroundings; quite different from the rest of the school

Language and Meaning Language plays an interesting part in the book. A key phrase used throughout the book is the title, "I am Charlotte Simmons." Charlotte thinks that phrase quite regularly (or other people tell her that) as a substantiation of her uniqueness. Unfortunately, at the end of the book, the reader reads that she now considers herself "Jojo's girlfriend," which is almost a third person description of herself! She is no longer the unique and special girl from the Lost Province, but she has become one of the masses seeking popularity and leaving behind the things that made her different. Wolfe also uses language in unique ways, quite apart from normal accepted practices. For example, he combines words, such as "rutrutrutrutting" when he's writes of Charlotte observing the students dancing who look like cows engaged in a sexual act. During Charlotte's first sexual encounter with Hoyt, Wolfe shows a lot of discord by writing several phrases like this: "::::::the Doubts::::::more time::::::" (chapter 25, page 480) with an excessive use of colons beyond their intended use.

Structure The book is structured chronologically, beginning with the precipitating incident (of the governor in the grove with a girl) that would eventually affect several of the main characters. It follows a fairly standard development of rising tension as Charlotte slowly sheds her innocence until she completely gives it all up to Hoyt. One important item to note is that between chapter 6 and chapter 7 is a brief section called an Entre'Act, in which Charlotte interacts with the Lost Province. Readers who are studying this work would be wise to take special note of this section, which is clearly set apart from the rest of the book, to see how it shows Charlotte's internal struggle with identity.