Perkins is an instructor of English and American literature and film. In this essay, Perkins considers Robbe-Grillet's story as a statement on the philosophy of the New Novel movement.

Prior to the twentieth century, writers structured their works to reflect their belief in the stability of character and the intelligibility of experience. Traditionally, novels and stories ended with a clear sense of closure as conflicts were resolved and characters gained knowledge about themselves and their world. Many writers during the twentieth century challenged these assumptions as they expanded the genre's traditional form to accommodate their characters' questions about the indeterminate nature of knowing in the modern age, a major thematic concern for these writers. Through their works they raised the epistemological question, "how do we know we really know what we think we know?"

Alain Robbe-Grillet continues this inquiry in "The Replacement" as he explores different methods...