Grief

The central plot line of the novel revolves around the many sources of grief felt by Ellis Judd, and the novel depicts grieving as a complicated, lengthy, and ultimately mysterious process that ends in catharsis. Chronologically speaking, before Ellis confronts his grief, in 1996, over the simultaneous deaths of Annie and Michael, Michael himself goes through a lengthy grieving process, which he depicts in his 1989-1990 journals. Michael is pushed into a grieving process following the premature death of his lover known as G, who is only 26 years old when he passes away after a battle with AIDS. G passes away on December 1st, 1989: at this time in his journal, Michael describes how he his grief exists within him, but he is unable to release it—for example, by being unable to cry. Michael writes: “I haven’t cried. But sometimes I feel as if my veins...