Love

Throughout his novel, Less is Lost, Greer thematically examines love through his character Arthur Less. Toward the outset of the novel, the author establishes Less’s approach to love through his earlier romantic relationships. When the protagonist began dating in college, his romantic endeavors were fraught, and he would “call his sister after every dating disaster” exclaiming that he “just want[ed] to be young together and in love” (99). When he met Robert, they fell in love but the poet “was not young. And by the time the relationship was over, fifteen years later, neither was Arthur Less” (100). Freddy tells the reader that “Less never had what he wanted—will never have what he wanted” (100). The author utilizes this moment to suggest that his protagonist clings to an idealized version of love which inhibits him from fully engaging in his relationships. Instead of appreciating the relationships...