I’m almost finished reading Gone Girl, and I wanted to write about the rhetoric of the narrative: narrators, addressees, and the relationships between them in this book.
This story is told by both sides so my narrator switches from Nick to Amy throughout the whole book. I feel like they are addressing to whoever wants to listen to their side of the story to believe what they say happened. However, we do find out at the end of the story, that Amy wrote her diary for the police to read in order to frame Nick for her being missing. So being the reader of this book, I have taken the role of a detective and a psychologist to piece together the story and figure out what goes on behind closed doors at Amy and Nick’s. As a reader, I am trying to find out where the truth is. Basically, being a submissive reader wouldn’t cut it in this book. I am constantly questioning if what each narrator is saying is the truth or an exaggeration to get you to believe their side of the story.
For example: I find myself feeling sorry for Amy at times like when she tells how her parents always used their book Amazing Amy for everything Amy disappointed them with in her life. I also feel for her when she talks about how her and Nick agree that they never want to be like the other couples but he takes advantage of that. He stays out late with his friends or doesn’t call. Then like a typical guy he tries to make her look like she’s the crazy one-after she’s been holding up her end of the promise-but one can only hold in so much.
Then in the same breath, I’m thinking, What if that’s what she wants us to think? What if she really is crazy? Now I feel bad for Nick. He basically get “false advertisement” when they first met. She’s the cool girlfriend who never gets mad. Then all of a sudden, bam, she’s a completely different bi polar crazy ass woman. So, he tries to remind himself that he loved her once and he shouldn’t give up on her.
Then I think, every marriage goes through bumps in the road. No one is perfect and no one can be “good” all of the time. That’s why wedding vows say “through good times and bad times.” In this book, it’s almost a question of when is enough, enough?
Like a cop or detective, I find myself always questioning everything the two of them say, Are they lying? If it’s as bad as they describe it, why did they stay together so long? Neither of them trust each other, so it’s hard for me to trust them with their information. I try to put myself in their shoes because I’ve been in bad relationships or had fights with my boyfriend so I can understand things to a certain extent.
I’m almost pretty sure that if they had to go to court for a divorce, this whole book would be their lawyers layout of their arguments and evidence. I can actually see it all playing out as I’m reading and I wonder what a judge would think of a situation like this. Crazy. This book definitely messes with your head-and I actually like it.
This story is told by both sides so my narrator switches from Nick to Amy throughout the whole book. I feel like they are addressing to whoever wants to listen to their side of the story to believe what they say happened. However, we do find out at the end of the story, that Amy wrote her diary for the police to read in order to frame Nick for her being missing. So being the reader of this book, I have taken the role of a detective and a psychologist to piece together the story and figure out what goes on behind closed doors at Amy and Nick’s. As a reader, I am trying to find out where the truth is. Basically, being a submissive reader wouldn’t cut it in this book. I am constantly questioning if what each narrator is saying is the truth or an exaggeration to get you to believe their side of the story.
For example: I find myself feeling sorry for Amy at times like when she tells how her parents always used their book Amazing Amy for everything Amy disappointed them with in her life. I also feel for her when she talks about how her and Nick agree that they never want to be like the other couples but he takes advantage of that. He stays out late with his friends or doesn’t call. Then like a typical guy he tries to make her look like she’s the crazy one-after she’s been holding up her end of the promise-but one can only hold in so much.
Then in the same breath, I’m thinking, What if that’s what she wants us to think? What if she really is crazy? Now I feel bad for Nick. He basically get “false advertisement” when they first met. She’s the cool girlfriend who never gets mad. Then all of a sudden, bam, she’s a completely different bi polar crazy ass woman. So, he tries to remind himself that he loved her once and he shouldn’t give up on her.
Then I think, every marriage goes through bumps in the road. No one is perfect and no one can be “good” all of the time. That’s why wedding vows say “through good times and bad times.” In this book, it’s almost a question of when is enough, enough?
Like a cop or detective, I find myself always questioning everything the two of them say, Are they lying? If it’s as bad as they describe it, why did they stay together so long? Neither of them trust each other, so it’s hard for me to trust them with their information. I try to put myself in their shoes because I’ve been in bad relationships or had fights with my boyfriend so I can understand things to a certain extent.
I’m almost pretty sure that if they had to go to court for a divorce, this whole book would be their lawyers layout of their arguments and evidence. I can actually see it all playing out as I’m reading and I wonder what a judge would think of a situation like this. Crazy. This book definitely messes with your head-and I actually like it.