Saturday, September 27, 2014

Amazing Amy

She is mysterious in her own weird ways, very complex and extremely manipulative. She is the Cool Girl and then a harpy wife. She ultimately becomes the Psycho B****. But this is not what she is. She is actually full of contradictions and weaknesses. She does not like to accept that. She makes sure that she is always right and constructs the situation to her advantage.

Every marriage has its own story, most often the husband and the wife expect each other to keep up the lie of who they've pretended to be. It’s when their “true” selves begin to bleed through that their marriage starts falling apart. “I suppose these questions storm-cloud over every marriage,” says Nick. “What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?”

Amy gives him riddles about their life together, which he’s hardly ever able to figure out, and the hunts always end in a fight. Amy sees it as a testament to how much he loves her — she hopes it will show that he has paid attention to her thoughts and feelings and remembers (what she thinks of as) important moments from their time together. He sees it as a test he will inevitably fail. 

Its five years and Nick has failed her. She wants to get back at him. Amy is somewhat like a psychopath, an emotional freak when Nick is just a skillful manipulator. What follows from thereon is a psychological warfare and a power battle. Gone Girl is a fantastic book about the extremes of masculinity and femininity.

What intrigued me even more is the how I could relate  myself to what Nick felt at many instances in the book. Of course, there is/was no Andie in my life. So I am not stuffed with any sort of guilt. But in general, what Nick thought of his life echoed so much with what I was going through.

Yes the Amy in my life is gone too. She's been gone for so long that now life is just business as usual. In the book, she comes back because she senses a threat to her freedom. She chooses to be smart and live with Nick against seeking revenge for his actions. But I don't see that happening with me.