What intrigues me most about this book is Louise’s relationship between her independence and her dependence. From the age of 15, she made it clear to her parents that she wanted to make her own decisions and learn things for herself. Which is further expressed by her declaration of learning later in the book where she states that she learns things by doing them, rather than taking advice from others. She leaves home at 17, with close to nothing, and begins to find herself at this age. Though she portraits herself as an independent woman, I don’t think she is independent at all. She shares a room with Nise. They share a bed, a job, a life, a man. I think she grows tired of it all when she decides to leave Nise for Eugene, acting as though she is a maverick of sort, though all she is really doing is acting impulsively. I think that is true to her character especially considering she is 17, and like most teenagers, she wants to find herself, and in ways she does. But she goes from home, to Nise, to Eugene, depending on all of them along the way. She craves their care and attention the way a child does from their parents, I think she sources those needs from others because of her refusal to accept it from her parents. I wish there was more detail about her relationship to her family so that I could try to further understand why she acts this way.
Your analysis of Louise is similar to my thoughts when reading about her. Never once has she been alone. Would you count what she’s doing as “independent?”
Yes! I totally agree. She puts herself out as if she is a fully independent “grown” woman, but she really does just find herself using the people around her for care like her parents would give her. I love it.