Gone Girl

So, who is the villain-hero? This villain may start out at the beginning of the story as a hero, or he may possess heroic characteristics, such as charisma, or he may have a

Amy enters relationships with unrealistic expectations, and to keep up the appearance of these standards, she cons her friends, boyfriends, and husband into appearing abusive or insane (Flynn 386). Amy’s addictions to control and playing the role of the victim allow her to continue manipulating the truth. She graduates from claiming she was stalked, to insisting she was raped, until finally pretending she was murdered by her husband, Nick (Flynn 387). Unlike with the obsessions of Gatsby and Dick, Amy’s obsession stems not only from her failure to keep of the façade of a perfect relationship, but also her inner need to be seen as innocent. All three characters are blinded by their compulsions to hide the truths of their lives and put on a front of perfection. The impossibility to give up perfection leads to the end of rationality and an unyielding determination to uphold the façade. A dreamer is bound to be disappointed, but will continue to manipulate his or her reality, hoping in vain that excessiveness will allow the dreamer to overcome their failures. Trying to manipulate reality for a veneer of perfection leads to the development of an addiction to the perfection, causing indulgences and irrational decisions that continue to destroy the lives of the

Nick starts the story by disclosing to us that he doesn't condemn individuals. He says it is a characteristic passed on to him by his dad. Nick originates from an upper white collar class foundation. His dad used to instruct him to recollect the focal points he had before condemning. 3.

2 Nick describes himself as a person who doesn’t judge others. He says it is a family trait that was given to him by his father. Nick is from an upper-middle-class family. Nick believes his accepting personality makes people feel more comfortable sharing their secrets with him.

2. Nick explains that he is "inclined to reserve all judgements" and that he is "privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men" meaning people often feel comfortable telling him private things. He tells us that the reason he does not pass judgement on people is that his father was that way. He also tells us that he comes from an upper middle class background.

The narrator, Nick portrays all the ironies in his own personal context. That’s another skillful way to deliver the story because when a story is told through a person, the person’s society, psychological context, and personal values shows more than the actual reality that is told. This novel is a perfect example of disguising the actual content, and therefore, defamiliarizes

Nick simply tried to keep going on as a non judgemental person, but the changes happened so sudden that he hardly noticed he had changed. “ Disgusted with the meaninglessness of this sophisticated society, he vows to return to his roots and ponder the lies of the American Dream. “ There was a point where Nick did change his roots and became a different person as the story went on. Realizing then that he had changed from who he used to be, Nick wanted to return to his roots and to his old self and be the same neutral guy with the same morals he once lived

Before one can learn, one must be confused. It’s no surprise that a coming of age character starts out naïve and inexperienced. When Nick first introduces himself, he appears very innocent. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice,” he says. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1). Nick naively claims that he is a man

Nick believes that he is a high standing midwestern boy. He has high expectations for everyone he meets including himself. He makes sure to maintain his standards, even in the corruption of the East. Even Nick is wealthy, he can’t control his way of thinking. He became dishonest and it was because he wanted to achieve what he believed he deserved in the American Dream.

(Gone Girl 236) For Amy’s entire life, she had to be perfect in order to live up to the expectations of “Amazing Amy.” She had to be the best at everything,

We see two young girls with similar attractions to the bad boys they meet. Those two young girls are looking for something different in their lives. They both find that different lifestyle in the men that they fall for, those men who bring them the unusual and violent ways of their lives.

Nick's father does not want to answer his wife’s questions, and when he does, he lies to her. He assumes that she will not understand his reasoning for the argument he just had outside. In addition, his wife's religious demands for him to not lose his temper show that she does not want him to be a stereotypical aggressive and protective male. Also, Christian Science religion does not believe in medicine, which means that she has no respect for her husband’s work. Nick's father decides to go hunting, where he can express his masculinity. When Nick decides to go with him, Nick is also showing an interest in male to male interaction over male to female interaction with his mother. We see Nick at the end of the story, still calling his father “daddy” and wanting to follow him around. If the family would interact more, then it is probable that Nick would be able to develop more psychologically. He is still being treated like a little child, so he is still acting like one.

Amy Elliot Dunne: beautiful, funny and cool, the perfect “it” girl, or so she led us to believe. Throughout the novel, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, readers peel back the layers of Amy’s character and realize she is nothing but insecure, vengeful and most importantly, incredibly manipulative as she toys with the emotions of virtually every person she comes in contact with and alters her personality to perfectly fit into their lives. It would be very easy for someone to read this book and walk away with the stereotype that women by nature are manipulative people, especially following Amy’s lead by not being truthful regarding their personalities, looks, likes, dislikes and so on, but that is one of the many messages the author is trying to convey. In our society, women are under an incredible amount of pressure to be perfect and to be liked by everyone. The amplification of this stereotype should have readers acknowledging the stress placed on women to please

Amy’s backstory only further pushes her into the box of the novel’s anti-hero. From her need to compete with her parent’s fictitious creation “Amazing

Flynn breaks down the types of violence present throughout the novel: domestic, sexual and patriarchal (or male dominance). Like combining the grotesque and violence into a text, two of the subtopics of violence (patriarchal and domestic) happen at the same time, which Flynn clearly presents in Gone Girl. Prior to Amy’s disappearance, the factor that lead to domestic and patriarchal violence is the economic downfall in which Nick calls “The Missouri Grievance” (Flynn, 4) as he “Blame[s] the economy” (4) and lost his mother to cancer. As Amy transitioned from the “Cool Girl” (Flynn, 222) to the “standard girl,” (223) this also causes Nick to lose his perception of manhood based on Amy’s role as a wife. Furthermore, the marital conflict occurs without