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The following is a question from the publisher.

Nick, ever conscious of the way he is being perceived, reflects on the images that people choose to portray in the world—constructed, sometimes plagiarized roles that we present as our personalities. Discuss the ways in which the characters—and their opinions of each other—are influenced by our culture’s avid consumption of TV shows, movies, and websites, and our need to fit each other into these roles.

Interesting topic. I'm not sure on this one. What really interested me is how the clever characters navigated the stereotypes and used other people's habit of stereotyping as pawns in their own strategic plans.

Nick in the very beginning states how he hates this about our modern culture, yet fell in love with the stereotype his wife presented him. I think that if he hated these fake roles as much as he claims, he would've had a very different relationship with her from the beginning. But yet by the end they both see each other clearly perhaps for the first time, and it perversely seems to bring then even closer despite the circumstances.

The constructed image that sticks out to me the most is the character Amazing Amy. Hilary says something along the lines of, "I figured out she wasn't perfect and she couldn't handle that." As much as Amy mocks the Amazing Amy books it's not hard to see how they influenced her. Amazing Amy always did what Amy didn't - she kept playing her instruments and joined the symphony, she didn't give up on her tennis lessons, etc. She had a lifetime of not living up to her parents' expectations of Amazing Amy but she could fool other people into thinking she was. When she couldn't, or the person didn't treat her like Amazing Amy should be treated, she destroyed their credibility and taught them a lesson. And I'm sure that when she met other people they expected her to be like the character.

The only other example I can think of is "the cool girl" seen in movies but doesn't really exist, despite many people putting on the mask for a time.

gaporter wrote: ↑23 Jul 2016, 21:41 Nick in the very beginning states how he hates this about our modern culture, yet fell in love with the stereotype his wife presented him. I think that if he hated these fake roles as much as he claims, he would've had a very different relationship with her from the beginning. But yet by the end they both see each other clearly perhaps for the first time, and it perversely seems to bring then even closer despite the circumstances.

That's true, in the end, they were both showing that they were extremely complex. It would be interesting to see more about them and their attempts at being a family, especially since Amy turns out to be a total psychopath and a bit of a sociopath.

It gives the story a comfortable feel, I think this was intentional so it made the reader feel like they knew how the story was going to end.

Nick states how he hates this about our modern culture, yet fell in love with a stereotypical woman. Surprisingly when they do see each other by the end in clear light, that brought them closer .

Constructed roles play a major part of the novel, its what allows Nick to save himself. He needs to play the perfect husband and play into exactly what Amy wants to hear in order for her to return home and save him from being convicted of her murder.

This is extremely ironic. His relationship and marriage to Amy were literally as a result of a facade, even from the beginning as he fell in love with her because of the stereotype he desired and was what prompted his cheating in the first place. Amy understood this, and used it to her advantage. I think this is one of the things that drove him to stay with her (apart from the fact that she basically left him no other choice). He could see that she knew his mocking of the hypocrisy of the world and yet unwillingness to break away from it, and he sort of felt reluctant respect and admiration for her manipulation of that.

I thought it was an extremely enlightening topic in the book. I distinctly remember the discussion about how now that everything is available for us to view on screen, we have become copycats who emulate an actor's reaction to a specific problem. I remember breaking up with my very first "boyfriend" at the age of 12 (as if it could have even been considered a relationship) by screaming "It's over!" at him from the school bus window. I felt powerful in that moment, but looking back on it even a few weeks later, I felt foolish. I knew I was just doing what I thought girls did because I'd see so many teenage flicks. Even in adulthood, can I really say I don't emulate what I've seen in movies and television? The character Nick was definitely guilty of doing this throughout the book. He was constantly acting as though he was "on" for an audience. His obsession with looking a certain way works against him as he overdoes it and comes off as flippant about the disappearance of his wife. Amy, however, is too much of a narcissist to change her behavior to match a certain expectation. She is convinced that she has earned the right to be universally adored.

I think this is one of the things Amy takes into consideration when carrying out her plan. Her revenge included ruining Nick in the eyes of the public. She could have done something else to destroy his life - she's already proven herself fully capable of taking a live, but she did something that would make him suffer, using his need for acceptance and approval against him.