Simple Passion

I think that Ernaux shows how self-conscious the act of writing is and draws attention to it. She often presents the difficulty in representing her subjective sense of desire, and herself in general. Ernaux understands that even what she writes about herself, it is incomplete in ways, just like any autobiographical piece is. She tries to detail as much as she can, but she’s not even sure of her purpose sometimes. What she writes is very personal by explaining (or attempting to explain) how she feels about A. It is really a way for her to work through her emotions. Overall, her tone in the narration is uncertain. With this, she, like other writers, is trying break readers of certain ideas they have of writing and reading. This idea shows up on the second page when she writes, “Writing should also aim for that… a feeling of stupefaction, a suspension of moral judgment.” In going on about her obsession with A, she defies conventional modes of storytelling, and readers are thrown off by this. For example, there is no real resolution or plot, and Ernaux’s voice doesn’t seem very authoritative like readers might expect. So, after reading this novel, readers can indeed be “stupefied” to a certain degree.

The novel consistently conveys the image of the narrator as an obsessed lover, and A as an unreliable man who grows tired of her and eventually ditches her. This does seem to be a problem as it reinforces the stereotype of a dependent woman who has nothing to do but dream of a man. Although it seems really extreme, I think this portrayal is also realistic in ways. As we’ve seen in previous readings, love and desire tend to affect their “victims” in strange ways. It is more like an unhealthy obsession sometimes than anything else. Even though Ernaux would probably not think of herself as someone who revolves her life around a man, she shows how deeply desire affects people with “I discovered what people are capable of… sublime or deadly desires, lack of dignity, attitudes and beliefs I had found absurd in others until I myself turned to them” (60). Maybe reason cannot always trump the power of emotion or desire. It might be easy to criticize Ernaux reading this, but maybe if we found ourselves in a similar situation it wouldn’t be.