Compare the ways Fredrik Backman, in A Man Called Ove, and Graeme Simsion, in The Rosie Project, use literary techniques to explore the transforming power of love on the protagonists.
Both Backman and Simsion establish the absence of love in their protagonists' lives through characterisation.
In The Rosie Project and A Man Called Ove, Backman and Simsion includes a variety of motifs to accentuate the unyielding love that gradually transforms protagonists.
The transforming power of love is explored through the authors' utilisation of symbolism.
Similar tones are developed within each contemporary text with irony, metaphors and other literary techniques to highlight the differences in the influence of love on the protagonists.
Symbolism: Ove rebuilds his house to accommodate for Sonia's disability, displaying his love and loyalty to his wife.
Symbolism: Don's schedule symbolises his methodical and systematic mentality, thus his adoption of a less routined lifestyle once falling in love with Rosie demonstrates his newfound willingness to follow his instinct and heart.
In my essay question, I would like to focus on the authors' use of the protagonists' perspective. Would this work? Or should perspective just be a technique in one paragraph or a whole paragraph all together?
Motif: Nameless cat with "a nonchalant expression" has "half a tail and only one ear". "Patches of fur are missing here". "Not a very impressive feline". The cat "looks very lonely".
Motif: Don's jackets
Allusion: "When Harry Met Sally" and other romantic popular films
Symbolism: Colour
Roses selected for the protagonist's lovers
Symbol: "A dozen long-stemmed red roses"- passionate affection and how love's intensity overcomes Don's social and emotional barriers to transform his heart
Metaphor: "Pink flowers pressed happily to her breast... making the rest of the world look as if it were in greyscale." Gentle innocence of Ove and Sonja's relationship
Differences in implementation of colour
Allegory: Rainbow "He was a man of black and white. And she was colour. All the colour he had." repeated.
Bianca vs Rosie- vivid colours suggest shallow nature of external beauty
Hope
Concluding chapters
Motif: Time
Don believes in routine and precise schedules before he gradually adjusts (milestone)
Ove realises there is little time ahead of him and needs to find purpose (milestone)
First person and third person limited reveals thoughts of protagonists which accentuates these gradual changes prior to their milestone in which they realise they do not need routine
Metaphor: "To fall in love with someone is to settle in a new house"- learn to love them for their imperfections
Contrasted to the Wife Project
Don's systematic social behaviour causes him to view imperfections as 'errors' and must learn to love Rosie for them in his ongoing battle
Simile: Sonia's laughter makes Ove feel "as if someone is running around barefoot on the inside of his breast".
"I nodded. I would have to freeze the day's market purchases for the following Sunday, with the resulting loss of nutrients. Instinct had again displaced logic."
Don has an ongoing battle within him that he sees as instinct versus logic but is really his heart finally gaining victory over his head.
Depressing/Dramatic/Grief
The symbolism of the rope, exhaust fumes and gun involved in Ove's suicide attempts represents Ove's immense grief of the loss of his wife.
Humour
Irony in the life of characters (both) (will get quotes) mocks each protagonists quest for love
Metaphor: Disneyland Tickets represent hope and 'happy endings' for Rosie and Don.
Don's immense loneliness (find quote) and inexperience with relationships limits Ove's confidence in the Wife Project
Simile: "As if his chest was slowly rising out of the ruins of a collapsed house after an earthquake.
Ove finds purpose from forming meaningful relationships with his neighbours and new friends
Allegory: Don's proposal to Rosie is similar to romantic movies alluded to, demonstrating the influence these fictional relationships had on Don.
Symbolism: White shirts = exclusion from society, loss of human connection and basic levels of care and respect in society.
Linked to Ove's condemnation of humanity and rejection of love indicates his deep, but concealed, anguish after his wife Sonja's death
Motif: (is that the correct technique?) Numerical and scientific language
Exposes Don's systematic logic which impedes his ability to love
“But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he never lived before he met her. And not after either.”
Ove puts Nasanin's drawings on his fridge and regains the colour in his life, accepting love
Death abandons him
The authors' utilisation of symbolism explores the overwhelming power of love that manifests a sense of fulfilment in their protagonists. The schedules and routines both Don and Ove religiously follow emphasises their shared methodical and systematic mentality. More specifically, Ove's life was composed of 'slow and methodical' days, having 'never been spontaneous before in his life'. When Ove first saw Sonia, 'it was as if something malfunctioned' and he impulsively reboarded the train to speak to her. Similarly, Don strictly followed the 'Standardised Meal System' in his meticulous daily schedule before 'the Rosie Time Zone' was created. While Ove rebuilds his house to accommodate for Sonia's disability, displaying his love and loyalty to his wife, Don highlights that it 'was important... to make a new start with [his] new skills, new approach and new partner' after proposing to Rosie. Their adoption of a less monotonous lifestyle once falling in love symbolises their newfound willingness to follow their instinct and heart. In addition, both contemporary texts implement symbolism of colour to represent the transformative nature of love. In A Man Called Ove (italicise), Ove is described as a 'man of black and white ' whilst Sonia 'was colour', 'all the colour he had', symbolising happiness and fulfilment. Meanwhile, colour is juxtaposed in The Rosie Project to represent the shallow nature of external beauty and the irony of Rosie's unsuitability for Don. Despite the complexity of Bianca's 'spectacular' brightly coloured costume, Don is surprisingly drawn to the polar simplicity of the 'zero decoration' on Rosie's green dress.
And now she stood outside the station with his flowers pressed happily to her breast, in that red cardigan of hers, making the rest of the world look as if it were made in grayscale.
"They're pink. The ones you like. They said in the shop they're perennials but thats not what they are bloody called.
Its been six months since she died. But Ove still inspects the whole house twice a day to feel the radiators and check that she hasnt sneakily turned up the heating
The only thing he had ever loved until he saw her was numbers.
The days passed like this, slow and methodical. And then one morning he saw her. She had brown hair and blue eyes and red shoes and a big yellow clasp in her hair. And then there was no more peace and quiet for ove.
She had a golden brooch pinned to her front. Rich auburn hair and her blue eyes.
He had never been spontaneous before in his life. But when he saw her it was as if something malfunctioned.
Long floral-print skirt and a cardigan so red that it made Ove...
In The Rosie Project and A Man Called Ove, Backman and Simsion include a variety of motifs and stylistic techniques to accentuate the unyielding love that gradually transforms protagonists.
Simsion's metaphor, "to fall in love with someone is to settle in a new house", is contrasted to Don's method of finding love through The Wife Project. While Simsion accentuates Ove's ability to learn to love Sonia for her imperfections, Don's systematic social behaviour
Both Backman and Simsion establish the absence of love in their protagonists' lives through characterisation, symbolism and metaphors. Simsion's allusion to romantic popular films, including 'When Harry Met Sally', accentuates Don's 'reduced ability to emphasise', persuading him to believe that he was 'incapable' to feel and express love. In the metaphor '[Don] was not wired to feel love', Simsion shows Don's defeat after Rosie's rejection of his proposal. In congruence, Backman symbolises the diminishment of Ove's willingness to express love through Rune's fading memory. Ove's 'resignation' towards helping Rune leaves a 'pressure on his chest, as if an enormous darkness has put its boot over his throat'. Backman's simile indicates Ove's inner willingness to show compassion but defiance due to his deep anguish after his wife Sonja's death. Furthermore, his condemnation of humanity is demonstrated by Backman through the symbolism of 'white shirts'. Through third-person limited, Backman reveals Ove's unforgiving blame towards 'men in white shirts' for losing his house, the decline in Sonja's health and, ultimately, the absence of human connection and love in his life prior to his wife's death. Meanwhile, Simsion utilises first-person narrative to describe Don's abnormal social behaviour that outcasts him from society and impedes his acceptance of others' imperfections. The systematic logic of Don causes him to view flaws as 'errors', contributing to his unforgiving attitude towards previous dating experiences. Simsion repeats these memories, including the 'Apricot Icecream Disaster', to highlight Don's defeat and lonliness in the absence of love.
Similar tones are developed within each contemporary text with irony, metaphors and other literary techniques to highlight the differences in the influence of love on the protagonists. Both protagonists experience grief from the loss of a loved one which contributes to their hopeless attitude about love. After the death of Sonja and loss of Daphne's memory, Ove and Don continued the routines involving their loved ones in a long grieving process involving denial. As '[Daphne's] memory failed, [Don] celebrated Daphne's birthday more often', demonstrating his loyalty despite her inability to recognise him. Simsion uses 'daphne' flowers to symbolise the longevity of the couple's friendship whilst developing the melancholy tone of the friendships decline when she could no longer '[respond] to the daphne' flowers. This tone is also accentuated by Backman in his narration of Ove's inspection of 'the whole house twice a day to feel the radiators and check that [Sonja] hasn't sneakily turned up the heating', despite her death 'six months' prior. Furthermore, Backman's simile of the 'noose closing around [Ove's] throat like the jaws of a large wild animal' depicts the protagonist's complete loss of hope due to his immense grief from the absence of love. On the contrary, these moments of isolation and depression are interspersed with irony, creating humourous undertones that represent optimism in regards to finding love. In both A Man Called Ove and The Rosie Project, the authors develop an ironic perspective with the polarity of the protagonists and their respective lovers. While Ove hates being late, Sonja 'cannot stick to a plan even if [Ove glued her] to it'. Simarily, Don's 'Wife Project questionnaire' revealed that Rosie is 'the world's most incompatible woman' due to her occupation as a 'barmaid', lack of punctuality and smoking habits. Backman and Simsion's irony in the couples' dissimilitude demonstrates the unpredictable nature of love that defies logic. Moreover, a variety of linguistic techniques are utilised by the authors to construct hopeful tones in the concluding chapters of their contemporary novels. Backman portrays Ove's acceptance of love through the symbolism of the drawings created by Parvaneh's 'seven-year-old' and 'three-year-old' children. The drawings of 'riotous colour' that are addressed 'To Granddad' are placed on Ove's fridge, acknowledging his optimism in life due to the love he is surrounded by. Concurrently, Simsion displays Don's perseverance for love through the implementation of lists to replicate Don's evolution of thought. At the termination of the 'Rosie Project', Don concludes his amalgamation of 'what [he had] learned' with the pessimistic assumption that he '7... still couldn't fix [him]self'. Simsion manifests anxious suspense for his readers before revealing Don's final point, '4... I was in love with Rosie'. In both texts, the progression of tone from depressive to humourous, and finally hope, mirrors the impact of having loving relationships in the protagonists' lives.
Backman's use of first-person narrative and italicisation reveals Don's paranoia of organisation and annoyance when being 'eighteen minutes late', creating 'a flow-on effect to a number of scheduled tasks'. Likewise, Simsion describes Ove's 'sense of there needing to be a bit of order in the greater scheme of things' through the perspective of third-person limited. Both protagonists embrace the spontaneity of their lovers. While Don admits that 'it is unlikely [he] would have discovered [a solution to the Wife Project]...had it not been for series of unscheduled events',
Simsion's use of numerical and scientific language exposes Don's systematic logic which impedes his ability to love.
Cat pg 138