A Little Life
Themes
Story
Characters
anxiety
mental health
Jude
A successful lawyer
Backstory
He was orphaned and left in a monastery where he was raised. He was repeatedly sexually abused by the brothers.
One of the brothers, Brother Luke, ran away with him and forced Jude into years of child prostitution.
After he was rescued by the police, Jude was placed in state care, where the abuse continued at the hands of the counsellors.
Illness
Jude walks with a limp and suffers from severe nerve damage in his spine that causes him great pain.
The damage to his legs was caused by a man called Dr. Traylor, who picked him up after he ran away from state care at age 15 and held him captive, eventually running him over with his car.
In the book, he was adopted by his professor, Harold and wife, Julia.
Relationships
Jude was abused at a young age so he finds it difficult to get into relationships.
In the book, he had a relationship with a man called Caleb, a fashion executive, but Caleb rapes Jude.
He then has a relationship with Willem. He dies in a car accident.
He is friends with JB and Malcom. In the book, JB makes fun of his limp so they are not friends anymore.
Jude often self harms because of his traumatic experiences. He attempts to kill himself a couple of times. He dies after Willem gets killed.
Willem
Career
He is a waitor and aspiring actor.
Throughout the novel he has an extremely successful career and becomes a world-renowned actor.
Relationships
Marries Jude.
Background
Raised by Dutch and Icelandic parents.
Has a disabled brother who dies in his youth.
Malcom
Architect
Wealthy family
Friends with JB, Willem & Jude
JB
An Artist
Extremely confident
Has an addiction to Crystal Meth
LGBT relationships
Mental Health
Disability
Friendship
Abuse
Jude is the protagonist
Follows the life of 4 friends from college to middle-age.
By American novelist Hanya Yanagihara.
The title is a reference to the poem 'The Waste Land' by T.S Elliot.