The power and pain of love in Markus Zusac‘s „I am the Messenger“
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Course
Englisch
Institution
Gymnasium
Book
I Am the Messenger
The book “I am the Messenger” deals with many different topics, but in particular the various forms of love and their influence on the protagonist's life are presented. Ed's relationships are explored in this essay — particularly with best friend Audrey, his mother Beverly Kennedy and his dog...
The Power and Pain of Love in both „I am the Messenger“ by
Markus Zusac and in modern day Society – an Essay
„If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling that love actually is all around“ 1 is a powerful quote
stating that love affects each and every individual no matter where they go which leads to this
essay’s topic – the power and pain of love as depicted in the novel „I am the Messenger“ by Markus
Zusac and also it’s relation to modern day society. In the book, there are three major aspects in
regard to the depiction of love that the author will be focusing on: Ed’s best friend Audrey, his
mother Beverly “Ma” Kennedy and his dog, the Doorman.
Love is an emotion deeply intertwined with the human brain and thus with one’s behavior and
choices in everyday life can be severely shaped and influenced as a result of experiencing this
feeling for someone, both in a negative and a positive way hence representing a duality – it can
either improve one’s life or destroy it. This condition is a significant part of the book „I am the
Messenger“, as the protagonist Ed decides to do a plethora of things in a certain way solely for the
purpose of making his best friend Audrey, who he is in love with, happy, but loving her is also very
hurtful to him at times, though that is not the only circumstance in which some sort of affection is
depicted in the novel.
Audrey, the best friend and love interest of the protagonist Ed is doubtless the most important and
representative aspect of the duality of love and it’s effect on the main character of the book. Ed had
romantic feelings for her for many years and still has, but Audrey on the other side is afraid of
getting hurt. She had an abusive family, so she is not used to receiving affection – as a consequence,
she avoids relationships and instead only has sex without any emotions– but not with him, because
she “likes him too much to do it” 2.This however hurts Ed, representing the fact that they both try to
not get hurt by loving others but simultaneously do because they don’t allow themselves to love. He
spends a large percentage of his time trying to make Audrey fall in love with him, but fails again
and again throughout the book – regardless, he does not give up until eventually succeeding. His
love for her was a big source of motivation over the course of the novel and without it, he maybe
would’ve already given up on his life – the power of love is very evident in the development of this
subplot. The fact Audrey believes him concerning the first ace (of diamonds) also plays a huge role
in the fact that he chose to pursue that incident – if she were against it/without her support, he
perhaps wouldn’t have taken action. Nonetheless, his relation to Audrey caused Ed plenty of
difficulties in life as well – he could’ve had a bright future and a degree thus earning a lot of money
and also move to the city to find a better neighbourhood (a fact that will become important later on
in the essay), but instead stayed because of a girl who didn’t even love him back. Because of this,
he kind of ruined his future and his career chances in the academic field or at least diminished his
chances at being successful in life – nevertheless, he does not care for he values love higher than
money thus underlining the power love has over one’s choices even in the face of negative
consequences.
Another symbol for love in this novel is Ed’s dog, the Doorman. He represents unconditional love
because they don’t judge each other for their particularly weird habits/ways of living (e.g. the
Doorman drinks coffee, an unusual thing for dogs to do). Even though the dog has negative sides
1 Transcript the introduction sequence of the Christmas movie „Love, actually“, 2003, by Richard Curtis
2 p.21 l.24
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