Essay on Nick Hornbys High Fidelity - 970 Words

Nick Hornbys High Fidelity In Nick Hornbys High Fidelity, the main character, Rob, relates music to every aspect of his life. He utilizes music as an escape from his anxieties regarding his failing record store, relationship, and sense of self. Music provides Rob with the inspiration that keeps him going: Records have helped me to fall in love, no question. I hear something new, with a chord change that melts my guts, and before I know it Im looking for someone. (169) Music prompts Rob to isolate himself, hold an unrealistic view of people and sabotage his relationships. Rob allows himself to get overcome with a feeling when listening to a song pertaining to that feeling. Many of the songs he mentions as his favorites or†¦show more content†¦(70). Rob has trouble controlling his temper and is easily impelled into a fit of rage. At the funeral, while speaking to Liz, he gets all worked up and ?suddenly, [he?s] raging and [he] [doesn?t] know how to calm down? (244). The word ?cross? describes Rob quite well because he always seems to find someone to be angry with. Rob?s distress is clearly caused by loneliness and unhappiness with the way his life has turned out. Rob clearly feels he is battling life alone. He feels he has no one to express his feelings to because no one understands him: I can?t speak to Laura because she lives with somebody else and she calls from phone boxes and she pretends she doesn?t, and I can?t speak to Liz because she knows about the money and the abortion and me seeing someone else, and I can?t speak to Barry and Dick because they are Barry and Dick, and I can?t speak to my friends because I don?t speak to my friends, and I can?t speak now because Laura?s father has died, and I just have to take it because otherwise I am a bad guy? (244-245) Rob?s loneliness is accentuated by the funeral where everything, particularly the solitariness of a coffin, relates to death. As Cliff sings, ?And this loneliness won?t leave me alone, it?s such a drag to be on your own?. These lyrics sound as if they came straight out of Rob?s mouth. He cannot escape the lonesomeness he is feeling because he has no one to turn to. Rob, after years of unhappiness, is just about ready to give upShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast High Fidelity Novel and Film1649 Words   |  7 PagesCompare and Contrast High Fidelity Novel and Film High Fidelity, the novel written by Nick Hornby, and the film adaptation, directed by Stephen Frears, both portrayed the vital information for the plot however, Hornby was able to convey the ideas better through literary techniques. The novel was adapted into a feature film in 2000 starring John Cusack as Rob and directed by Stephen Frears. The movie was accurate in portraying the novel to a certain extent. The film was able to successfully representRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay1214 Words   |  5 Pagesshowing how historically some women subject themselves to the control of men. Alternatively, Nick Hornby does something altogether similar with â€Å"High Fidelity†, introducing us to Rob Fleming, whose male psyche reveals, among other things, how men focus and base their success one expectations influenced by gender roles. In the paragraphs that follow, I will attempt to compare and contrast Gilman’s and Hornby’s findings rega rding the male and female psyche. In particular, I hope to explore how genderRead MoreThere`s Always Laughter to Life1459 Words   |  6 PagesUnderstanding life and why things happen is impossible. Life is like a game, accepting the things that life throws at us is the challenge. For some, giving up is the key to life. For others it`s important to look at the bright side of life and live on. Nick Hornby tackles very serious issues in his novels Slam and A Long Way Down. However, he addresses the topics in a more comic manner which creates a more appealing and effective story. In both novels, Hornby takes on serious issues in today`s societyRead MoreHolden Caulfield Isolation And Isolation1471 Words   |  6 Pages How is it, that no matter what we do, or how we change, we still never feel a regular part of society? And if no one truly fits in, what does a stereotypical member of society look like? In Nick Hornbys High Fidelity Rob Fleming struggles with his isolation. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield isolates himself because he struggles with the world and what it’s people have become. Similarly, Rob and Holden have an enormous amount of self-inflicted pressure on themselves