A Little Life

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015

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Part 6, Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 6: “Dear Comrade”

Part 6, Chapter 1 Summary

Part 6 opens with the tragic revelation that Willem, Malcolm, and Sophie all died in the car crash, sending shock waves through their large friend group. Chapter 1 is dominated by Jude’s immense grief and various attempts to cope with his new reality. He starts with magical thinking, pretending that Willem is merely away on a movie shoot and will be home in a few months. When he finds himself unable to perpetuate this fantasy any longer, he works constantly during the weeks and self-medicates with pills on weekends. Ironically, he feels too numb to need the release of cutting anymore; Willem’s greatest wish for him has finally come true, but only because of Willem’s absence.

Jude pours over Willem’s movies and pictures, reads old emails and letters from him, and even continues ordering the cologne Willem used to buy from Europe. He barely communicates with his friends and Harold and Julia because doing so is too painful. Although he recognizes it as an irrational feeling, he experiences intense hatred for JB, wishing that JB had died instead of Willem.

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One Sunday, Richard invites Jude downstairs to his apartment for Jude’s birthday; Jude, who did not remember it was his birthday, tries to make excuses, but Richard insists. When Jude arrives back at his apartment, he sees that he has missed dozens of birthday calls from his friends, and while he has much catching up to do, he decides to start with the person he has been avoiding for the longest: JB.

Part 6, Chapter 2 Summary

Though he continues to struggle, Jude resumes a semblance of a social life and sees Harold, Andy, and Richard regularly. At the same time, however, he grows more unable to control his temper and finds himself lashing out at people where formerly he would have controlled his feelings. Andy, for instance, informs him that he is retiring in three years and will help Jude make the transition to a new doctor gradually, and despite the consideration behind the notification, Jude lashes out, accusing Andy of being “eager to get rid of” him (670). Similarly, he lashes out at Harold when Harold tells him that he and Julia will be moving from their Boston apartment to their New York apartment full-time. Jude is annoyed at the thought they are doing this just for him, as if he is an invalid.

JB, whose career has been as wildly successful as the rest of the friends, has a retrospective show coming up at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and he invites Jude to preview it. Jude progresses through the multiple floors dedicated to JB’s art, which has been dominated for decades by images of himself, Willem, and Malcolm; JB’s renderings of his friends have made him famous and defined his artistic style. Jude walks through the paintings, slowly tracking the decades of friendship depicted in the framed images. When he reaches the top floor, JB is there guiding the installation of a new piece, a painting of Willem looking at something outside the frame in profile, with a loving, enraptured expression on his face. The title plate reads, “Willem listening to Jude tell a story, Greene Street.” Jude is overcome and feels faint. Not knowing what to do, JB takes Jude’s face in his hands and kisses him. Jude yells at him and rushes away; JB follows him to the elevator, apologizing profusely, but Jude gets into the elevator without responding.

Part 6, Chapters 1-2 Analysis

Willem’s death undercuts a growing glimmer of hope that had been building in the latter sections of Part 5. After decades of friendship and romance, Jude had only just managed to tell Willem about his past, and this decision marked a major turning point both in the relationship and in Jude’s development. This good sign was mirrored in the amputation surgery, an event that required Jude to look at his physical condition honestly rather than try to cover it up or downplay it. These signs of progress were predicated on Willem’s unfailing support, however. With Willem gone, Jude retreats into himself, and any hope for his continued healing appears to be on hold at best and destroyed at worst.

As Jude begins lashing out in anger at those around him, his conspicuous lack of anger prior to this time period snaps into focus. For someone who has so much to be angry about, Jude has spent almost none of the novel displaying anger. He exhibits fear and anxiety much more frequently. He appears never to have processed any residual anger from the childhood abuse he endured. Therefore, when the anger finally starts to emerge after Willem’s death, it feels like a long-delayed necessary release. Jude still needs someone to help him channel and focus his anger in a therapeutic direction, however.