Love is an Illness: Pages 39-55

In the next section of the The Lover, the theme of wealth and race continues to dominate the plot, but Duras gives greater insight into the emotional part of her relationships with her lover and her family. I think that Duras may have the intent to draw the connection between her relationship with the lover and the relationship with her family, they're both destructive and highly complex. It's safe to say that there's absolutely nothing that could be considered as "normal" in her novel.

Source: http://artoferickuns.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/marguerite-duras.jpg

This destructive portrayal of love is not only mentally unstable, but physically destroys both the individuals like an illness and I predict that we'll see the two lovers eventually disintegrate due to the unhealthy nature of their love. The Chinese lover admits that love is always terrible and of course the pessimistic Duras feels the same way about that too.

"He smiles. Says, Whether people love one another or not, it's always terrible....I say he's wrong...I feel a sadness I expected and which comes only from myself." (44) However, from this quote, Duras explains that she attributes all the negative aspects of love due to her sadness, she places all the blame on her. This profound sadness is definitely linked to the despair and depression felt by her mother which Duras emphasizes that her mother was the root of all her sadness (and her brother's as well).

In pages 39-55, the lover himself is revealed to us through his interactions (or more like lack of interaction) with her family. "...it's as if her were invisible to them, as if for them he weren't solid enough to be perceived, seen or heard. This is because he adores me, but it's taken for granted I don't love him, that I'm him for the money, that I can't love him, it's impossible.....This because he's a Chinese, because he's not a white man." (51) The differences between their race and also the differences in wealth and poverty prove to outweigh the factors of their emotional love they feel for each other. This is probably because it is not genuine heart to heart love, mostly love based on the desire of wealth and superficial ideals. It's also interesting how towards the end of this section, Duras begins discussing about her love for her mother and how they each loved in a different way. There is not just one way of loving someone, but different approaches and differing consequences of love. "....we, different as we all three were from one another, all three loved her in the same way." (55)