I Live with You

I enjoyed this story quite a lot! I kept thinking about Jordan Peele’s Us while reading it. I really love how the author breaks up her sentences (maybe because I write similarly) it definitely made the story seem a lot more dramatic when it’s written that way. I also enjoyed how she wrote it like we were reading a log of the narrator’s internal dialogue, it’s unique and really hooked me in. The entire time I was trying to figure out what exactly the narrator was, was she a doppelganger? Or maybe she was just some girl who looked like the protagonist and made a little life out of stalking and living off Nora. I was also trying to find the connection that maybe this was all a metaphor for self-doubt and how people tend to self-destruct until they are truly alone. I do not really understand which one it is supposed to be, but I assume that is the point- so that readers can get whatever they want from it. I was imagining there to be a woman living with Nora that looked just like her, but Nora and others genuinely did not notice she was there. I was left with a lot of questions- Why did she try to seduce an older man? Just to fill the void of loneliness because Nora didn’t think she could even try for anyone remotely out of her league? Why didn’t Nora take care of the doppelganger a long time ago? Did she even really exist outside of Nora’s mind or did Nora do all the sneaky things the narrator talked about? I think this story reflected more of the majoritarian culture more than anything. Our protagonist is a loner who does not live outside her means in the least bit. Willard is an older man who has a physical disability and tries his best to live his life humble. Or maybe that is the minority? I guess it can be seen from both perspectives that their lives are either sad or the same as everyone else’s, but I really hope the rest of society is doing a little better than Nora is. I think, in a way, we are all striving to reach an unachievable goal that’s set for us. It may not be the ‘American Dream’, but it sure is a lot of pressure considering more than half the population is ‘just getting by’ on the wages they are given. So, I do think it could be perceived both ways. With the rise of social media culture and influences, it is almost like we are expected to just work hard and earn a million dollars, when in reality, we are all kind of like Nora. Just living humbly but buying into trends to keep some semblance of being progressive with the times.