Chap 14-21

Eli Pardue
9/9/08
Brit Lit
Mrs. Pfan

When Rob goes back to speak with all of his ex-girlfriends, he is trying to reconcile with them to feel better about his split with Laura. All of his relationships were left in turmoil (at least for him) and he felt that the only way for him to progress past his self-loathing would be to fix the issues he had with his past. In most cases, Rob does not find the answers he is looking for. He starts with Alison, and is promptly informed that he was never in fact her boyfriend at all. She had gone off to Australia and married her first boyfriend. This was not what Rob expected, and he did not reconcile with Alison because she had never considered him a boyfriend in the first place. Next was Penny. Rob took the path of the self-righteous bastard, and put everything wrong with the end of their relationship on her. She took that blame, and turned it around on Rob, telling him that he was the one who packed her in because of his own shallowness, and ended the conversation with a strong handed "fuck you." Women: 2, Rob: 0. After Penny was Jackie, who was happily, monogamously married to Phil, whom she left Rob for. They eat a nice dinner, during which Rob and Penny school Rob in the subject of love. At the end of the night, Rob makes a comment about being a cynic and a romantic, and how marriage and its endless repetitiveness is as welcome to him as garlic is to a vampire. He is disgusted by the way they live, and is consequently glad he did not end up with Jackie. Sarah and Rob are a little more successful. They have a nice time, talk about films and music, and agree that they will do it again soon. More importantly, Sarah admits to Rob that she should never have left him for the other guy who dumped her because he was getting married. This was the kind of 'compliment' that Rob was looking for; something to boost his self confidence by making him feel better than other men. and therefore desirable. Rob: 2, Women: 2. The last one was Charlie. Charlie told Rob that she hated these post-relationship conversations, and so invited him over for a dinner party. Rob found himself extremely out of place. He made one comment all night and remained silent the rest of the time, all the while feeling intimidated and embarrassed by everyone else's attire, conversation, and dimeanor. He left feeling as if he had not grown up with everyone else, which he was (typically) self-righteous about, explaining that he would never want to live like they did. But even so, he was left feeling insignificant because of the way the world around him progressed, and because of the way he felt as if it had left him behind.

Final score
Rob: 2
Women: 3