Chemistry: A Novel
What does the diamond Eric offers the narrator represent in Weike's, Chemistry: A Novel?
Chemistry: A Novel
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Jill W
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Jill W
Chemistry: A Novel
The diamond on an engagement ring supposedly represents the strength of an unbreakable bond, diamonds having been recognized as the hardest mineral throughout much of history; however, the narrator evokes the diamond as a symbol of inadequacy. Her immediate reaction to Eric's proposal is to note that according to a recent scientific article, lonsdaleite, not diamond, is the hardest known mineral. To the narrator, then, the diamond represents how the ideal of marriage falls short of the reality she knows.
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