Relationships

Relationships - or the lack thereof - is an important theme in this novel. Relationships discussed include those between husbands and wives as well as those between parents and children. There are also those who choose to put off having relationships, favoring instead their work.

The relationship between a husband and wife is explored most fully in the sections of the novel about Arthur Bender and Lotte Berg. Arthur was a socially normal man who lived with a wife whom he described as deeply private and secretive, even with him. It was only after Lotte became sick that Arthur learned his wife had a baby she’d given up for adoption before they met. In his sections of the novel Arthur describes how he learned to act around Lotte so as not to disturb her rigid organization and how he learned to try to trust her...