Flynn’s writing Style in Gone Girl
Gone Girl is a thriller that is written by the American author Gillian Flynn and it focuses on Nick Dunne and his wife Amy who vanishes on the celebration of their marriage. The duo had relocated to Missouri to tend to Nick’s mom who was ailing of disease and Amy mused about this. Police invade Nick’s house to look for clues, and this scenario gains widespread media attention and public outrage, as the police are under pressure to solve this case quickly. Details emerge concerning Nick and his secret love affair with a younger woman as different things begin to raise questions concerning his suspect activities. It emerges that Amy may have actually framed Nick for murder by leaving different clues such as blood and fingerprints. Amy is in fact in hiding and she plans to do so until she runs out of money but her plan is foiled because she becomes broke. “But I am careful with money. My point. I’m going to hide out long enough to watch Lance Nicholas Dunne become a worldwide pariah, to watch Nick be arrested, tried, marched off to prison, bewildered in an orange jumpsuit and cuffs” (Flynn 344). She then goes for help from her high school sweetheart, Desi. Amy soon kills Desi after a short fling with him, and she returns home pregnant with a fake story about being kidnapped. Nick accepts her back after realizing that she knows all about his secret life and they resume their relationship.
Gillian Flynn has received much appraisal for her literary style and delivery in this particular novel and she has managed to bring out various themes. One important literary theme that Flynn brings out is suspense and the storyline is filled with suspense from the start. Suspense has been used to keep the reader’s interest in this storyline alive, and there is a feeling of anticipation that something risky or dangerous may actually happen. There is an evident use of verbal cues, dramatic irony and foreshadowing in this storyline and this helps in the flow of the story. The entire storyline focuses on Nick and Amy and it is woven on their point of view. Flynn’s main purpose is to make awareness to the literary readers and to make the readers to expose to the emotions and suspense that is carried out in this storyline. Gone Girl focuses on the investigation of the disappearance of a woman, the unraveling secrets of her husband and a revelation of the troubled life of this couple. The story reveals that the marriage of Nick and Amy is rocky and especially since Nick has lost his job and then wants to relocate himself and his wife to Nick’s rural home to take care of their dying mother. Nick then decides to open a bar using Amy’s trust fund money and he runs it with Margo, who is his twin sister. The bar provides decent dividends for this couple but the marriage of Nick and Amy continues to be dysfunctional despite all that is happening.
When Amy goes missing, Nick becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance. There are different activities that make Nick a prime suspect like his use of her money to start a business, his decision to increase her life insurance, and his general tone and appearance, as he remains unemotional throughout her disappearance. In the first part of the novel, the reader does not know whether Nick is guilty especially since he has morbid visions of Amy and he makes himself to look too innocent to commit such crimes. The first half of the story is told in first person perspective and it alternates both of the main characters. Nick’s viewpoint is from the present and Amy’s narration is from the past and especially considers the use of written recollections. Amy’s perception of her relationship shows a woman who seems happy and also finds it easy to live the life that Nick wants her to live. Alternately, Nick’s narration shows a different picture and shows an individual who is antisocial, stubborn and also aggressive.
In the second half of the book, the readers can find both characters to be undependable storytellers and the reader is not given all evidence concerning his actual character. Nick has secretly been having an affair and Amy is pretending to be dead but is actually alive and hiding in order to frame Nick for her supposed death. Amy is robbed by guests in the motel and leaves without any money at all. One can see her inconsistency as she links up with her ex-boyfriend, Desi who agrees to hide her. “Amy dated Desi, quite seriously, for a year. But she began to find him alarming…” (Flynn 121). Amy begins to show her psychotic tendencies again when she feels trapped in his house and suddenly murders Desi. Nick senses her suspicious activity, And Flynn shows unpredictability and suspense when Nick actually accepts her back and accepts to raise the child with her. The main aspect of interest in this story lies in the puzzling aspect revealed by the story and the emerging twists in plot that are relevant throughout the entire storyline. Gone Girl is filled with suspense, it gives the reader a feeling of excitement as well as tension, and one remains feeling as if they are on the edge.
The suspense in this storyline can be seen until the final moments and one realizes that the entire story actually begins in suspense and ends in suspense. Flynn has managed to install a sense of unpredictability and one realizes that the plot continues to change from time to time. The suspense emanates from Nick and Amy who continually try to figure out if their marriage will actually work or not. The story unfolds in a strange way since Amy has clearly calculated how to escape from a frustrating manage but seems to run out of strategy therefore forcing her to return to the husband that she clearly hates. “The fingerprints that we found were yours, Nick. Which isn’t that crazy-men get into their wives’ purses all the time. But still…” (Flynn 3530). The narrations in this particular novel mainly concern Amy’s interactions with other characters and particularly so her husband. The use of suspense is important in portraying Amy and her character. One can see sadistic aspects from her behavior and her lack of consideration to other people.
The novel focuses on the two characters of Amy and Nick and the depiction of the story as revealed by Flynn concerns the fact that women and men have certain roles in the society. This mindset is shown when Amy pretends to be the submissive housewife who tends to her husband’ needs and does all that is expected of her. At the same time, when Amy goes missing, automatically Nick is pointed out as the main subject even without any possible proof. The society immediately sees Nick as the main subject since he is the man of the family and they believe that Amy would never do any bad thing. It represents the thoughts and characteristic of people. This book gives an opposite of expectations especially concerning the portrayals of men and women. Outwardly Nick is the man of the house and he is able to maintain a successful life and career while at the same time following all his ambitions as a man. However things swiftly turn sour when he loses his job and all the prestige which comes along with it. Nick’s life quickly changes and he embraces the new life of uncertainty and financial dissolution. Nick’s masculinity comes under threat because of this as he struggles to make meaning of life.
One can see change of roles as Flynn shows the authority of women and emasculation of men through Amy. Amy is able to control and manipulate all the men in her life. Amy uses Nick and plans to leave him by faking her murder. “She picks an argument with me the night before she goes missing, and she does it standing near an open window so our neighbor will hear” (Flynn 356). She leaves visible hints that make the police to speculate Nick’s possible involvement in the crime. It is clear that she has authority over the life of Nick because she pretends to submit to him yet she funds him and helps him open up a business in his hometown. Amy also dominates the life of her former boyfriend Desi and she dumps him in the past only to return later and reconcile with him. When she is tired of the monotonous relationship she decides to kill him and go back to her husband. Through this one sees that she dominates all the men in her life and manipulates them to do whatever she wants done.
She actually disappears from her home and before that, she actually sets up a stage that makes it seem like her husband murdered her. She leaves the house looking like a crime scene and one can see this when she leaves bloodstains in order to insinuate that there was a struggle and she was murdered. It adds to the suspense and furthermore reveals the vicious agenda that she has set up for her husband. It is also interesting to note that the flow of this storyline seems to flow towards a disastrous ending. However, the ending of this particular storyline is intriguing because it reveals a reconciliation of Nick and Amy, who seem to be toxic for each other. The use of suspense has been used to reveal the activities of Amy and clearly brings out her psychopathic persona as seen through her actions and thought process. Gillian Flynn uses female characters who often engage in self-hating and self-defeating thoughts and actions. Flynn manages to unfold the twisting plot of her novel and shows the level of misogyny in the American society in general. “So, now, help me put this all together’ he said. ‘Amy finds out you are cheating. She fakes her death. She makes the supposed crime scene look just fishy enough to raise eyebrows. She’s screwed you over with the credit card and life insurance and your little man-cave situation out back”..(Flynn 356)Amy is a mysterious character and she seems to want to be different from other women.
Even though she has a version of her that she portrays in her diary, it is clear that the real Amy is a totally different character. The diary that Amy keeps as a piece of evidence in her mysterious disappearance is actually a catalogue of about seven years of false entries that show her false story. The diary acts as Amy’s strategy to reclaim power in this situation and to legitimize all that she has actually done under the poise of suffering different cruelties under Nick. The general plot of this particular storyline has been set towards a tragic ending and especially since this toxic relationship seems to have reached an end. Flynn succeeds in implicitly asking her readers if Nick’s abhorrence for his companion is defensible and whether she is in the wrong or right. This aspect helps to add to the conflict and raises a question concerning the agenda of Amy and how she would possibly succeed in the plan.
Krisandy reveals the fact that Amy has psychotic tendencies as seen through her different actions during the entire storyline (214). It is clear that Amy is frustrated by her marriage and feels that she needs to act fast and redeem herself from the bondage that she finds herself in. When Amy disappears, the reader is left with a feeling of doubt concerning the involvement of her husband, but she has been able to plant visual cues that raise concern about her safety. It is clear that Amy is aware of her husband’s double life and she feels betrayed by all that has happened. “I won’t blame Nick. I don’t blame Nick. I refuse-refuse!-to turn into some pert-mouthed, student angry girl. I made two promises to myself when I married Nick” (Flynn 98). Amy acts without thinking about the consequences of her action even though she has carefully plotted all that she does successfully. From the beginning, the novel reveals a dark marriage that is on the brink of collapse and it soon emerges that Amy has been plotting a disappearance and manages to trick the whole world into believing that her husband is responsible for her supposed disappearance.
Flynn uses suspense in order to reveal Amy’s misogyny and tendency of a sadistic personality. “It is a relief to walk into a convenience store and walk right back out without some hang about in sleeveless flannel leering as I leave, some muttered bit of misogyny slipping from him like a nacho-cheese burp. Now no one is rude to me, but no one is nice to me either. No one goes out of their way, not overly, not really, not the way they used to. I am the opposite of Amy” (Flynn 98). When the love story of Nick and Amy is told from Amy’s point of view this helps to pull over the audience (Binau, Melnick and Abecassis 5). The movement of the plot from present day to past is pivotal in ensuring a better viewpoint concerning the turn of events. Amy’s character is deceiving and this has contributed heavily to the suspense in this particular film. Amy looks to be an innocent and collected individual who is resigned to life as a submissive wife, who is unaware of her husband’s conniving ways.
It is difficult to believe that she would mastermind a plot to fake her own disappearance and murder, but she managed to do so, leaving her husband as the main suspect in all of this “He turned and walked towards the stables. It occurred to me that they were intentionally barring me from any possible crime scene. I wasn’t sure what it meant” (Flint 139).One can also see her perfectionist tendencies through her actions and especially in how she manages to plot all of her actions before actually doing them. Flynn’s writing style has contributed largely to the audience’s perception of Amy and the audience is made to believe that she is an innocent victim of circumstances. Amy has for long been a victim but then refuses to be victimized, and she has had enough of the life that she has experienced and looks to focus on a new life away from her husband (Huang 12). Flynn has integrated suspense through the creation of conflict in the storyline. It is apparent that Amy is in conflict with her husband and especially since she now realizes his devious ways and wants to make him pay for his actions.” Then I unroll the crumpled piece of notebook paper and see a girl’s handwriting-Hanna-and a phone number. I wish it were the movies” (Flynn 104). The domestic sphere is one of tension and uncertainty and Amy comes to discover her husband’s deplorable activities.
It is clear that the home is not the traditional safe haven for Amy but is instead the setting for tension as well as violence. The use of suspense has also managed to contribute to the deconstruction of the female identity, especially since it is apparent that Amy has two sides. Suspense has been able to disapprove the normal generalizations of women as victims and men as perpetrators in all occurrences of crime. Conflict acts as the fuel for suspense and especially so because it helps to reveal the imperfections in the life of Amy and her husband. Flynn has effectively implemented the use of conflict to build suspense and furthermore adds minor conflicts in the storyline in order to further this particular theme. When Amy goes to her ex-boyfriend for help, this shows a significant plot twist and especially so because it seems that she may have finally forgotten her past life and moved forward to a better life for herself. However, things take a turn again when she becomes tired of hiding in Desi’s apartment and then focuses on killing him before running away.
This gives a significant twist and manages to reveal her psychotic tendencies and a disregard for all those that she knows and loves. Suspense is seen in the fact that Nick is not aware of the real character of his wife and does not understand her thoughts and feelings. Flynn has managed to twist the plot on several occasions and this has helped to increase the suspense in the film and create an element of anticipation. As the investigation into Amy’s disappearance occurs, there is an unraveling of different cues and this shows the inconsistencies that exist in the relationship between these two individuals (Krisandy 219). Flynn successfully portrays Amy as the master schemer and it is apparent that her background has helped her to become who she is. Amy has in the past studied crime novels and furthermore her parents were psychologists and this was vital in her engineering of her disappearance.
Amy managed to create a crime scene and she used all the information she knew about her husband in order to orchestrate her disappearance. Amy creates a story of kidnap, rape and torture when she finally reemerges and she convinces Nick to take her back and help her to raise the child that she had sired with Desi. Nick’s narration shows that he does not understand his wife but he believes that he will eventually find out the true nature of his wife. Flynn gives an update of the recent history of Nick and Amy and this helps to reveal who they are as well as the life that they live (Anindita 6). Flynn reveals the recession in 2008 and how this changed the life of this couple in all ways including financially and emotionally. These events act as the root for tension for this particular couple and this eventually leads to the collapse of the marriage when Amy departs under mysterious circumstances.
Flynn also brings out Nick’s feelings of vulnerability and especially so on the morning of his anniversary as he is filled with feelings of paranoia and guilt. In the middle of the plot, Flynn reveals that Amy has not been killed or kidnapped but instead has disappeared and furthermore attempted to frame her husband. Flynn devises ways of analyzing the reality of this couple and does this by revealing the secrets and lies that have contributed to the deterioration of this couple. The marriage between Nick and Amy is built on deception of lies and in different circumstances, both Amy and Nick reveal that they have alternate selves and may have deceived their partners on various occurrences (Setyolestanti 12).Amy portrays herself as the submissive wife who gives herself over to Nick and all that he wants. Nick is buried deep in his Midwestern roots but adopts to the cosmopolitan life of Amy in order to please her. It is clear that the marriage of Nick and Amy has destabilized both of them and it has led to the depreciation of their relationship. The conclusion of this story is as confusing as the start and Flynn has managed to incorporate the use of mystery and suspense as the reader wonders how this relationship would actually work out.
The investigation into Amy’s disappearance has ended as suddenly as it began and this is because Nick and Amy find themselves buried under the lies that they have created themselves. Both parties have to come to an understanding to bury the truth from the authorities in order to save themselves. All that has transpired has to be kept secret in order to create a fake normalcy that will help to cover up the lies, deceit and betrayal that has occurred. Flynn has managed to include the use of different red herrings and these mislead the reader on different occasions. Amy’s actions are hidden at some point and this makes the reader anxious concerning what may be happening. The ending of this novel reveals that Amy and Nick seem content in living the lie of a marriage in order to portray themselves as the happy and normal couple. This novel has managed to incorporate the use of suspense as a literary device and it helps to the overall development of the plot and theme.
Works Cited
Anindita, D. G. (2018). Feminist Critique To Patriarchal Society Through The Characters In Gillian Fylnn’s Gone Girl (Doctoral Dissertation, Sanata Dharma University).
Binau, Sarah, Robin Melnick, and Jack I. Abecassis. “The Importance of Morally Satisfying Endings: Cognitive Influences on Storytelling in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.” CogSci. 2019.
Flynn, Gillian. Gone girl. Hachette UK, 2012.
Henry, Krisandy. “The Sociopathic Behaviour In Gone Girl.” Kata Kita 7.2 (2019): 214-219.
Huang, Weitao. “The Subversion of the Bluebeard Tale with a Modern Female Gothic Twist: On the Marriage Theme in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.” (2018).
Setyolestanti, Ovik. Nick’s perception toward his wife’s disappearance in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. Diss. UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, 2017.