Essay Questions

How is the concept of fixation and its effects on marital fulfillment brought out in I Love Dick?

When the relationship between the protagonist of this story and her husband starts going wrong, she does not show or make any attempts to reconcile with her husband. Instead, she starts developing a fixation for a man they had met only once, Dick. She develops sexual fantasies about this man a situation that negatively impacts the relationship she has with her husband. In an attempt and the hope that joining his wife in pursuing Dick would perhaps make her realize that she cares, the husband joins the wife in the quest for Dick, a venture that proves unsuccessful. Fixation is central to the failing relationship between Chris and her husband since instead of both focusing on mending their broken relationship, they are too preoccupied with enticing Dick.

Dick is the epitome of morality. Is this assertion correct?

Chris develops a fixation for Dick after she and her husband meet him only once. At this point, Chris and Sylvère’s relationship is on the rocks and she becomes fixated on Dick. The couple begins writing letters to Dick but they do not mail them to him. When they finally begin the search to get in touch with Dick, the letters they have written are several. On the other hand, Dick becomes indefinable in his responses and when Chris finally meets him, she wants to have sex with him, advances which he refuses breaking the image that she had developed of him. In this way, Dick shows impeccable morals. When she meets Dick later and shows him the letters, Dick maintains his stand and even responds in the same way to both Chris and her husband. In this way, the assertion that the character has good moral values and is as such an epitome of the same, is justifiable.

Explore the character of Chris as brought forward in this literary work

Chris begins chasing Dick at the point when they are having trouble in their relationship. Instead of helping mend the relationship with her husband, she shows a great deal of disinterest as she becomes obsessed with Dick. In this way, she deflects her attention to another individual (Dick). Even though Dick rejects her sexual offer, she exhibits determination in her persuasion of him. She brings the letters she had written to him so that he can read them, perhaps hoping that they would change his decision. Additionally, Chris is creative as she is able to channel her infatuation and fixation on Dick into letters which become a story.