Justine was too strong for me in too many ways. I could only out-love her — that was my long suit. I went ahead of her — I anticipated every lapse; she found me already there, at every point where she fell down, ready to help her to her feet and show that it did not matter. After all she compromised the least part of me — my reputation.
The narrator says this regarding his and Justine’s friendship. He always cared for Justine more than Justine cared for him. Once she had gone to fight a man in charge of a child prostitution ring and as a result, Justine was in great danger. The narrator rushed to Justine’s rescue together with her husband Nessim.
Alexandria was the great wine press of love; those who emerged from it were the sick men, the solitaries, the prophets — I mean all who have been deeply wounded in their sex.
Nessim says these words in regard to how relationships were carried out in Alexandria. Most of them including his with Justine end tragically. The city is full of adulterous relationships for every person is out looking for love. His wife Justine cheated on him with the narrator Darley and this left him broken and feeling very betrayed.
In a way she was not looking for life but for some integrating revelation that would give it point.
Jacob says these words because he had observed his wife's behavior for she would go and cheat on him so that she could spike a reaction from him. However, Jacob knew what she was after. Justine had lived a hollow life and she was looking for the meaning of life. She was also pursuing love from her husband for he often did not react to her actions.
If this was love then it was a variety of a plant that I have never seen before.
Darley was falling deeply in love with Justine and as a result, he knew that his undying love would never be reciprocated. This is because Justine was married to Nessim and she had no capacity for love. She is a seductress who lures men like Jacob, Darley and Nessim only to break their hearts later on.
I would set my own book free to dream
The narrator Darley who is a young Irish writer says this regarding the book that he was writing on Justine and his experiences in Alexandria. He says this because he does not want to constrict any of his ideas and the truth of what had transpired. He would therefore write the novel in the order of how the events came to his mind.
