Love
The main theme of the novel is love. The narrator tells the stories of previous loves, none of which lasted for very long, because the initial spark was eventually lost. Love with Louise is different, the passion is not lost, and it only grew stronger with time and separation. It is a type of consuming love that is on the verge of obsession, especially seen from the anatomical description of the body midway in the novel and how that connects to the lover. The narrator described love towards Louise as not that of opposites; it is seeing oneself in the loved person, becoming one, and being one.
Cliché
The novel is a criticism of clichés. It is about clichés of marriage, roles of spouses and the death of love as a result of marriage. It talks about clichés of happiness, individuals trying to convince themselves of being happy how they are, afraid of change. The ambiguity of the narrator's gender breaks down clichés of sexual orientation-the narrator had both male and female lovers and the description of them and description of the relationships do not provide more insight, only create more confusion and it questions whether clichés that come with gender and sexual orientation are only visible after one is able to pin them down to the certain gender or certain sexual orientation.
