Essay Questions

Why does Joe love books?

Joe was literally forced to love and give books the treatment they would work best with. Under his bookstore there is a vault for rare books, which is where Joe spent his time while growing up, because he would be punished and locked inside the vault together wit the books. When he did something really bad, he would be hit with the books. He then gradually began forming a relationship with these books, which was what began his perversions and psychosis.

Why might Joe have fallen in love with Beck?

From the description of the scene when Beck walks into Joe’s bookstore, it was a love at first sight moment. However, Beck is a lot more twisted and unlikable than the average human being, which might be a reason for why Joe fell in love with her, over some other average, stable girl. Beck has her own demons, and is quite unbalanced, holding on to things that fade away. Joe might be loving Beck as a form of self-punishment, or because he knows that his love can damage people, which is why he chooses to love those that are already damaged.

How is Joe able to stalk Beck?

Joe is able to stalk Beck initially through her name. He catches her name as they talk in his store, which he then googles and finds information on where she lives. He spends time standing outside her window, watching her masturbate and together with her ex-boyfriend. He then steals her phone when she loses it in a railway station, which he uses to track her messages with her friends and her plans during the weekend. He also sneaks into her house while she is gone and steals her underwear.