Sally Rooney says that her characters sacrifice themselves to love others. In reading about Marianne and Connell, the protagonists of Normal People, I more often thought that Marianne was self-loathing and Connell lacked self-esteem. I didn’t see them as selfless or self-sacrificing. Rooney also believes that she creates characters who discuss their lives and feelings as they are and don’t pretend to be what they are not. That may be the case, but I found it very difficult to tolerate the on-again, off-again nature of Marianne and Connell’s relationship.
There are class differences between Marianne and Connell. The social capital related to having or not having money plays into their relationship with each other and their selections of friends, living arrangements, and travel plans. Books are both seen as an avenue for increasing status in society and as status symbols in themselves. However, class is not significant in determining gender roles in the story. Marianne, a woman of means, is willing to be submissive to men, and Connell, although privileged because he is male, is somewhat conversant in feminist literature.
Normal People has provided lots of conversation for people of many generations. The New York Times and Washington Post have called Sally Rooney a foremost millennial writer. One must wonder whether there are observable characteristics of millennial writers. Of course, millennials are native digital human beings, and they have come of age with email, Twitter, online learning, and internet immersion. Does this preoccupation with the online world lead to a different novel style? Are the characters created by someone born between 1983 and 1994 fundamentally different than those developed by authors of other generations? Have economic conditions and world tumult affected their lives and, therefore, the generation’s literature? There is no easy answer, and I suppose time will tell.
The book is full of contradictions. It is a coming-of-age and possibly a love story, mostly about seriously damaged relationships and young people who misunderstand and miscommunicate. But, on the other hand, it is probably realistic fiction for the millennial generation.
