The Inseparables

by Simone de Beauvoir

Now I understand why she needs to go flying through the trees, I thought, looking at Andrée.

‘What about me?’ I asked. The words had just fallen out of my mouth; I was revolted by how unjust it all was.

‘You never knew it, but from the day I met you, you were everything to me,’ I said. ‘I had decided that if you died, I would immediately die as well.’

‘You were more important. I would have given anything to keep from losing you.’

We all loved her, only differently.

‘Do you often give these outdoor concerts?’

‘If Andrée is ready to take that risk, it’s not up to you to decide for her,’

‘But it is, it’s my job to protect her from herself. Andrée is so generous that she would damn herself for love.’

Zaza died of being exceptional. She was murdered; her death was a ‘spiritualist crime’.

Zaza died because she tried to be herself, and because those around her believed that this was inherently bad.

In this environment one is not allowed to be singular, or to exist for oneself; one may only exist for others.