Alexandra Slomko answers “I would really like to know from the...”

Debashmita asked this question about Rebecca:

I would really like to know from the readers of this book (Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier), what do you think of the narrator of the book? Where do you think she went wrong or should have acted otherwise?

Alexandra Slomko Hm. So after reading this book and this thread and processing it all, my thoughts are that -- the narrator is possibly an unreliable narrator. I under…moreHm. So after reading this book and this thread and processing it all, my thoughts are that -- the narrator is possibly an unreliable narrator. I understand her personality, that she is very young, self-conscious, not of the same class as Maxim, and has no support system to fall back on. I empathize with her and understand why she thinks and feels certain things and acts certain ways. HOWEVER, I did find myself beginning to dislike Maxim little by little... and, this is where it gets confusing for me. Maxim's admission of what he did to Rebecca isn't what made me ultimately dislike him in the end. I feel like after he admitted his action to the narrator and we all finally understand that he was a victim of Rebecca himself and was living in a kind of prison for all those years, their marriage still felt bizarre to me. Since there had been such little intimacy between Maxim and the narrator throughout the whole book, it just felt too hard to suddenly see them as this in-love couple for the second half of the book. Look, you have to read this book for the time period it was written in, 1938. There are several questionable remarks/moments that are unacceptable and that made me raise my eyebrows. This is a time period where women were expected to fit into neat little boxes, ticking off certain characteristics -- subservient and devoted, or charming and alluring, or naive and submissive...etc. So I can see how Maxim would possibly want such a young, earnest, unfussy, wide-eyed wife like the narrator...but I also have a hard time excusing a lot of his behavior (his cold, transactional demeanor, his criticism) even after empathizing with what he went through with Rebecca. So, perhaps it was the intention of du Maurier to leave her audience feeling puzzled, like "who should we side with?!" which is great! But I empathize with the narrator because I feel like she made the wrong choice in life. Maxim has A LOT of drama and baggage and I wonder if they eventually settle down someplace new and they have their happy ending.... (less)

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