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35. Nick Dunne, Eight Days Gone (1)
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Gone Girl, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Secrets and Lies
Marriage
Misogyny
Writing, Storytelling, and Narrative
Summary
Analysis
As the news of Amy’s (fake) pregnancy finally makes the national news, Amy watches on with glee. She reveals the story of how she faked being with child. Using her “vacant-brained friend Noelle,” she took advantage of Noelle’s pregnancy to drain the toilet at her own house, invite Noelle over for lemonade, steal Noelle’s urine from the un-flushable toilet, and arrange for a doctor’s appointment which would put a pregnancy on her official medical record. She made sure to tell Noelle, knowing that the easily “pliable” woman, over-attached to Amy, would come out with the news soon enough.
Amy loves reflecting on how she’s duped and triumphed over all the dull people in her life. She likes feeling “amazing” and capable, and is proud of all the hard work she’s done in pursuit of her intricate and insane plot. Amy has been the subject of other people’s stories for so long, that manipulating people as part of her own is a true victory for her.
Themes
After a few hours of television, Amy puts on a swimsuit and goes down to the pool. She frets about being unable to control things back in Carthage—Andie still hasn’t come forward, and Amy’s own diary still hasn’t been found. She resolves to call the Find Amazing Amy hotline and leave an anonymous tip in a few days if certain things haven’t come out.
Amy is beginning to get anxious that things aren’t going perfectly—she is still afraid of being less than incredible at everything she attempts after years of measuring herself against her perfect alter ego.
Themes
Down at the pool, Amy runs into one of her new neighbors—a girl who’s staying in the cabin next door to Amy’s. The girl is very young and “proud[ly]” bears a split lip. Amy engages the girl in conversation, introducing herself as “Nancy.” The girl introduces herself as Greta. The two women admit that they’re both here alone—and both landed here because of “guy trouble.” Greta invites Amy to come over to her cabin whenever she wants to watch TV.
Amy finds herself connecting with another woman—and not judging or hating her at first sight. Amy is a misogynist deep down in her bones, and any interaction she has with another woman seems doomed. Even though her meeting with Greta is pleasant and they even bond over their troubles, Flynn is foreshadowing chaos and drama.
Themes
Later that afternoon, Amy goes over to Greta’s. Greta makes the two of them some deli-meat sandwiches, and they settle in to watch the news—Ellen Abbott Live fills the screen, and Amy delights in the chance to discuss her case with someone else. Greta, however, talks slightly disparagingly about Amy, recalling the Amazing Amy books as “so fake” and stating that the picture they show on the news of Amy makes her look “good [for] forty.” As they watch the program, Greta describes Amy as seeming “spoiled” and “bitchy”—and when she goes to the bathroom, Amy goes into her fridge and spits in the food and drinks inside.
Amy is furious with anyone who doesn’t think of her as being perfect—Greta’s joking disparaging of Amy is more than she can take. Amy is obsessed with how other people see her—and if Greta thinks she’s “fake” and “spoiled," Amy worries what the rest of America truly thinks.
Themes
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The two of them continue watching the program as it transitions into disparaging coverage of Nick. Greta looks over at Amy suspiciously, and says she hopes that Nick didn’t kill his wife—she hopes the woman “ran away from him, and [is] hiding out all safe and sound.” Amy can’t tell if Greta is messing with her or not.
This passage muddies the idea of whether Greta knows Amy’s true identity or not. As Amy and Greta continue to interact over the next several chapters, Amy will always have a seed of doubt and fear in the back of her mind.
Themes
