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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in NW, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Identity and Social Mobility
Geography and Human Connection
Sex and Relationships
Altruism
Summary
Analysis
Felix meets up with Tom, a tall, skinny young white man in a shopping area. Felix has agreed to buy Tom’s broken car. The two of them walk away somewhere more remote. Felix mentions he used to be a runner on film sets, and Tom says he also use to be interested in films but now works in a type of advertising. Tom takes a phone call while Felix inspects the car.
The interactions between Felix and Tom provide another example of how people of different social classes interact within a city. This chapter flips the dynamic of Leah and Shar, instead telling the story from the perspective of the person in the lower social status.
Themes
Felix says the car has a lot of problems, and Tom agrees it’s a “project car.” The car is from the same year Felix was born, which he figures is fate. They haggle over the price but don’t reach a final agreement. They go to a pub where Tom tries to buy Felix a drink, but Felix only takes ginger beer because he says he’s an alcoholic.
Felix’s sobriety is a sign both of how he is trying to get his life together but also how he may have been more reckless in the past. The “project car” that Tom offers is another example of how Felix is trying to build something new for his future.
Themes
Tom asks Felix about his jobs before being a mechanic, and Felix talks about working in restaurants and making T-shirts. Felix makes a passing reference to how he’s recovering from being deep into drugs that seems to hang over the conversation. Felix is 32, and he says he had two kids when he was Tom’s age (25). Eventually, Tom starts to smoke, and he asks Felix if he has any weed. Felix doesn’t give a straight answer, and Tom drops the subject.
This passage continues to flesh out Felix’s past, showing how he used to be more impulsive and motivated by things like addiction. Felix’s lack of a relationship with the mother of his children is one way that he’s like Lloyd—and perhaps used to be more like Lloyd in the past.
Themes
Finally, Felix says they need to agree on a price for the car. Tom ends up getting just a little below the minimum he wanted. Later, Felix imagines telling people in his life, like Lloyd or Grace, about the car, but he can’t imagine any of them being interested. As Felix daydreams about the future and how he can imagine science fiction better than Hollywood, he accidentally bumps into a young man outside and arcade, and the two apologize to each other.
Similar to what happened between Shar and Leah, Felix is able to get a little more money out of Tom than he wants to give, partly because Tom is ill at ease with him. Felix’s science fiction speculation show once again how he has increasingly begun to focus his life on the future—one he’ll never see due to his imminent stabbing.
Themes
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As Felix walks down the street, people are already in a celebratory mood, in preparation for the carnival. He goes to a brothel where there are several women who know him. He goes upstairs to see a woman named Annie, who claims to be separate from the brothel (although Felix isn’t sure). Felix has been in a relationship with Annie but hasn’t been back to see her for three months. In Annie’s room, all of a sudden, a man named Erik interrupts the Annie and Felix’s conversation. Erik, a sub-agent working on behalf of the building’s management, explains that the building will be spending money to improve the common areas and the cost will be split among tenants.
Annie’s apartment seems to be another feature of Felix’s past, but unlike the drugs and alcohol, he hasn’t quite been able to let this one go. Partly, this seems to be because his relationship with Annie isn’t just sexual but also personal as well. Regardless of whether or not Felix is ready to let go of his past, the Norwegian man coming with the notice about building renovations hints at how things must change anyway.
Themes
Annie complains to Erik that it isn’t fair for her to have to pay as much money for the renovations as the women in the brothel below her. She has an American accent that often seems to magically influence people. She says Felix isn’t a “gentleman caller” and claims that he is her boyfriend and a filmmaker. Erik insists that he needs Annie to sign papers about the renovations, but Felix says Erik should come back later to pick the signed papers up. Erik finally leaves.
Annie’s choice to specify that Felix isn’t “gentleman caller” (a term she seems to use euphemistically to refer to a man who pays for sex) reflects her desire to distance herself from the sex workers who work at the brothel. She doesn’t want to be associated with women who engage in a profession that she deems disreputable—or she doesn’t want Erik to see her that way, anyway. Her negative view of sex workers also comes through when she insists it’s not fair to make her and the sex workers contribute equally to the building’s renovations.
Themes
When they’re alone, Annie complains to Felix that he doesn’t spend as much time with her and seems to always miss her texts. She tries to offer Felix alcohol, but he refuses. Felix says things are getting serious with Grace, and so he probably won’t be coming around much anymore. Annie asks what’s so special about Grace, sounding skeptical, and Felix says that it’s because she “knows what she’s about.”
In this passage, Annie tries, mostly unsuccessfully, to use alcohol and sex to tempt Felix away from his current life. A part of her seems to genuinely care for him, but another part of her is willing to ruin his life, all for the sake of keeping Felix for herself. In some ways, her attempts to bring Felix back to his old self resemble Lloyd’s treatment of Felix.
Themes
The conversation between Annie and Felix gets more heated as she continues to prod him about Grace. Eventually, Annie says she’s had enough talk and wants to know if Felix actually wants to have sex. He agrees to it. Afterward, he wants her to take a pill to make sure she doesn’t get pregnant, but she resists, saying she’s nearly menopausal anyway. Felix decides he has to go.
Although Felix turns down the alcohol, he can’t stop himself from having sex with Annie, showing what a powerful force sexual attraction can be. Their relationship is a mirror version of Leah and Michel, with Felix insisting that Annie take precautions not to get pregnant while Annie chooses to take the risk.
Themes
Annie gets angry at how abruptly Felix is leaving, but he says that what the two of them have was never a relationship. Felix says that he’s still young enough to want kids, and Annie corrects him by saying “more kids.” Felix complains that there’s always drama whenever he comes to see Annie. As Felix walks out, he feels it’s the last time he will ever see this house.
Annie correctly points out that despite Felix’s fresh start, he can’t fully get rid of his past, including his two children. The final lines of this chapter have a double meaning—while Felix thinks he’ll never see any again because of his resolve, in fact, it’s because he’ll soon be dead.
Themes
