Critical Essay on High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Introduction

High fidelity is a story about a series of breakups and getting back together which has been manifested by Rob Gordon and his girlfriend, Laura. Laura leaves him, and Rob is engulfed in depression. Throughout the story, Rob is involved in constant efforts to get back to Laura. The frustration that he goes through after the break up with Laura brings memories of all his other failed relationships where through flashback he can recollect the events of that led to the breakups of his top five relationships. Moreover, it is only through Rob's past that the audience gets to understand his current relationship with Laura. One of the prominent themes in the novel is a commitment which has described the efforts of Rob in his struggle to find his purpose in life as well as love.

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The novel is shaped by the thoughts that are engrossed within Rob's mind which defines his life as depressed (Praisler, 2016). In his thirties, he is a conflict of commitment which is coupled up with lack of confidence. Rob as the main character is split between the desire to be free so that he can go where he wants and do anything he feels can enhance the enjoyment of a deeper romantic relationship with a woman. However, in as much as he can enjoy his infatuation with the relationship he is not able to ascertain what is happening within the relationship and where the relationship is headed to. He is engulfed in a wondering state worried if her current woman is the one for his life, moreover, is full of doubts of whether her current girlfriend will stay. Subsequently, after his infatuation with love, he is disturbed and full of critique about himself alongside the woman he is living with (Praisler, 2016).

Rob's lack of commitment towards a relationship is be attributed to his tendency to find more reasons to leave as compared to reasons to stay for both himself and the girlfriend. Considerably, the lack of commitment results to his insecurity in relationships and this consequently affects his confidence and self-worth. As a result, he is involved in a constant search of new women after his break ups. Furthermore, he fears getting committed in a relationship and perceives it as an extended condition for being a prisoner and thus prefers to keep his relationship options wide open. The commitment issue is an element that all of Rob's past girlfriends have gone through (Praisler, 2016). The audience can understand that all his women take the initiative to pursue the relationship while on the other hand, Rob applies fewer efforts to sustain the relationships. On the contrary he loves his girlfriends, and they all chose him to be their man but instead, he concedes to accepting them as his girlfriends.

It can be argued that Rob uses his past relationship as an indicator of the progress of new relationships. For instance, his first relationship with Alison Ashworth turns out as the beginning of the common feature of his relationships, and it can be argued that he never put efforts into his subsequent relationships because of the heartbreak he went through. This happened after Alison left him for another man. Nevertheless, Rob's self-worth is determined by his constant comparison with the man his girlfriend left him for, and this habit contributes to his failing relationships. The audience can acknowledge that it is a fear of commitment that affected Rob's relationship with Laura. For instance, Rob did not want to admit and confess his love for Laura, and thus she never knows if Rob truly is committed to loving her (Chifane, 2015).

Nevertheless, he does not openly admit that he cannot commit, but his actions tell about his reluctance to show affection. With this regards, his relationships end because he tends to lose interest faster in the relationships. He also does not perceive himself as a worthy man, and this has affected many of his links. He sees himself as an average person with an inadequate job.

As depicted in the novel through Rob, the theme of commitment not only affect love life alone but also other aspects of life such as a career. Rob through is his record shop known as Championship Vinyl where he sells classic pop records, gains a lot of money, but in the long run, he is not able to do anything constructive. Furthermore, he has dropped out of school and generally has a dull and monotonous life. Though he makes money from his business, he lacks the enthusiasm to achieve more challenging ambitions. This is evident when Laura urges him to consider venturing into any enjoyable career which he could commit to he does not seems to change. He is comfortable by maintaining is current life characterized by the satisfaction of basic needs such as a roof over his head and daily bread; therefore he is not able to commit.

Furthermore, the theme of confidence as related to lack of commitment is evident in Rob who seems to be unsociable. He always looks for an excuse to help him complain. Moreover, he is hopeless and pessimistic since he does not see positivity in any situation including hos girlfriends. He is very self-centered and not satisfied with his personality. For instance, he perceives himself to be a loser (Chifane, 2015). He lacks confidence and depends on other people as sources of his happiness. He also judges his life through the view of the woman she is living with. His capacity for intimacy directly measures the link between Rob's identity and personality. However, due to his lack of confidence, he does not knows himself better and moreover, he is immature and incapable to establish intimate relationships.

It can also be argued that experience and age can impact on an individual's personality. For instance, Rob later acknowledges his failures after realizing that he gains nothing from his many past relationships as compared to his current relationship with Laura. At this moment he can understand himself and can establish an intimate relationship with her which is characterized by full commitments (Chifane, 2015). The shift of events illustrates to the reader that the theme of lack of commitment has positively changed. Rob can initiate a more-responsibility focused relationship with Laura.

Additionally, he can identify what Laura needs and what can be done to make the relationship succeed. As the relationship progresses, the two can take on the responsibilities of spouse and partners. He can identify his self-worth and this he extends to make his business more productive. He can embrace positivity and optimism as virtues necessary for self-development and consequently his confidence level increases.

References

Chifane, C. (2015). From High Fidelity (1995) to Funny Girl (2014) or What Makes Nick Hornby's Novels so Popular. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 4(2), 192-201.

Praisler, M. (2016). Twenty-first Century Novel Discourse. Nick Hornby" s A Long Way Down. Cultural Intertexts, 5, 97.