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Visitation: Chapter 4
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
Sometimes Leah feels insecure because she believes Michel is more attractive than her. Both of them had had many sexual partners in the 1990s before they married each other, even though each had sworn they’d never marry. Leah isn’t sure how exactly she ended up with Michel, but she thinks he’s the kindest man she’s known. Both Pauline and Michel’s family approved. Leah had an abortion two months into their relationship, and she feels she only truly became friends with Michel after they were married.
Despite the problems with Leah and Michel’s marriage that the earlier chapters hint at, this passage illustrates some of the things they have going for them: they are attracted to each other, Leah thinks that Michel is fundamentally kind, and their families support them. This passage suggests that Leah’s secrecy around her pregnancy comes less from a desire to hurt Michel and more from a place of fear and insecurity.
Themes
