Regardless of this unreliability, readers are compelled to read on to answer questions they have.īy keying in on one character, the reader is given extensive information to be able to gauge the protagonist’s emotions. That violence is what eventually leads to Fern’s exile which is something we only learn at the end of the story from her parents. Not only that she was a chimp but a violent one at that. For example, she herself refrains from revealing Fern’s true nature. This makes the narrator somewhat unreliable as she can leave out details either by choice or by a lack of memory. “So the middle of my story comes in the winter of 1996…ten years had passed since I’d seen my brother, seventeen since my sister disappeared.” What happened between her and her siblings? Naturally, the narrator in this case would be biased because she knows the end before she tells the beginning. Immediately on the first page, the author has the reader asking questions. The diary-style format of the story constantly has the reader wondering how the the protagonist gets from one place to another due to the need of filling plot holes. Karen Joy a Fowler wanted to make Rosemary’s feelings for Fern clear and she did. Fern was her “twin,” her “fun-house mirror,” her “whirlwind other half.” Not her chimp.
This style allows the reader to see Fern through the eyes of Rosemary before revealing Fern’s true nature. Up to that point, Fern is just Rosemary and Lowell’s sister as well as the daughter of two loving parents.
For example, It is only on page seventy-seven when we learn that Fern is a chimpanzee. Karen Joy Fowler uses anthropomorphism to help the reader recognize how Rosemary feels about Fern. With the reader being exposed to Rosemary’s memories, the reader can be able to understand her identity and how she defines herself. This means Fern is a significant part of her sense of self. Rosemary’s life story greatly involves Fern. One’s most vivid memories often say a lot about his or her character. The way Rosemary remembers her life provides an insight on her feelings. The choppy structure of the plot could also be representative of trauma as she struggles with reciting her memories. The story jumps around through different significant parts of her life. We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves begins in medias res and the structure of the timeline allows the author to simulate the recollection of memory.
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