Parallels - Less

    Parallels seem to be an ongoing thematic choice made by Andrew Sean Greer in his novel Less. In the beginning few sections, the parallels were not as apparent but toward the end of the book, it becomes obvious that there are several important parallels present in this book. A notable parallel is that of Arthur Less and his book character Swift. Through the character of Swift, Greer is able to show how Less is unaware of how successful his life has been.

Less’ story about Swift, gets rejected by numerous people because people found the story unnecessary. His agent, Peter Hunt, tells him that it’s “hard to feel bad for this Swift...he has the best life of anyone I know” (32). The parallel that Greer begins to draw here is interesting for two reasons: the first would be that it is not entirely apparent that Swift mirrors Less, and two, it shows Less’ lack of comprehension of how interesting his life is. The perspective that the readers get about Less’ life is filled with awkwardness and heartbreak but the rest of the novel reveals how there is so much more to his life than his “day-in-the-life stories” (32). Greer reveals that Less travels around the world and has many love affairs, which is far more interesting to put in a novel than his daily struggles. When Zohra tells him that it’s hard for people to feel sorry about “a white middle-aged American man walking around with his white middle-aged American sorrows” (170), he gets defensive and tells her to “Bugger off” (170). Because in reality, it is a story about Less, he just needs to reframe his story and let his character be happy. The formation of this parallel by Greer is important because it reveals how the only person stopping Swift from being happy is Less, and in turn, the only one stopping Less from being happy is Less.

By the end of the novel, when Less rewrites Swift’s interactions with other characters in the book, he is finally able to change the tone of his life. Stuck at the resort in India writing his novel, Less finds that there is “a bittersweet longing [that] starts to appear” (220) and then he finally gives Swift “the brief benediction of joy” (220). This part of Swift’s story directly correlates to the end of Less’ story where he considers the idea that “who knows what miracle still awaits” (258), only to find Freddy waiting for him on his porch to provide him the brief happiness that he has been waiting for the entire novel.