Chapter 1Joe is having a picnic with Clarissa; a balloon carrying a small boy becomes untethered; Joe, along with four other men, rush to hold the balloon down; one-by-one, they let go, until one man is left holding on as the balloon ascends; the others watch in horror as he eventually falls to his death.

First person retrospective narration of Joe Rose. Indicates to the reader that events in the narrative will be subject to his perceptions.

A self-reflexive narrative allows the reader to read the text ironically with a critical distance rather than naively – active rather than passive.

The way McEwan has structured this chapter helps establish a tragedy; the idyll at the beginning is shattered by the ‘catastrophe’ of the balloon accident.

Digresses from the main action in the narrative to analepsis of Joe and Clarissa’s reunion. This establishes their relationship as a crucial aspect in the story, and could also allow McEwan to build tension.

Establishes the scientific rationalism of McEwan’s protagonist. The accompanying description of Joe’s action of running towards the balloon places the intellectual above the emotional – ‘in a state of mathematical grace’. McEwan reveals Joe’s preference to apply reason, a trait which will become increasingly strained throughout the story.

Stark contrast to Clarissa’s approach, who has an affection for ‘hypothetical letters’. The disparity between science and Romanticism is a key theme explored by McEwan through the story, applied initially to the balloon accident and then to the events which follow.

Chapter 2Joe is overcome by mania and a sense of euphoria as he runs towards the body of John Logan; he meets Jed Parry there, who asks him to pray with him; as an atheist, Joe declines.

Continues in form of a self-reflexive narrative – Joe is in a ‘dream’, where he is both ‘third and first persons’. He tries to distance himself from the action of the story, but is too emotionally entangled with events to ensure a reliable narration.

The narrative fits comfortably within the generic conventions of a detective story. Joe ‘circles the corpse’, and scrutinises Jed’s mannerism in great detail, noting his ‘box-red trainers with red laces’. This establishes the details of this frame in a candid manner.

The temporal structure is distorted as it is ‘best to slow down’. The events of this chapter, namely the meeting of Joe and Jed, are crucial to the story and thus McEwan allows the reader to closely analyse aspects of this frame through the narrative.

The closing line, which states ‘deliver me from the radiating power of Jed Parry’s love and pity’ effectively summarises the primary concern of the novel; Jed’s obsession is the crux of the story, and thus this concluding line foreshadows the disarray to follow in the narrative.

Gadd’s love for his son is described as ‘genetic investment’, thus reducing love to a biological function. Again, McEwan indicates Joe’ preference for applying reason to emotional reactions, a trait which will become increasingly strained throughout the novel as McEwan builds Jed’s obsession in the narrative.

Jed’s language is an early warning of the disarray his character will cause throughout, as he claims ‘God has brought us together in this tragedy’; this effectively signifies his obsession, McEwan’s primary means of crafting him as the antagonist of the story, but also serves to highlight his religious ideology, something directly opposed to Joe’s scientific rationalism.

Chapter 3On the evening of the balloon accident Joe and Clarissa go over the events of the day and the meeting with Parry; Clarissa’s inability to have children is revealed; they make love and then have a takeaway with friends; Jed calls late at night and tells Joe he loves him; Joe tells Clarissa it was a wrong number

When recounting the balloon accident, Joe and Clarissa are ‘threading single perceptions into narrative’. This metafictional reference again reminds the reader of Joe’s self-reflexive narrative and offers further question to the validity of his account of events in the story.

A psychological thriller aspect is certainly present in the ending of this chapter. Joe feels Jed’s phone call ‘snatched me from the beginnings of sleep’ and thus indicates the start of Jed’s role as a psychotic menace. It also effectively foritfies the romance which McEwan had built in the preceding passage, where Joe felt reassured by the fact he and Clarissa ‘had each other’.

As the focus is on events earlier in the day, the chapter is not chronologically linear; the balloon accident is revisited in the narrative as both Joe and Clarissa analyse the events in detail.

The last few paragraphs of this chapter are particularly climactic, as Jed telephones Joe to tell him he loves him. This is the first indication of Jed’s obsession, the primary concern of the story of Enduring Love; thus, Joe acknowledging he has made his ‘first serious mistake’ in not telling Clarissa of the true nature of the phone call serves to foreshadow the disarray Jed’s obsession will cause in the narrative.

Clarissa tells Jed ‘you’re so rational sometimes you’re like a child’. This virtual oxymoron serves to highlight the ideological differences between the two characters. McEwan has created this disparity between Joe and Clarissa to, primarily, offer the reader differing approaches to events in the narrative;

Chapter 4Clarissa leaves to meet with her brother, who is having an affair; Joe writes an article on the Hubble telescope, meets with a radio producer whom he tells of the balloon accident, only to feel embarrassed later; in the London Library he researches storytelling in science; throughout the day he feels as if he is being watched an believes he catches a glimpse of Parry.

Retrospective first-person narrative of Joe Rose. There is a lot of self-reflexive language to call the reliability of his narration into question, most notably when referring to a theory on a dog’s behaviour. McEwan calls on the ‘power and attractions of narrative’ on ‘clouding judgement’; whilst Joe dismisses the theory as ‘nonsense’, McEwan shows him to clearly recognise the desirability of crafting a story while disregarding rationality. Thus, the reader is likely to question Joe’s retelling of events in the narrative.

Psychological thriller – Joe is ‘agitated’, admitting it is down to his ‘emotional state’. Jed’s behaviour has clearly disconcerted Joe mentally.

The murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher is mentioned in the closing paragraphs of this chapter, where Joe stands ‘right on the spot’ where she was killed, with a ‘bunch of marigolds’ at his feet. The inclusion of this frame into the narrative allows McEwan to create a sense of foreboding for the disarray to follow.

Language denoting uncleanliness: ‘unclean’, ‘tainted’ and ‘pollution’. This evokes the contamination Joe feels since the balloon accident, as McEwan presents the ramifications of this event on his protagonist in a tangible way to the reader.

The language effectively conveys Joe’s heightened anxiety , as he searches for the right word for his ‘emotional state’. McEwan thus presents an exploration of Joe’s mentality

Chapter 5Jed is desperate to tell Clarissa but she is not at home; he watches the news but still thinks about Jed; he dials last number on his phone and reaches Jed’s answering machine; he continues to work on his ‘narrative in science’ article but is in a heightened state of anxiety makes him jump at Clarissa’s arrival home; she is upset at her brother’s infidelity so Joe does not talk about Jed.

Emphasis on the unreliability of Joe’ narration; Freud’s work is ‘fabulation run riot’ but this is followed by Joe’s realisation that ‘what I had written wasn’t true’. He admits his article was for ‘readability’ and thus recognises a desire for a self-justifying narrative in his own work.

Fits into conventions of a psychological thriller as Joe senses ‘someone at my back’; following description of biological responses to fear builds suspense in the narrative; his fears are unfounded, as in a anti-climactic ending to this episode, it is Clarissa who comes ‘rapidly across the room’.

Opening and closing represent a cyclical nature to events in the narrative. In the opening, Joe is depicted as restless, with ‘discomfort’ and ‘apprehension’. The narrative diverts into Joe’s preoccupation with his science article and thus McEwan’s case for subjective narratives.

Ending is parallel to that of Chapter 3, as both are marked by Jed’s phone call as manifestation of his obsession. Yet, Joe has asserted control as he states ‘Parry was for tomorrow’, but his action of unplugging the phone is only a temporary solution. The line beginning ‘we tumbled out of our respective days…’ shows how the narrative will go further into disarray.

Tetracolon climax of Joe’ scientific method: ‘propose it, evince the evidence, consider the objections, re-assert the conclusion’ is something he considers a ‘narrative in itself’. It seems he wants to apply the same logic to his own narrative.

Chapter 6Joe wakes up and recalls when he and Clarissa moved into the apartment; he frets about Jed; he finally tells Clarissa but she doesn’t take him seriously; when Clarissa leaves the phone rings and it is Jed; Joe agrees to meet him.

First-person retrospective narration of Joe Rose. This chapter emphasises the unreliability of his narration – he admits his ‘gut tightened’ at the word ‘narrative’.

Psychological thriller – despite Joe seemingly asserting control over the situation with Jed by telling him ‘if I hear from you again I’m calling the police’, he soon agrees to meet him, with the justification of ‘the alternative was more of this.’ McEwan thus shows how Jed has mentally manipulated Joe into feeling a false sense of security, a device synonymous with the psychological thriller form.

Analepsis to the balloon accident. Joe explicitly refers to how he and the other men ‘killed’ John Logan. He offers self-justification, repeating ‘not me’ when considering the first person to let go. It appears as though McEwan is conveying an attempt by Joe to seek reason for the ill-fortune which he has endured since the accident.

At the end of this chapter, after Clarissa has left and Joe has agreed to meet Jed, McEwan notes her perfume ‘still hung in the air’. This suggests that as Jed’s obsession grows, Clarissa’s presence fades for Joe; in this sense, it foreshadows the strain in their relationship will endure in later chapters.

Clarissa moves through the conversation with Joe ‘like a bomb disposal expert’. McEwan thus implies the fragility of Joe’s mental state, as a result of Jed’s obsession; the reference to a ‘bomb’ further suggests that Joe will reach a breaking point in the story.

Chapter 7Joe leaves his apartment to meet Jed, who declares his love for him; he is certain Joe loves him back and will leave Clarissa so they can be together; Joe leaves in taxi and tells Jed to leave him alone.

McEwan presents a pastiche of a love story and psychological thriller to craft a twisted romance genre in this chapter. Jed is adamant ‘you love me’ when speaking to Joe. It becomes clear Jed’s actions have, true to the conventions of a psychological thriller, affected Joe’s mentality; he admits it takes ‘an act of will to dismiss the sense I owed this man’. McEwan thus shows how Jed obsession, masquerading as intense love for Joe, makes him a considerable threat in the story.

Regular temporal structure conveys a stream of consciousness from Joe. McEwan shows how his protagonist is far embroiled in the situation with Jed, enough to notice the ‘variety of his emotional states and the speed of their transitions’.

Disturbing final image of Joe looking ‘like a man blessed in love’. A foreboding image; Jed is clearly unaffected by Joe’s dismissal. It is this utter conviction of love that McEwan uses to craft his antagonist, and this frame serves to foreshadow the disarray Jed’s obsession will bring in the following chapters.

Jed is described throughout this chapter with an emphasis with a continuous reference to being childlike; he is a ‘curious child’, and has an ‘adolescent defiance’

Chapter 8Joe returns to the London Library to write an article on why babies smile and the evolutionary argument of nature over nurture; he remembers discussions with Clarissa on scientists; on taking a taxi home he discovers Jed waiting on the doorstep; once he gets in Jed continues to call him so he phones the police; they do not take his complaint seriously; after the conversation he is despondent and doubts his scientific career; there is a phone message from Jed congratulating him on the curtains.

Joe’s retrospective first person narrative. Emphasis on the self-reflexive nature. Upon the unsuccessful attempt at police involvement in the situation with Jed, Joe notes how no ‘facility’ would be able to ‘process every private narrative’. He clearly recognises the falsifiability of the story, and so McEwan draws on the unreliability of his narration.

Conventions of a detective story. The quick-fire questioning of the police, the ‘interrogative flowchart’, effectively summarises events so far, in a way which reminds the reader that Jed poses a threat purely through his obsession, his desire to ‘save’ Joe. Yet, it is important to recognise that as the police do not take his complaint seriously, the role of the detective is confirmed to be that of Joe – it is up to him to interpret Jed’s movements and, most significantly, deal with him.

Several digressions into scientific discourse. Serves as an exploration of rationalism, significant in following the events of the previous chapter where Jed displayed highly irrational behaviour. ‘If we want to know who we are, we have to know where we came from’ effectively summarises Joe’s preference for reason, a trait that becomes increasingly strained through the situation with Jed.

At the centre of this chapter is Joe’s thought that he is ‘in a relationship’ as he watches the telephone, waiting for Jed’s call. Despite still asserting his unwillingness to return Jed’s affections, from this point the narrative primarily concerns Jed’s obsession, and thus McEwan shows how the relationship between Joe and Clarissa is deteriorating.

Highlights ideological differences between Joe and Clarissa most prominently in this chapter. Clarissa criticises the science Joe describes as the ‘new fundamentalism’, as ‘larger meaning was lost’

Chapter 9Clarissa’s narration, as imagined by Joe. She's had a bad day, feels ill, and just wants a bath and for Joe to look after her; but he tells her all about Jed and his desire to get back into theoretical physics, giving her no space. She doesn't believe him about the former, going as far as to suggest Joe might have invented him, and is doubtful about his plans. Joe storms out, only to meet Jed at the end of the path.

Clarissa’s perspective, as McEwan presents to the reader a contrasting approach to the story so far. However, the fact this is how Joe ‘later constructed it’ makes the chapter a complex deceit. It is an exploration of narrativisation – the balloon accident had previously been ‘anecdotalised’ but is now ‘breaking out’, presumably as a result of Joe’s fears about Jed that he voiced in the previous chapter. Depicts how this situation is beginning to affect Clarissa’s own narrative.

In the present tense – gives a sense of immediacy, as the drama between Joe and Clarissa is played out in a mode of ‘real time’ in the reader’s imagination.

This chapter represents a turning point in the relationship – the breakdown of the relationship between Joe and Clarissa. The narrative digresses several times into an analysis of their relationship, with Clarissa concluding ‘his intensity is inhibiting her’.

The chapter ends with Joe storming out, McEwan explicitly indicating their relationships has broken. The final image is of Jed ‘waiting for him’, thus signalling the beginning of a new enduring love in the narrative – that of Jed for Joe.

Highlights their differences and indicates the strain in their relationships as a result of Jed. Description of Joe as a ‘non-stop talking ape’ represents Clarissa’s annoyance, as perceived by Joe, and is also a connotation to his beloved Darwinism – his failure to accept any other reasoning, both in science and the situation with Jed Parry, is what has caused the breakdown in the relationship. Following Joe’s admission that he is ‘agitated’, the hot water pipe is described as ‘an arrhythmic tick’ – the reference to the heart is significant as this represents a countdown to the end of Clarissa and Joe’s love in the narrative.

Chapter 11Jed fills in Joe on what he calls his 'ocean surface' - from ordinary family but living in a palatial house in Hampstead due to a crook of an uncle - having already revealed to him his 'ocean floor' - his soul. He reiterates his mission (to 'mend [Joe's] rift with God through the healing power of love'), mentions again the problem of Clarissa, apologises for what he sees as rejecting Joe on their first encounter after the ballooning accident, and asks for Joe's forgiveness.

First break from the main narrative, to the epistolary form. Allows the reader to gain Jed’s perspective in the story and ultimately his motives in pursuing Joe; it is essentially a love story crafted by Jed. May even elicit sympathy from the reader for his utter conviction of his feelings for Joe. ‘Love has given me new eyes, I see with such clarity’

Letter fluctuates between exploring Jed’s inner feelings for Joe, or his ‘ocean floor’, to that of his life, his ‘ocean surface’ – a exposition that his parents are dead and he has inherited considerable wealth. By juxtaposing the two, McEwan allows the reader to see Jed as a more sentient being than they have otherwise seen in the story – he is no longer purely characterised by his delusions.

At the end of his letter, Jed asks Joe ‘will you ever forgive me?’. This is a foreboding final line, as it is not clear of if Jed is referring to the past or future in the story – it is likely to be McEwan’s notion that Jed’s obsession with Joe returning his feelings will only continue in the narrative.

The language of this chapter is typically cliché romance, as McEwan conveys the alarming extent of Jed’s feelings. His love is portrayed as akin to that of an adolescent ‘I covered five sheets of paper with your name’ gives an innocent quality.

It is important to consider the delusions which underlie Jed’s feelings, of which McEwan frequently evinces to the reader.

Chapter 12Joe is driving to Oxford to see John Logan's widow, Jean. In a flashback he recounts his breakfast conversation with Clarissa about Jed's letter, a conversation in which it appears they have very different views about the situation and are drifting apart because of it. Joe begins to suspect that she has a lover and, after a long discussion of 'unacknowledged self-persuasion', finds himself in her study and going through her private letters. After a brief flash return to the journey narrative, there is a brief flash forward to Clarissa's return home that night and the arrival of a letter the following morning turning down his bid to re-enter the world of theoretical physics. Back in the journey narrative, he approaches Jean Logan's house and begins to realise his true motives for the visit.

Chapter 13On arrival Joe reads the house as 'a perfect setting for sorrow', but once inside sees that it has other, older stories to tell too. Jean Logan quizzes him about the accident, and clearly suspects her husband was having an affair and was with the woman at the time. She needs certainty, despite knowing it will be painful, and wants revenge.

Chapter 14Joe engages in a discussion of moral relativism with the Logan children, then Jean asks him to contact the others present at the ballooning accident to see if they have any information. She also tells him her theory of why John Logan died - not, as Joe fears, because he or one of the others let go of the ropes too soon; but because Logan was showing off to his new woman, and trying to deny the aging process. This conversation takes place over the noise of the children playing with the curtains, which triggers Joe remembering about De Clerambault's syndrome - a piece of knowledge to cling onto which makes him 'almost happy'.

Chapter 15On the way back from Oxford, Joe revisits the scene of the ballooning accident, imagining De Clerambault is there. Jed is waiting for him outside the flat and tells him that he spent the previous evening reading Joe's 35 articles. Joe also feels slightly threatened by Jed's claim that he can pay to get what he wants. Inside, Clarissa is waiting in his study to confront Joe about his going through her private letters.

Pastiche of genres presented by McEwan in this chapter. The conventions of a detective story are present as Jed revisits the scene of the balloon accident and attempts to decipher the components around him to establish if there is any truth in Jean’s theory. Yet, he inadvertently returns to his own situation with Jed, as he is ‘impatient’ to research de Clerambault and tries to ‘imagine how he could have read rejection in my posture’. True to this genre, McEwan establishes his protagonist as the detective, who must interpret Jed’s movements and most importantly, deal with him.

Fits comfortably into the genre of a psychological thriller. Jed now poses a more tangible threat: ‘I can get people to do things for me.’ Works to build tension in the narrative, something which is realised later on in the chapter; upon returning to his apartment, Joe feels ‘something was wrong’, leaving the reader to consider several chilling possibilities. He admits he ‘misread the air’ as a result of his ‘anxiety’ – the encounter with Jed has affected him psychologically, and thus heightened his senses in a way synonymous with a psychological thriller.

A stream of consciousness from Joe, including some brief moments of analepsis to the balloon accident. He remembers the ‘point where our fates converged’, which further indicates the accident as a catalyst for all other events in the narrative.

Chapter finishes on Clarissa’s insistence that Joe has left a ‘signal’ which she is unable to decode. This parallels the ending of Chapter 8, where Jed mistakenly perceives the curtains as Joe’s signal to him. Thus Clarissa displays a similar tendency to Jed in searching for reason in objects around her. Yet, Clarissa has so far been portrayed as distinctly more rational than Jed; her suspicions can be seen to fortify Joe as someone who leads others on. Overall, the ending of the chapter serves to foreshadow the break in Joe and Clarissa’s relationship as a result of Jed’s obsession.

Language highlights the extent of Jed’s obsession. Imagining De Clerambault in a ‘double-breasted suit’ at the scene of the accident, arriving with Parry and several others, serves to officialise Jed’s delusion. The illness is further described as a ‘dark and distorting mirror’ which effectively represents his deprived state of mind and perceptions of the world.

Reference to a post-lapsarian world, when Joe states ‘I could not imagine a route back into that innocence’. Indicative of the suffering and agonising he has endured since the balloon accident as a result of Jed’s obsession, McEwan has conveyed as affecting Joe’s state of mind and his relationships with Clarissa.

Chapter 16Jed criticises Joe's work as an attack on God, but is more determined and sure of what he sees as his ultimate victory. He reassures Joe that he will always be there for him, and warns him against trying to pretend that he (Jed) doesn't exist.

The second time an entire chapter is a letter from Jed Parry. The use of the epistolary form again allows the reader to gain an insight into the antagonist’s perspective, yet McEwan has intensified Jed’s obsession considerably more in this chapter. Whilst Joe’s perceptions of events in the narrative are affected by his scientific rationalism, Jed’s are clearly influence by the power of his delusions

As this obsession intensifies, the psychological thriller genre is reinforced – Jed tells Joe he is ‘unaware of his own vulnerability’. Jed’s letter fluctuates between attempted conversation: ‘how is it possible to love God and love you at the same time?’ to vicious judgement: ‘I worry for what your arrogance could bring down on you’, serving to highlight

Repeated use of rhetorical questions: ‘what about me? Hurt me? Insult me?’ creates a sense of uncertainty and unease – McEwan depicts how Jed’s obsession has intensified, as he clearly expects something from Joe, leaving Joe and certainly the reader to invariably question by which means he will go to achieve it

Distinctly informal tone – conversational manner, ‘I worry for you, Joe’; McEwan highlights the level at which Jed believes he and Joe have a real, loving connection, but ironically furthers the conflict of protagonist/antagonist

Chapter 17Joe is in bed with Clarissa, thinking he is enjoying a recovery of their disappearing intimacy when she tells him that it's all over and departs for the spare ('children's') room. This narrative is interspersed with details about Jed's other (frequent) letters and loitering, reflections on Jed's character and 'inviolable… solipsism', and details of Joe's phone calls to the others present at the accident made at Mrs Logan's request. Most draw a blank, but Joseph Lacey clearly knows something and agrees to meet Joe.

Chapter 18The day of Clarissa's birthday. Joe prepares a file for the police of what he sees as Jed's threats, but his interview with Duty Inspector Linley gets him nowhere. Joe, remembering the morning of Clarissa's birthday, muses on religion and genetics, and evolution.

Genre of the novel begins to morph into that of an action adventure novel; Joe is reluctant hero, taking control of events and galvanising himself into action; he even remarks ‘where the human need for order meets the human tendency to mayhem…you find friction’, which indicates

Psychological thriller; Joe comments ‘Parry was not there…the change in routine made me uneasy. Not only conveys Jed’s physical absence, but also serves to highlight the way he has affected Joe’s mentality to a state of uneasiness, synonymous with this form; fortifies Jed as a threat.

Narrative continually digresses into an exploration of Jed’s rationality: ‘his belief was a self-made affair’. Such calm analysis was not present earlier in the novel; McEwan further characterises Jed as deluded, yet it also offers some kind of justification for what will follow in the narrative .

The closing line is distinctly ominous, as Joe states ‘the task of getting us back to where we were was going to be mine alone’. Not only serves to highlight the split of Clarissa and Joe, but also the situation with Jed; foreshadows how Joe will become solitary in dealing with Jed; as Clarissa concludes in Chapter 23, the very reason for his downfall.

Jed’s language fortifies Joe’s fears of his growing physical meance. ‘I can get people to do things for me.’ This also serves to make the antagonist a more tangible threat with regards to the implied reader; evokes a sense of urgency.

Blunt, economic language of officialdom pervades the interview with Inspector Linley. ‘Lewd suggestions? Sexual sorts of things then?’ This proves ironic, as McEwan presents an attempt at rationalising the irrational.

Chapter 19Clarissa's birthday lunch with Joe and her godfather, Professor Jocelyn Kale. Kale gives Clarissa her present - a double helix brooch - and regales them with tales of the discovery of DNA. Joe finally gives her his present - a first edition of Keats's Poems of 1817. A man in the party of three on the next table is shot and wounded, and a lone man (Jed Parry) at another table prevents the would be assassin from finishing off his victim.

Chapter 20Back at the police station, and grateful and relived that at last the truth will out, Joe is shocked to discover that his version of events is not believed by the police - not helped by the fact that everyone's version is slightly different. Joe reflects on the impossibility of objective truth. Back at the flat Joe searches through his address book, finally finding the person - Johnny B Well - most likely to be able to get him what he wants - a gun.

Form of newspaper story at the beginning –officialising the events of the previous chapter. Joe remarks ‘…it was if the subject had been mapped out long ago’ as if

Begins to move into the thriller genre in the latter half of the chapter, as Joe realises he can no longer rely on others to help with the situation with Jed. ‘I was about to step outside the illuminated envelope of fear…into a hard-edged world of consequences’. McEwan increases the narrative tension.

Optimistic first-half – the newspaper article reporting on the events of the previous chapter as fact, followed by Joe’s statement. He believes ‘Parry had to be charged with attempted murder’; however this is diminished when the police inform him his account is unreliable; this is what makes joe consider more drastic measures.

Ends on a clear cliff-hanger, as Joe states ‘I need a gun’. Indicates Joe’s physical action of buying the gun to follow in the narrative. The notion of violence and murder to end the consuming obsession become a tangible prospect for the reader.

Language used effectively to build tension – ‘Parry was all around me’

Emphasis on unreliability. Joe attempts to retain his own narrative, commenting ‘good…you got the picture’ when Wallace tells him he spoke to Jed; yet Wallace is sceptical of his account. Joe states ‘we lived in a mist of half-shared, unreliable perception’

Chapter 21Joe and Johnny go to pick up the gun from Johnny's ex-hippy contacts, Steve, Xan and Daisy. After a tense and violent encounter Joe leaves with the gun, only to be phoned by Jed who is in Joe's flat with Clarissa.

McEwan effectively presents a pastiche of thriller and comedy, to craft a melodramatic black comedy. The image of Steve, the man with the ‘ludicrous moustache’, is followed by Joe’s realisation that he ‘was the man who was selling me a gun’. Evokes the madness Joe has descended into as a result of Jed’s obsession.

Aspects of tragedy are also invoked with the derelict setting (see language) and the hippies’ absurdity. We reflect that this is where Joe’s mental deterioration has lead him. The closing lines with Jed seem to complete Joe’s tragic fall as they showing how out-of hand the situation has really become when it could have been handled simply.

In the opening few paragraphs of this chapter, Johnny tells Joe ‘So you’ve done all right . . . Yeah, I always knew you’d be ok’ This is an ironic statement, considering the events of the previous chapters and certainly what Joe is about to do.

Ends on a cliff-hanger, as Jed tells Joe on the phone ‘I’m at your place, sitting here with Clarissa.’ McEwan effectively creates tension; in the preceding chapters, the threat Jed poses has been made more tangible with his explicit warnings and the restaurant shooting. Will this threat culminate in the following chapter?

The hippies are made parodies through their language. Johnny’s ridiculous protocol, containing euphemisms ‘the wherewithal, or the necessary’ (189) for the gun itself is a way of McEwan caricaturing him as a quasi-gangster

Similarly to Chapter 13, dismal language is used to describe the setting: ‘gloomy,’ ‘rutted,’ ‘crumbling,’ ‘pieced by weeds,’ and ‘nettles.’ It reflects a sense of failure on the hippies’ part- a ‘fallen’ landscape- but perhaps it also reflects Joe’s own failure and fall from grace with regards to his relationship. Post-lapsarian imagery.

Chapter 22Joe stops in some woods to try out the gun, races back to London, enters the flat and, after some tense moments with Jed and a knife, shoots Jed in the elbow. No charges are pressed against Joe, but he lives with an enduring image of Clarissa's expression of 'repulsion and surprise' at his using a gun.

Self-reflexive narrative again

Chapter 23Clarissa's letter. Whilst acknowledging that he was in some ways right about Jed Parry, and that he has saved her life, Clarissa nevertheless still blames Joe for the way he has handled the situation, and fundamentally sees it as his fault. From her point of view Joe, as well as Jed, has serious problems.

Epistolary form allows the reader to gain the first insight into Clarissa’s perspective in the story. Whilst admitting she was ‘completely wrong’ with regards to Jed Parry, she offers a viewpoint previously unbeknown to the reader, that Joe was ‘manic, driven and very lonely’

Immediately answers Joe’s concern of the previous chapter, that ‘perhaps we really were finished’. The events of the previous chapter have clearly sparked an argument, as Clarissa opens her letter with the immediate ‘I’m sorry about our row’.

Chapter 24Joe and Clarissa drive to Oxford to see Jean Logan, ten days after the shooting and the day after Joe's meeting with Joseph Lacey. They talk awkwardly and impersonally about Keats, electric cars and life on Mars before arriving at Mrs Logan's. After a picnic by the Thames they are joined by James Reid, Euler Professor of Logic, and Bonny Deedes, his student. Reid explains that Bonny is his 'mistress', and was not Logan's, who was merely giving them a lift after their car had broken down. The main narrative ends with Jean Logan's daughter Rachael asking Joe to tell her brother Leo about the river.

Returns to retrospective first person narration of Joe, immediately shown by the line ‘Ten days after the shooting I drove down to Watlington’. Events are, again, subject to his perceptions in the narrative.

Joe’s response to Clarissa’s letter of the previous chapter. He states ‘I disliked its wounded, self-righteous tone, its clammy emotional logic’. By crafting Joe’s response in this way, McEwan furthers the divide between the two characters in the story, highlighting their differing worldviews by Joe’s condemnation of her ‘emotional logic’. He thus derides from the hope of reconciliation.

This chapter could be said to lend to an overall cyclical structure of the story, as Joe again embarks on a picnic with Clarissa in an echo of the first chapter, the opening paragraph detailing the contents of the picnic ‘mozzarella globe, ciabatta, olives, tomatoes, anchovies…’ in the same precise manner. Whilst Joe’s tendency for preciseness may be unchanged, the relationship with Clarissa has. This is confirmed by Joe’s admission that their row ‘had been a long and grisly affair’. McEwan fortifies the situation with Jed as having had a huge impact on their love in the narrative – from the idyll of first chapter to now.

Language used to convey separation of Joe and Clarissa, but also of the hope that remains in the story. ‘The day was cloudy and cool, but there was a thin band of blue in the west’ McEwan’s use of pathetic fallacy here may at first indicate the separation of Joe and Clarissa as their relationship could be said to have ‘cooled’, but remarking on the ‘thin band of blue’ establishes a hope for reconciliation, which will indeed be realised later in the novel’s closure.

Children in this chapter are used as a symbol of renewal, which Joe is undoubtedly seeking since the situation with Jed and the subsequent split with Clarissa. He commends the ‘mild pride…the acceptance…when a child takes your hand’.

Appendix I The narrative of this chapter is purely scientific discourse, in a detached third person objectivity,

supposedly written by psychiatrists ‘Wenn and Camia’. Interestingly, these names are an anagram of author Ian McEwan.

Joe & Clarissa’s Relationship• Joe states in opening character that they are ‘seven years into a childless marriage of love’

• However the opening chapter also initiates their contrasting worldviews, as Joe describes the balloon accident through the canon of science rationalism: ‘in a state of mathematical grace’, whilst Clarissa is introduced as a Keatsian scholar

• McEwan uses the balloon accident and Jed’s subsequent obsession to tease out this disparity into conflict

• She understands Jed as a ‘lonely inadequate man’, whilst Joe maintains ‘he was the affliction she had failed to support me against’

• The power of Jed as a recurrent menace in the story lies in the way he exploits the disparity of Joe and Clarissa to divide them and move closer to Joe

• Clarissa apparently has a ‘conviction that love that did not find its expression in a letter was not perfect’; Jed’s letters, whilst undeniably fuelled by his delusions, offer sentiments synonymous with ‘perfect love’

• Joe even states De Clerambault ‘parodied a brighter world of lovers whose reckless abandon to their cause was sane’

However, their relationship does epitomise the novel’s title; Appendix I gives the rather pleasing conclusion that ‘R and M later successfully reconciled and adopted a child’, and thus their relationship has endured the tribulations it faced

Their contrasting worldviews are employed by McEwan to explore the ways in which different individuals can read and interpret events

It is implied both find solace in storytelling, as after the balloon accident they sit together, ‘threading single perceptions into narrative’

Their narratives regarding the situation with Jed are undeniably wildly conflicting, exemplifying the disparity of a rationalistic and emotional approach; yet it is unwise to simply rely on either

Joe gains satisfaction from medically defining Jed’s condition, a ‘classic case’; yet this deprives Jed of any emotion

The ultimate symbol of their reconciliation adoption of a child satisfies both worldviews; certainly Clarissa’s

Clarissa Emotional viewpoint on the world, as evinced from the opening chapter, her affection for

‘hypothetical letters’ The balloon accident and Jed’s subsequent obsession throw the relationship into disarray; they

both find solace in storytelling, ‘threading single perceptions into narrative’ Clarissa’s narrative indeed focuses on Jed’s emotional state; she ‘understands’ him as ‘an

inadequate lonely man…needing to connect with something’ and even suggests Joe asks him in for a cup of tea; whilst this may seem like an absurd proposal once Jed’s threat is fortified in the novel’s violent climax

Her justification for her emotional stance in the novel comes in her letter where she emphasises how, in pursuing Jed’s obsession with his staunch reasoning, Joe inadvertently became ‘manic, driven and very loely’

As a Keatsian scholar, she is consigned to the study of lonely, elusive figures; this romantic sensibility can certainly be applied to Jed and Joe

Indeed all literature is subject to the reader’s response in offering a variety of interpretations which go beyond that of face value; Clarissa offers a perspective on Jed that supersedes him as simply a ‘classic case’ of De Clerambault

However, there are substantial flaws in Clarissa’s ideology which McEwan demonstrates She is simply wrong in perceiving Jed as only a ‘nuisance’, and later implying him to be borne of

Joe’s own imagination Perhaps she assumes Joe has similar imaginative capabilities to herself, this trait itself renders

an intriguing parallel between her character and that of Jed Parry Much like Jed believes the curtains to be a way of Joe communicating, Clarissa sees Joe

leaving a drawer open as ‘a statement, a message’ The misreading of signs is rooted in the irrationality of their idealised love; Clarissa’s ‘conviction

that love that did not find its expression in a letter was not perfect’ is somewhat adhered to by Jed in his numerous letters

Love• Enduring Love as an exploration of the concept of ‘love’, not principally portraying a romantic

relationship

• Irrationality, – initially portrayed as an idyll by Joe, as they were ‘seven years into a childless marriage of love’;

• Displaying key principles of love, of care and affection; the title itself depicts an ideal love which endures through any tribulation it may face;

• The allusion to Keats and Brawne enhances the portrait of an ideal romance; but as a Romantic poet, it should be noted that Keat’s ideology had an emotional basis, prioritising the feelings over rational thought, and here we draw on another association of love, with irrationality

• Jean Logan’s suspicions of her late husband’s affair are interpreted by Joe as ‘a narrative that only grief…could devise’.

• It is reasonable to acclaim this grief has come about because she loved her husband so much, and jumping to the conclusion that he was having an affair epitomises irrationality as a by-product of love

• Clarissa’s letter of Chapter 23 states that ‘our love was the kind to go on and on’ an allusion to the title itself; love as something that lasts is upheld in the narrative in Appendix I, as ‘R and M were later successfully reconciled’

• Jed’s love for Joe should not immediately be disregarded as a product of delusion - Joe’s depiction of Jed’s obsession is so compelling to readers because it is so close to ordinary romantic attachment

• de Clerambault may be perceived as a ‘dark and distorting mirror’ to Joe, but a reflection nonetheless

• Iit is suggested that lovers are likely to abandon themselves to their cause while one individual in love with another may seem fixated or even obsessed

• Sscientific rationalist protagonist Joe may have felt slightly reassured to medically define Jed’s condition as De Clerambault’s, but as the psychiatric authorities conclude, it is ‘indeed a lasting form of love’; love as projecting an idealised version of the object

Obsession• Jed, most obvious representation of obsession- simply his stalking of Joe itself, justified by his

absolute conviction of Joe’s love is something which renders him obsessional, his madness fortified by the fact he ends up ‘held indefinitely in a secure mental hospital’; however,

• Joe’s depiction of Jed’s obsession is so compelling to readers because it is so close to ordinary romantic attachment

• De Clerambault may be perceived as a ‘dark and distorting mirror’ to Joe, but a reflection nonetheless; it is suggested that lovers are likely to abandon themselves to their cause while one individual in love with another may seem fixated or even obsessed

• Scientific rationalist protagonist Joe may have felt slightly reassured to medically define Jed’s condition as De Clerambault’s, but as the psychiatric authorities conclude, it is ‘indeed a lasting form of love’

• Joe’s obsession with Jed – Clarissa’s letter of Chapter 23 offers a unique perspective on the story, as she claims Joe ‘manic, driven and very lonely’, terms which could be equally applicable to Jed Parry; centres on the obsession Joe inadvertently develops in response to Jed

• His Neo-Darwinist principles, which Clarissa implies is an obsession in itself by deriding the movement as ‘rationalism gone berserk’, and indeed his scientific rationalism itself is challenged by Jed’s obsession; his buying of the gun as the story reaches its climax is somewhat a parody of Darwinism as Joe regresses into a state of primitive madness

Objective/subjective• McEwan’s choice of a first-person narration as the primary way of telling the story of Enduring

Love means every event in the story is subject to Joe Rose’s own perspective; it is subjective

• Self-reflexive narrative is evinced from the opening of line of ‘the beginning was simple to mark’; contradicts himself in following chapter as he states ‘a beginning is an artifice’

• As a postmodernist work, McEwan essentially explores the role of narrative, emphasising the notion that all narrative is subjective

• In Chapter 3 storytelling is highlighted as a form of comfort, as Joe explains the ‘story was gaining in shape…now it was spoken from a place of safety’

• However, it is reasonable to acclaim that the subjective narrative establishes an image of the narrator as much as the events they are portraying

• The initial ‘catastrophe’ of the balloon accident effectively presents how Joe’s Neo-Darwinist worldview not only presents and evaluates events in the ‘explosion of consequences’ but also characterises Joe himself

• McEwan’s breaks from Joe’s narration at least allow the novel to strive to some form of objectivity; Clarissa’s emotional worldview is fortified in her letter, as she offers the view that Joe became ‘manic, driven and very lonely’

Children• Innocence – Notably, it is a ten-year-boy who the men scramble to save from the balloon; Joe’s

desperation to hang on is borne of the recognition that ‘the child was incapable’.

• This association of children with innocence is maintained throughout; Joe chooses to describe Jed as ‘a curious child’ to emphasise his apparent harmlessness; the novel is an exploration of perspective

• Symbol of renewal – Although Joe portrays his romance with Clarissa as idyllic in the opening chapter, as they were ‘seven years into a childless marriage of love’ , it is interesting that their relationship is somewhat defined by a lack of children; it is later revealed that Clarissa is unable to conceive, and she experienced ‘disabling grief’ at the death of her friend’s baby, ‘her mourning for her own phantom child’; the conclusion of the story, as recounted by the psychiatric authorities, is pleasing in the fact that ‘R and M were reconciled and later adopted a child’; McEwan establishes a happy ending through this adoption, as it satisfies the longing for a child and crucially indicates a sense of renewal this will bring

• The closing scene takes place in Oxford, where Joe notes ‘Lewis Carroll…had once entertained the darling objects of his own obsession’

• This allusion to Carroll, one of the greatest children authors, serves to highlight a sense of renewal adults can enter in the world of childhood

Title• Ambiguity; as McEwan described it, a ‘pun’

• Joe & Clarissa – from the opening chapter conveyed as an ideal love, ‘seven years childless marriage of love’ to the pleasing conclusion, ‘R and M later successfully reconciled and adopted a child’ in which McEwan satisfies the endurance of their love and their lack of children

• This ending itself adheres to the conventions of a love story, of which the title primarily suggests, McEwan uses these in conveying their relationship, particularly with the notion that ‘opposites attract’ which this genre often entails; Clarissa admits choosing ‘rational Joe’ to prevent her from going ‘crazy’ after the death of her father from Alzheimer’s

• At the core of the story, as concluded in Clarissa’s letter is the fact their relationship was ‘happy…passionate…loyal’, the qualities of ideal love which allow their reconciliation

• Yet, in interpreting the title the reader must inevitably look to Jed’s obsession, ‘enduring love’ in its most extreme form, and for Joe, a love that must be endured

• His enduring love is also fortified in the novel’s conclusion; despite Jed being ‘held indefinitely at a secure mental hospital’ the following Appendix indicates this has done nothing to quell Jed’s obsession

• The ambiguity of the title itself alludes to McEwan’s compelling depiction of De Clerambault• Despite Joe deeming Jed’s love pathological and thus reducing its romantic veracity, it is

interesting to note the illness itself is a ‘dark and distorting mirror’; ‘dark and distorting it may be but a reflection nonetheless

Memory/Making sense of the past The fact the majority of the novel is told through the form of Joe’s retrospective first person

narration itself leads the reader to rely on Joe’s memory of events and how he makes sense of them.

Inspector Wallace – ‘educated people like yourself…you’d think that if anyone could get the record straight they could’

‘Believing is seeing’

Religion Perhaps the metanarrative most discredited by McEwan, as its representative in the story, Jed

Parry, is characterised by his delusions He clearly perceives through the canonical of faith: ‘I wondered if had truly understood

what God had wanted of me’ and uses these as means to stalk Joe, stating in the second chapter ‘God has brought us together in this tragedy’

Explicitly contrasts to atheistic, rationalist Joe; the protagonist frequently denounces religion, from telling Jed ‘there’s no one up there’ to appraising science over religion ‘the Earth was a lot older than the four thousand years defended by the Church’

Joe could be interpreted as triumphant over Jed for attributing his condition to science itself and having him confined to a mental institution

However there is some less derogatory reference to religion in the novel, when analysing the way in which it is told; for religion is possibly the oldest form of storytelling

‘The beginning was simple to mark’ emulates the opening of the Bible, suggesting everything that follows derives from a single incident, namely the balloon accident

Even though the narrator is a staunch atheist, he employs post-lapsarian imagery to make sense of events: ‘our own complexity that had expelled us from the Garden’ to represent his fall from grace

Perhaps McEwan is showing how something of this several thousand year old metanarrative which, despite its wildly perceived decline in society compared to science, which still resonates

Conflict between religion and science is not straightforward

Science May be seen to be triumphant as its representative Joe Rose does eventually succeed against

Jed Parry Structurally, the situation with Jed could be seen to follow the tetracolon climax, as proposed by

Joe in Chapter 5: ‘propose it, evince the evidence, consider the objections, re-assert the conclusion’ in that he maintained that Jed was obsessional and set out to prove his case, as fortified by the psychiatric authorities in Appendix I

Moreover, religion in the novel can be seen to emulate its decline in reality

However, Joe does undoubtedly annoy Clarissa with his staunch rationalism, as she tells him ‘you’re so rational sometimes you’re like a child’; certainly the reader is likely to empathise

Neo-Darwinism focuses on emotions as an innate human response, like the ‘hard-wired’ baby’s smile Joe investigates

Jed becomes a ‘classic case’ of De Clerambault; no longer an individual but a medico-scientific psychological case; a syndrome ‘framework of prediction’

Yet Clarissa’s letter focuses on the absence of emotional reasoning with Jed