Quotation from the novel
Personal Response/ Discussion of Literary Techniques: Imagery, Metaphor, Allusion, and Irony
"Sex was something I now did because I felt I had to. It was mechanical and dull. There, too, something had vanished. The passion. The excitement. The heat. all gone. I feel like someone––––me? had fast-forwarded the film of my life, and there I appeared like a wooden Charlie Chaplin character, doing everything in a hasty and awkward way, as if I had no other choice, a stiff grin pasted on my face, acting like I was happy with my new life. (270)"
The passage uses visual imagery. Julia's "hasty" movement and her "stiff grin" suggest nothing has changed, but the pain and ache still remain the same. Moreover, Sarah's past has left a imperishable influence on her. Julia could no longer live in the same apartment because of what happened to Sarah and thus she moves to America. The passage makes an allusion to Charlie Chaplin to describe Julia's movement through the use of his characteristic: "doing everything in a hasty and awkward way". Julia's mechanical movement suggests that she isn't used to her new life, yet she has to act that she is "happy" so that others will not worry about her. What's worse, she has to pretend to be happy even though she is not. The passage focuses on the theme of loneliness: Julia could not share her sadness since others would not understand Sarah's tragedy. Thus, she has to keep it to herself. However, this is ironic because moving to American is supposed to help her to move on, yet it only makes Julia feel even lonelier. Expressing your feeling is part of recovering from sadness- it helps us to release the negative energy. After moving to America, Julia has no one to share about Sarah's past, leaving her all by herself. Since Julia could not share her feeling with others, her loneliness remains. The theme of loneliness is once again shown through Julia's "grin smile" and "hasty" movement. Though moving away from France might ease Julia's pain, she loses friend whom she can talk with, leading to her loneliness.
Group Discussion/ Response
In our group, we discuss the theme of loneliness, as it relates to the main character, Julia, in the novel. Sharing our emotions is essential to recover from sadness. This is clearly shown in the novel, as Edourd feels a sudden relief when he tells Julia the secret of their family. This also applies to our life. We often avoid talking about our emotions such as sadness, loneliness, and anger with other people. Instead, we often wears a fake smile, pretending everything is fine just like Julia did. Nonetheless, a pretense to be happy does not ease our sadness. In fact, it will only worsen the sadness. Sharing our feelings can ease our mind as others would normally be supportive. We should never afraid of sharing our feelings with other as it helps our to recover from pain.

Quotation from the novel
Personal Response/ Discussion of Literary Techniques: Imagery, Metaphor, Allusion, and Irony
“I moved like a robot, mechanically folding my clothes, putting my toothbrush on the shelf about the basin, starting through the window at the bourgeois facades of the quiet street. What the hell are you doing? whispered an inner voice I had tried to ignored all day. Are you crazy, are you really going to through with this? I hadn't told anyone about my final decision. No one at all, apart from Bertrand. I did not want to think about his blissful smile when I told him I'd do it, the way he would pulled me closed, kissing the top of my head with unstrained kiss. ............. Sarah was the only person I could bear thinking about right now(177)” This passage uses visual and auditory imagery to show that Julia's unwillingness toward the abortion. Her mechanically movement and "inner voice" telling her it was crazy suggest that she does not want to have the abortion. As a reader, I find Julia's decision a bit distasteful. I believe ones should not should obey