How appropriate is the title to the subject matter of the Novel Essay

How appropriate is the title to the subject matter of the Novel Enduring love? Throughout the novel Enduring Love McEwan opens the reader’s eyes to many different forms of love through the actions and emotions of his characters. He also makes us aware that people are able to have more than one love. The first love we encounter is that between Joe and Clarissa whose relationship up until the day of Logan’s death was â€Å"without a trace of complication†. The fact that the novel starts with something as clichà ©d as a picnic could represent their relationship so far, it not only sets the scene but instantly tells the reader about the kind of relationship Joe and Clarissa have. McEwan takes the opportunity to show us how much Joe is in love with Clarissa by letting us know that her birthday gift from him was the â€Å"most expensive single item† he had ever bought and â€Å"must have cost Joe thousands†. Another example of the strength of Joe and Clarissa’s love is in chapter three when they turn to each other for comfort after Logan’s death. Joe believes that sharing his every thought and feeling with his partner will exorcise his demons (â€Å"I wanted to tell Clarissa†, â€Å"I wanted to tell her I loved her†) and in turn Clarissa reveals her need for Joe’s love in her moment of fear and instability; â€Å"I just want to hold you†. Although Clarissa is in love with Joe, she’s â€Å"also in love with another man†. She is an English academic studying the last letters of Keats and is passionate about her work. McEwan informs the reader of her great love for Keats through her trip to Harvard, USA; as much as she loves Joe, she sacrificed his company for six weeks to search for â€Å"hypothetical letters† and her most prized possession is the â€Å"... ...being that although the Professor and his student â€Å"are in love†, they would rather have â€Å"kept it secret† unlike Luke who is â€Å"leaving his kindly beautiful wife and bonny twin daughters† to live with the actress, presumably causing pain and chaos for his family. With an age gap of thirty years and the original relationship being student-teacher, Bonnie and Professor Reid’s love is unconventional to say the least. Both the Professor and Luke are throwing away their successful professional lives for the love of women. The meaning of the title Enduring Love could mean a love that has to be endured or one that can endure. By the end of the novel Joe and Clarissa’s love endured and for Joe, Parry’s love had to be endured. The title’s significance is that it is neither one nor the other; it is both as it is relevant to each form of love explored in the novel.