Ruminating on these events, the narrator seriously questions the value of life and the place of evil in the world.ĭuring this time, the narrator and Apollo have become increasingly close, so much so that she and the dog sleep on the same bed and spend all their time together. This writing workshop reminded the narrator of the movie Lilya 4-Ever, in which a 16-year-old girl is sold into sex slavery and, as a result, kills herself. The narrator describes the suffering these women went through and struggles to accept the profound evil these women had to face.

The narrator then goes on to remember a writing workshop she ran at a center for victims of human trafficking. The narrator further remembers how “you” lamented the field of contemporary writing, believing that writers who use writing in order to process events in their own life (rather than use writing in order to get at the truth) were the death of literature. She remembers “you’s” various affairs with students and his belief that sexual encounters can be used in order to spur productivity in writing. Throughout the novel, the narrator dips into her memories about “you” and past writing workshops she has been a part of.

As the novel progresses, however, the narrator and Apollo develop a sincere relationship on their own terms eventually, the narrator ceases going out in order to spend all her time with Apollo. At first, the unnamed narrator views Apollo as a placeholder for “you,” trying to prolong “you’s” presence in her life by befriending his dog. “You’s” third wife then entrusts Apollo to the unnamed narrator. Previously, Apollo belonged to “you,” who the unnamed narrator reveals as her closest friend as well as her literary mentor. Throughout the novel, the narrator muses on the state of contemporary art, grief, the meaning of life, and her grief at her friend’s (referred to as “you” throughout the novel) suicide. Nunez’s novel does not rely on a typical linear plot, and instead, much of the novel is composed of the unnamed narrator’s eclectic musings. Nunez’s novel, The Friend, is narrated in the presence tense by an unnamed narrator, who tells the story of her blossoming relationship with a Great Dane named Apollo. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Nunez, Sigrid.

Sigrid nunez the friend