Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy: City of Glass, Ghosts and the Locked Room
Throughout The New York Trilogy, the main characters go through an identity crisis that is linked to the “unavailable” women in their lives. Each main character is plagued with two unavailable women, the first being a more serious companion while the second is an object of lust and desire. When interviewed, Paul Auster said that The New York Trilogy was “a homage to Siri… a love letter in the form a novel” (Kreutzer). Auster credits his second wif,e Siri, for saving him from himself. Without Siri, he would’ve ended up completely engrossed in his work like the characters Daniel Quinn and Blue. However, Auster is able to escape just like the narrator in “The Locked Room”. Even if they don’t realize it, the women have more control over the situations than the men realize. G In the first story in the trilogy, “The City of Glass”, Daniel Quinn struggles with his identity; he has lost his sense of who he is. He “had once been married, had once been a father, and that both his wife and son were now dead” (Auster 3). He is constantly tormented by the loss of his wife and son. Quinn tries to act as if he has completed the grieving process, but he never seems to completely forget about his loss; “He knew he could not bring his own son back to life, but at least he could prevent another from dying” (35). Quinn becomes so fixated on preventing the death of someone else, that his work completely consumes him.
As Quinn starts to pick up the pieces of his life, he begins a case where he meets Virginia Stillman. “The smell of Virginia Stillman’s perfume hovered around him, and he began to imagine what she looked like without any clothes on” (Auster 14). Because his wife has died, Quinn has been lonely for quite some time and finds himself immediately attracted to Mrs. Stillman. Even though she is married, that doesn’t stop the mutual attraction between the two. Although nothing more than a brief kiss transpired between them, Quinn lusted for Virginia for a long time. I feel
As Quinn starts to pick up the pieces of his life, he begins a case where he meets Virginia Stillman. “The smell of Virginia Stillman’s perfume hovered around him, and he began to imagine what she looked like without any clothes on” (Auster 14). Because his wife has died, Quinn has been lonely for quite some time and finds himself immediately attracted to Mrs. Stillman. Even though she is married, that doesn’t stop the mutual attraction between the two. Although nothing more than a brief kiss transpired between them, Quinn lusted for Virginia for a long time. I feel