Selfish Nature In Gone Girl

“Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn describes one of the most dysfunctional relationships possibly imaginable. The story follows a man named Nick Dunne, who is married to a woman named Amy Dunne. Near the beginning of the book Amy inexplicably disappears. Nearly all the evidence found by the police leads to the conclusion that Nick killed his wife, but later it is revealed to the reader that Amy has created an intricate plot to frame her husband of her own murder. Both parties go through many sacrifices and hardships throughout the novel, many borne from their own hands. These self-inflicted hardships seem to be selfless, but they are later shown to be for each person’s benefit, some more obvious than others. The actions of the characters highlight the innate selfish nature of humans because every sacrifice made by a character is in self-preservation. At other times, characters do the exact opposite. They instinctively make decisions for their own relief or preservation without thinking about the consequences, and in turn harm themselves or others. This is saying that at our core, all of our decisions are

In her review of the book for the New Yorker, she writes “’Gone Girl’ is as much about the near impossibility of being a good husband as it is about the anguish of being a good wife” (37). This statement shows that Elif would likely be very appreciative of Nick for how he chose to stay with Amy for the good his family and child. Many readers and reviewers of the book will simply take its message as feministic or antifeminist, but Elif recognizes that the book also has a lot to say about the situations of men in regards to selfishness and sacrifices. She writes, “Where a more simplistic narrative would posit that every loss for women is a gain for men, Flynn shows again and again that nobody is a winner – everyone is a dupe”.