While Gone Girl is primarily about Nick's dealings with a struggling, dysfunctional marriage (and that's putting it mildly), the story's not all about him. The story's female characters are also wide, varied, and play a crucial role in driving the story.
From Amy's attempts to be the woman hated by other women and loved by men, to Go's unapologetic self-assuredness, to Rhonda Boney's identity as a woman in a man's world, there's definitely girl power in these pages. Gone Girl makes a fascinating exploration of how upbringing, marriage, the professional world, and other factors affect these characters' definitions of femininity.
Questions About Women and Femininity
- Would you describe Amy as a strong or weak female character? Why?
- How did growing up with/being married to Bill Dunne affect Go and Maureen's conceptions of themselves as women?
- What's the deal with Boney? What do we know about her? Why does she act the way that she does? How are her personal and work lives related to all this?
- Why does Boney seem to feel compassion for Nick? Where does her interest in his case come from?