Enduring Love Character Profile
Joe Rose
Joe Rose is the first person narrator of the novel. He describes himself as a “large, clumsy balding fellow. He always wanted to be a scientist, but because he was too old to do research he wrote science books instead. He is 48 years old (calculated by assumption because Jed Parry is 28 and he is 28 years younger than Joe. He is very intelligent, an analytical thinker; however, because he is so analytical it causes him to dwell on his emotions. He is extremely guilty about the accident and one of his goals in the novel is for him to rid himself of that guilt. He is the object of Jed Parry’s affection, and while he may not do it purposefully some believe that he encourages the attention from him to fill what he may be missing in his own life.
He is married to Clarissa for seven years. The relationship with her is the only one that existed prior to the accident. They are unable to have children, yet are good with kids and care deeply about their godchildren. He is devoted to her and seems to be surprised that she could love him as well. However, because of poor communication he damages their relationship. Joe is the narrator of the story and when he is not telling the story it is from another person’s point of view. By having Joe as the narrator is empowers him, allowing him to decide what parts of the story the audience sees.
In the movie, his physical appearance is obviously much different from the book. In the book he is described as old and essentially unattractive, however the actor who plays him, Daniel Craig, is none of those things. He does not appear to be as old as he is in the book either. You can tell he is analytical as he is constantly trying to figure out who let go of the balloon first and how they could have done things differently. In the movie he is the teacher, not Clarissa. He seems more distraught about the accident than guilty, and he seems to deal with it in a more inward manner than showing his emotions for everyone to see. He meets with the wife of the man who passed away, only it doesn’t seem as if he is trying to assuage his guilt, but rather tell her that he was NOT the first person to let go but that he is very anxious to figure out who did. In the book he seems to play in to Jed’s affections, however in the movie he is very hostile towards him and is adamant to get Jed to leave him alone. He and Clarissa are not married in the movie. He is not good with children and you don’t see him interact with any until he is holding the baby towards the end of the movie. He was quite apprehensive about it at first, but then eased into it.
I think that it was a good choice on the part of the screenwriters to change Joe’s profession as it makes him more personable and accessible, not only to the audience but to the other characters. Not many people can relate to a scientist and even an author for that matter, but a teacher reaches a different type of group and it allowed for us to hear his inner thoughts—with him being the narrator—instead of having his voice over throughout the movie which I felt would have interrupted the “flow” of the film. It also gave the directors/ screenwriters a way to have Jed approach him while he was at work that would have had a much greater impact. If Jed were to appear in his home while he was working on a book, yes that would have been creepy, but for someone who hadn’t read the book at this point in the movie it would have been expected. To have Jed show up in his classroom I feel is an even bigger invasion of his personal space as his classroom is the place where he is supposed to seem in control and Jed is the one thing he can’t seem to get a control over to leave him alone.
Clarissa Mellon Clarissa is Joe’s wife. She is also intelligent and is deeply in love with Joe. She is unable to have children and this not only causes her great pain, but Joe as well. Throughout the story she proves to be a good listener and she is very generous, especially with children. Joe feels that they are well matched. Joe is very realistic and lives his life based on facts, Clarissa brings passion into his life. At points in the story she withdraws from Joe, especially when he is in need of her attention. She can appear to be self-centered as she feels that the situation with Parry has to do with her. In the book it seems as if Joe is more in love with Clarissa than she is with him, however in the movie it appears to be the opposite. Clarissa is very affectionate towards Joe and while you can see he loves her, he is very distracted by the accident. She is not a teacher in the movie, but rather an artist. She is a good listener as she is in the book, and it all goes the same where she gets fed up with Joe because of his lack of communication. I actually felt at times that she was quite needy and desperate and found myself feeling more sympathetic for Joe than for her. She doesn’t really show much reaction to the Jed situation until he actually confronts her. She and Joe are not married in the movie and there is never any discussion about her being unable to have children. In fact, there is a scene where they talk about what their children would be like after they are married. You don’t really see her interact too much with children in the movie either. She doesn’t seem to show as much guilt as Joe either about the accident. She just continuously assures him that it was not his fault.
Jed Parry Jed Parry is a devout Christian. His faith is very strong even though he does not identify with one particular sect of the faith. While he is religious, theology doesn’t play much of a role in his thoughts. He is 28 and unemployed living off of an inheritance. Jed suffers from de Clérambault’s syndrome which is a disease that makes him convinced a stranger is in love with him. His obsession with Joe Rose is a result of this. He claims to be a victim and makes Joe responsible for whatever happens to him. He turns violent when he doesn’t get what he wants. Jed seems older in the movie than in the book, at least to me. In the book he is portrayed as a devout Christian, however the only solid reference made to his faith is when he prays in front of the dead body after the accident. Other than that I didn’t find anyone of his interactions preachy in a biblical sense but he was more of a romantic desperate for Joe to proclaim his love in return. He doesn’t dress as if he has money. Frankly, I thought he looked like a homeless cocaine addict. His home doesn’t reflect that he has money either. It was a typical bedroom of a stalker with pictures and newspaper clippings of their target. I don’t believe there is any reference to the Clérambault syndrome that he suffers from. He just appears to be a freak who took an interaction with a stranger and put it into a completely different context. I didn’t sense him to be as dangerous from the beginning in the book as I did in the movie. Maybe it was how he was portrayed in the movie, but you could tell that the “lights we on but no one was home” type of situation and by the way he would correct Joe every time he got his name wrong, you could tell from the very beginning that this wasn’t going to end well.