I want to know what love is

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Humans are perfectly imperfect creatures. The faults found in us humans are present in every aspect of our being. These faults are found in every aspect of our being, in our physical appearance as well as in our mental and emotional states. Contrary to popular opinion hate is not the opposite of love, indifference is. Both of these sentiments are fueled by passion and are more related than one would care to admit. One of the main arguments about the novel The End of The Affair revolves around whether or not it is a story about hate or love. Greene’s novel is most definitely a story about love. This idea is often mistaken for hate because of the initial passion that is shown from the narrator, Bendrix. The End of the Affair is a story of love due to the human nature that is portrayed in the novel, the discernment that each character undergoes in order to understand that they are feeling love, and the bond that is formed by Bendrix and Henry after the death of Sarah.
The novel opens with the narrator, Bendrix, saying “ I hated Henry - I hated his wife Sarah too. And he, I suppose, came soon after the events of that evening to hate me: as he surely at times must have hated his wife and that other, in whom in those days we were lucky enough not to believe. So this is a record of hate far more than of love,”(Greene 4). This statement, at this point in the book, seems to be accurate due to the aggressively passionate tone of the speaker. Also this quote is located at the very beginning of the novel so the reader is unaware of the events that have occurred. However, this does not mean that it is a story of hate since the very same person that is stating his hatred for Sarah and Henry undergoes a massive emotional change by the end of ...

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...ferent ways, but love is not the same for everyone and it can not be restricted to one concrete definition.
Throughout the novel one of the major challenges for the reader and the main characters is the discovery of true love. There are instances in which the passion that these characters feel can be misrepresented as hate or another negative emotion. This misconception develops through the humanity of the characters, a reader must remember that these character are human being and are not perfect. These characters are supposed to feel all the “negative” emotion of jealousy and obsession, these are necessary for one to find a more genuine form of love. This human aspect leads each character to reflect and discern the state of love that they are feeling. This novel portrays the struggle that humans undergo when faced with passion and unfortunate circumstances.

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