“But I couldn’t say–for example, that I had waited for him, and my sister hadn’t.” 510
Love is the main force at work that drives the narrator throughout the tale of grief and moving on. The moment she meets her sister’s boyfriend, Jimmy, is a confusing experience for her as he scares her but also intrigues her in a way that makes her fall in love with him. She accompanies her sister and Jimmy out on dates because she has to yes, but she also enjoys the occasions they spend time together. When Jimmy “dies”, she seems to mourn for him longer than her sister does and refuses to move on when her sister brings home a new boy and marries him. When Jimmy returns, everyone is obviously shocked, and while her sister is easy to let Greg go to leave for Florida with Jimmy, she’s also quick to let Jimmy go again and get back to Greg. No one knows the motives behind her sister’s actions, except probably Greg when she got rid of the lizard and their mother when she left Jimmy. We can only see our narrator’s confusion at the events and her questions on why people do what they do even when they say they love someone.