Women play an important part in "High Fidelity," Nick Hornby's superb look into the mind of a guy who finds himself constantly having problems with that gender. Centering around Rob Gordon, an owner of a record store in England, the story showcases Rob's rollercoaster love-life in flashback and current situations. The image is never pretty, for Rob can never seem to advance past the single worst problem that he has ever encountered: why he is always doomed to be dumped. Perhaps by examining a list of the women who play an important part in his life, maybe one can find out an answer to his woes.

        All together, there are seven women featured in "High Fidelity." There's Alison Ashworth, Rob's first love interest. Penny Hardwick, the high school interest, is another. Following that is Jackie Allen, a girl stolen from a friend. Charlie Nicholson, a girl met while in college, is what cemented to Rob his doomed failure with girls. Sarah Kendrew, the middleweight, follows Charlie. After that is Marie LaSalle, the American girl. And finally, saving the most focused on of the bunch for last, is Laura.

        The first five girls are all past memories. Each presents a period in Rob's life where a new avenue, a new obstacle, a new way of being dumped that hadn't previously occurred to him, takes place. They are his top five, in chronological order, of most memorable breakups. And in each one, the female is unique unto herself. None of the women share any characteristics that would signify a certain attraction to one type of woman for Rob. This also demonstrates Hornby's ability to be able to go past a single stereotype for a female and offer them in an assortment.

        Alison Ashworth is twelve or thirteen when she is introduced into the story. Because of the time that has passed, Rob "can hardly recall anything about her at all" (Hornby 8). But during the time that he and she dated, which lasted only six hours over three days, she was what he thought to be a flighty girl. She left him for another boy. What Rob would later learn is that she was actually not flighty, but had actually went on to marry the guy who she had progressed to. Her courtship with Rob never even signified a real relationship. She was a goal seeker and managed to acquire the goal of mate selection early on in her life.

        Penny Hardwick is the good girl. She's the one who will not allow Rob to move past kissing in their relationship. By stating her grounds, she's also stating her independence. By when Rob dumps her because she won't allow him to go past kissing, then she ends up allowing the next boy that she dates to have sex with her. Suddenly, she shows a dependent side to her. Later on in life when Rob met her again, she confided that after that series of ordeals, she ended up not having sex once in college. So Penny was a girl who had ideas, yet could not fully realize them without taking detours along the way.

        Jackie Allen is the user. She dates one of Rob's friend, Phil, but Rob is able to "[pinch] her off from him, slowly, patiently, over a period of months" (15). This is another high school relationship that follows the one with Penny. For Jackie and Rob, everything starts out in secret, as she is still dating Phil. But eventually, the two break up and Rob can now see her in public. The secret is out. And from that moment on, nothing changed. After busting up the relationship, Rob feels like he captured something that didn't live up to the hype. Rather than admit this, he rationalizes it out in his head that it's just easier to get her name tattooed on his arm. But the tattoo artist wouldn't do it, simply because there was nothing committing the two together. Three weeks later, Jackie goes back to Phil. Rob is told that she "[used] [him] to renegotiate the terms of her relationship with Phil" (19). So essentially, she is the strongest of the three, for she uses people as a pawn to get exactly what she wants, knowing that everyone will play according to her game.

        Charlie Nicholson consumes Rob during his college tenure. Upon meeting her, he realizes that "she [is] the sort of girl [he] [has] wanted to meet ever since [he's] been old enough to want to meet girls" (20). Charlie is another one of those dependent females. She is someone who takes a mold and makes it exactly what she wants. In a way, she is a summary of the three girls before her; melded together to form something that Rob has always wanted. Then again, that is how he describes her. Their relationship seems strong. She has ideas. Rob follows along with them. But because she is so idealistic in what she wants accomplished, Rob can never get comfortable around her. He feels like he's not a good lover. Her idea of sex intimidates him. He feels like he's not attractive. Why would she want to date him? And he's afraid that she will leave him for one of the guys in her art department. His third fear comes true, as she does leave him for one of the men in her art department. Having had enough with someone who is too easy to shift and change to what she wants, Charlie moves on to another man. It seems that this is more of a cycle for her than a fault of Rob's, but he does not see that. She is simply someone who cannot just stay attached to one person. She is totally independent and an artist. She's an artist of men, always seeking a new canvas to work on.

        Rob takes a step back and reassesses himself before he steps into another relationship. He asks what he is. An average, a middleweight best describe him. He's "not the brightest bloke in the world, but certainly not the dimmest" (27). So enter Sarah Kendrew, someone of equally comparable terms as Rob. She may not be the prettiest, the smartest, or the wittiest, but she is average in each category. And that is how he sees himself, so what better connection than to find the sexual parallel of oneself? She is totally dependent on a male counterpart, as is he for a female counterpart. Things go great for the two of them. They are able to look back on their past relationships and share in the heartbreak together, but are also able to share a bed with someone at the same time. It's all that Rob finally needs in a girl. So when she tells him that she met someone else, the end, she's moving on, it destroys everything that their relationship is built on. Suddenly, he's the one dumped again and she's moving on to be dependent on yet another man. Years later, when they meet up again, she confides that she doesn't know why she left Rob for the other man. But Rob is finally strong enough to be able to walk away from her without giving in to another episode with her in a relationship.

        This concludes the members of Rob's initial top five break-ups (in chronological order). The other two members of the females predominantly featured in "High Fidelity," Marie Lasalle and Laura, will now be discussed at greater length, for they make up the bulk of what Rob's current relationship crisis is like. The first five are essential for a buildup to what state Rob is in on current relationships. They each display a character voice that Rob connects with, but ultimately, they cannot connect with him for one reason or another. And because of that, they lead into the discussion of Marie Lasalle. She appears after Laura in "High Fidelity," but her role is more of a transition that a solid attachment for Rob.

        Marie is independent. She travels from America to England to further her music career. She does not need a man to rescue her, but she does need to use a man to fulfill any needs that she might have. Such as the case with Rob. She meets him and they make small talk, but he never outright hits on her. He's just coming out of a bad breakup with Laura, and with so many guys loving the very image of Marie, he does not want to be yet another doing so. And this is what draws her to him. This mysterious, almost an attitude of not liking her, makes her question what might going through his mind and therefore she wanders closer to him.

        Marie views things such as sex much like most men do. She considers it a basic human right, so therefore sees a man, if for nothing else, than a means to fulfill the natural right that she sees exists. She has been through a breakup back in the States, and does not want him to come between her and a new sexual partner. She wonders what right he has to still control what she wants to do in life. If she wants to have a new partner, then she will.

        Later on, after Rob realizes that Laura has yet to sleep with her new partner, he goes right out and becomes the pawn that Marie is looking for. She is for him, in a way that he is able to be free again, but he is only playing into her game. They sleep together. Right before they commit the act, he is even unsure if he really wants to. But she uses her tact to full persuade him into the idea of doing it. She's not a user of men, but she does have her ideas of what men are for. And she is able to convince them that they need to fulfill that role for her. She does not sacrifice herself for the male. She takes what she wants, lets the man think that he is getting what he wants, then she moves on. She knows there is nothing permanent about the situation, but just an act of life. It's a basic human right.

        Finally, we're up to Laura. She is what spurs on this whole story of Rob's. She is the reason for the top five break-ups, the episode with Marie, and the center of what torments Rob current dreams. She is the central female character, the opposition to Rob in a way, and in essence, is the controlling character in "High Fidelity."

        There are five questions one must ask when doing feminist criticism. First, what role does the female character play? Second, is she dependent or independent? Third, does she need a man to rescue her? Fourth, what is her outcome? And fifth, how is she viewed and treated at the end of the story? All of these questions can, and will, be answered by an analysis of what makes up Laura.

        At the beginning of the story, she has left Rob. Her reasons are not given. She's just leaving. This shows determination in the female that is never given a last name. This makes her less of a complete person and more of an ideal. Only the utmost of important people are only addressed by a single name. Laura is one of those people. She can allow a man to be her companion, but she's also able-minded enough to be able to call her own shots, such as the case with her job: a lawyer.

        Her leaving shows her independence, yet the fact that she would later on move in with another man shows that she is possibly still dependent on having a companion. Call it human nature if you want. Perhaps she is not dependent on having a man, but simply enjoys the idea of living with someone of the opposite sex. He's not exactly someone like her. He has nothing to offer her that she can't already achieve. So it's the idea of being with someone that she likes, but she is not dependent on this man to supply her with her needs. The fact that she does not have sex with him initially shows that she does not feel desperate to find another man in order to reacquire the psychical aspect of life.

        When her dad dies, she calls Rob. He comes to the funeral. She does not call him in her time of need, but actually because her dad had always liked Rob. They both attend the funeral and words are hardly spoken between the two. But while Rob is making his way back home, Laura catches up with him. They have a talk, and she asks for them to make love again. In a sense, now she is asking for a man to rescue her. She didn't need it when she heard the news of her father, but after he has been buried, she turns to Rob to save her from the terrible feelings that she is going through. Sex is the easiest way to erase them.

        Her outcome is that she leaves her latest man and moves back in with Rob. Perhaps she sacrifices herself a little to go back to where she had moved on from, but she realizes that was where she was happiest. Changes will arise, though, as she begins to bring Rob up from the shadows he is living in. She thrusts him back into a DJ'ing event, which is what he used to do. She's back where she started many months prior, but she's making changes to see to it that things do not end up so bad and miserable that she sees herself moving out again.

        Her outcome is that she becomes Rob's fiance. Rob, tired of all of the games of life and sure that he knows he has met the one who is for him, proposes to her. She accepts. Her outcome places her right back where she started, right back before the first page of "High Fidelity." Only this time, she manages to see to it that she has more input, and a goal of where she is heading with Rob.

       "High Fidelity" is a book about relationships. It's told through the eyes of a man, but that's not to say that both genders can realize things about each other that they might not have thought of before. Both sides need a chance to take control of make the best of their situation. As I have pointed out, the women do it more than the men realize. In a lot of cases, they get the benefits while the man is simply left wondering what happened. More power to the Lauras of the world. Know when to give, know when to take. But above all else, know when to be yourself and don't let anyone take that from you.

Hornby, Nick. High Fidelity. New York: Riverhead, 1995.