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A Little Life
- 183 statements
- 35 feature instances
- 5 referencing feature instances
| A Little Life | type |
TVTItem | |
| A Little Life | label |
A Little Life | |
| A Little Life | page |
ALittleLife | |
| A Little Life | comment |
Nominated for the Man Booker Prize 2015, Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel is a heartbreaking (often disturbingly graphic) story of trauma, but also a deeply poignant story of friendship and love. | |
| A Little Life | fetched |
2024-02-17T11:31:03Z | |
| A Little Life | parsed |
2024-02-17T11:31:03Z | |
| A Little Life | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| A Little Life / int_1463aed3 | type |
Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality | |
| A Little Life / int_1463aed3 | comment |
Paralyzing Fearof Sexuality: Jude has this due to a childhood full of sexual abuse. | |
| A Little Life / int_1463aed3 | featureApplicability |
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| A Little Life / int_1463aed3 | featureConfidence |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_1463aed3 | |
| A Little Life / int_17dbe19a | type |
Internalized Categorism | |
| A Little Life / int_17dbe19a | comment |
Internalized Categorism: Jude, definitely. He feels great shame over what happened in his past, and he can't see himself ever moving beyond it. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_17dbe19a | |
| A Little Life / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
| A Little Life / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: A deeply disturbing example, as Brother Luke tells Jude to show a little life while having sex with clients. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_18d15922 | |
| A Little Life / int_2207b002 | type |
Ambiguously Brown | |
| A Little Life / int_2207b002 | comment |
Ambiguously Brown: Jude is this In-Universe. He obviously isn't entirely white, but due to him being abandoned as an infant, no one really knows what he is. Though going by the author's physical descriptions, it seems most likely he's of Native American or Hispanic descent. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_2207b002 | |
| A Little Life / int_22a59b45 | type |
Self-Harm | |
| A Little Life / int_22a59b45 | comment |
Self-Harm: Jude does this to himself throughout the story, sometimes in particularly brutal manners. We learn that Brother Luke taught him about cutting so he wouldn't leave bruises on himself by slamming against motel walls, which makes Jude's self-harm in the current day even more horrifying and heartbreaking. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_22a59b45 | |
| A Little Life / int_31da1e24 | type |
Shipper on Deck | |
| A Little Life / int_31da1e24 | comment |
Shipper on Deck: When Andy finds out Willem has feelings for Jude, he seems completely unsurprised, and remarks that he had his suspicions all these years. He encourages Willem to act on his feelings. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_31da1e24 | |
| A Little Life / int_362461f6 | type |
Sex Slave | |
| A Little Life / int_362461f6 | comment |
Sex Slave: Jude to both the priests and then, later, his kidnapper. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_362461f6 | |
| A Little Life / int_3ed23024 | type |
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome | |
| A Little Life / int_3ed23024 | comment |
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Jude never recovers from his childhood trauma, or from his trauma in an abusive relationship as an adult. | |
| A Little Life / int_3ed23024 | featureApplicability |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_3ed23024 | |
| A Little Life / int_48ca7c29 | type |
Broken Ace | |
| A Little Life / int_48ca7c29 | comment |
Broken Ace: Many people comment on how good-looking and intelligent Jude is. Throughout the story, the reader also learns that he is talented at cooking, singing, playing the piano, arithmetic, his job as a lawyer... The list goes on. However, he is an incredibly scarred and insecure individual who doesn't seem to recognize positive traits within himself. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_48ca7c29 | |
| A Little Life / int_48e8fe57 | type |
Happily Adopted | |
| A Little Life / int_48e8fe57 | comment |
Happily Adopted: Played with. While Jude genuinely loves Harold and Julia and is grateful for them adopting him at the age of 30, he's constantly torn between his happiness for being a part of their family and his fears that they will leave or abuse him like everyone else. Jude's unhappiness doesn't stem from the adoption or from Julia or Harold, but from his own severe trauma that will never let him fully open up and accept that he is wanted. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_48e8fe57 | |
| A Little Life / int_4e3d253b | type |
Downer Ending | |
| A Little Life / int_4e3d253b | comment |
Downer Ending: The final part of Harold's letter reveals that Jude kills himself in a violent manner, and died believing he owed Harold and Julia an apology for the kind of person he was. On top of that, several other characters died prior to the final part, and very few of the main characters have survived. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_4e3d253b | |
| A Little Life / int_504a1991 | type |
Body Horror | |
| A Little Life / int_504a1991 | comment |
Body Horror: Reading about the injuries to Jude's spine and legs can be pretty disturbing. And then there's the cutting... | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_504a1991 | |
| A Little Life / int_50eb1d8 | type |
Adopting the Abused | |
| A Little Life / int_50eb1d8 | comment |
Adopting the Abused: Jude is adopted by Harold at the age of thirty after a childhood full of horrific physical and sexual abuse. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_50eb1d8 | |
| A Little Life / int_55940b68 | type |
Doorstopper | |
| A Little Life / int_55940b68 | comment |
Doorstopper: Stands at 720 pages. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_55940b68 | |
| A Little Life / int_6370e1c0 | type |
Gender Rarity Value | |
| A Little Life / int_6370e1c0 | comment |
Gender Rarity Value: After his father died, JB was the only guy in his matrifocal extended family, and all the women fussed over him quite a bit. JB is this to a lesser degree due to his successful art pieces, mostly paintings of his friends. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_6370e1c0 | |
| A Little Life / int_675ff0f1 | type |
Apologises a Lot | |
| A Little Life / int_675ff0f1 | comment |
Apologises a Lot: Jude apologizes for EVERYTHING, to the point where it becomes grating for the other characters (and the reader). | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_675ff0f1 | |
| A Little Life / int_6b3c357e | type |
Ivy League for Everyone | |
| A Little Life / int_6b3c357e | comment |
Ivy League for Everyone: Jude, Willem, JB, and Malcolm met each other at university in Massachusetts, and Malcolm later takes architecture classes at Harvard and Jude takes math classes at MIT. Harold also teaches at this type of university. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_6b3c357e | |
| A Little Life / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
| A Little Life / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: Jude has everything prepared before attempting a very violent suicide. He does not succeed. At the end of the book, however, he injects himself with an empty needle and dies. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_6d332aea | |
| A Little Life / int_868409c | type |
Broken Pedestal | |
| A Little Life / int_868409c | comment |
Broken Pedestal: Jude idolizes Brother Luke during his time at the monastery, and doesn't know that Brother Luke has very sinister intentions for him. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_868409c | |
| A Little Life / int_88933ad4 | type |
Parental Favoritism | |
| A Little Life / int_88933ad4 | comment |
Parental Favoritism: Malcolm feels certain that his parents prefer his sister. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_88933ad4 | |
| A Little Life / int_8b6e8d7 | type |
Anachronic Order | |
| A Little Life / int_8b6e8d7 | comment |
Anachronic Order: Jude's past is revealed throughout the book in flashback. Even in the course of the main story, focus jumps around quite a bit, mentioning things that happened months or even years ago and then coming back to the present. Certain sections are told from Harold's point of view, and it becomes clear at the end that these are told after the main story is over. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_8b6e8d7 | |
| A Little Life / int_8ed5c6e4 | type |
Asshole Victim | |
| A Little Life / int_8ed5c6e4 | comment |
Asshole Victim: When it's revealed that Caleb has died due to pancreatic cancer, none of the central characters are saddened by this news due to his abuse of Jude. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_8ed5c6e4 | |
| A Little Life / int_963c6133 | type |
Promiscuity After Rape | |
| A Little Life / int_963c6133 | comment |
Promiscuity After Rape: Partially deconstructed. Jude is promiscuous as a result of his rape, but generally in other abusive relationships. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_963c6133 | |
| A Little Life / int_a1b141f4 | type |
My God, What Have I Done? | |
| A Little Life / int_a1b141f4 | comment |
My God, What Have I Done?: The day after a horrific fight with Jude, Willem has a small breakdown in his own apartment because of his guilt. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_a1b141f4 | |
| A Little Life / int_b8e3f20a | type |
Demoted to Extra | |
| A Little Life / int_b8e3f20a | comment |
Demoted to Extra: Malcolm and JB both begin as main characters and while they play a central role at the start of the story, both begin to dwindle into the background, and only make occasional appearances in later parts of the novel. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_b8e3f20a | |
| A Little Life / int_bb18a227 | type |
It's All About Me | |
| A Little Life / int_bb18a227 | comment |
It's All About Me: Jude, somewhat. He isn't a selfish person, but he focuses so much on his own suffering that he often fails to acknowledge what others may be going through. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_bb18a227 | |
| A Little Life / int_beb932ca | type |
Big Applesauce | |
| A Little Life / int_beb932ca | comment |
Big Applesauce: Most of the story is set in New York City, both in poor and richer areas as the main characters work their way up in life. | |
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A Little Life / int_beb932ca | |
| A Little Life / int_c5249b29 | type |
Nice Guy | |
| A Little Life / int_c5249b29 | comment |
Nice Guy: Harold is a dedicated father and husband and a good professor who seems to have endless amounts of empathy and kindness to spare. | |
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A Little Life / int_c5249b29 | |
| A Little Life / int_c8ba12ee | type |
Interplay of Sex and Violence | |
| A Little Life / int_c8ba12ee | comment |
Interplay of Sex and Violence: A common trope throughout all of Jude's significant romantic relationships. | |
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A Little Life / int_c8ba12ee | |
| A Little Life / int_c8c7fb4f | type |
DomesticAbuser | |
| A Little Life / int_c8c7fb4f | comment |
Domestic Abuser: At the start of the relationship, Caleb gradually began belittling Jude for his physical disability, which escalated to hitting him. Then, after an uncomfortable confrontation in front of Howard, Caleb beat Jude within an inch of his life, severing their four-month relationship with his last act of violence towards our main character. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_c8c7fb4f | |
| A Little Life / int_d32cd9f5 | type |
Cast Full of Gay | |
| A Little Life / int_d32cd9f5 | comment |
Cast Full of Gay: Hardly anyone is heterosexual. Even a character who is shown only to have a sexual interest in women ends up in a relationship with a man. | |
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A Little Life / int_d32cd9f5 | |
| A Little Life / int_db9940c4 | type |
Famed In-Story | |
| A Little Life / int_db9940c4 | comment |
Famed In-Story: In his late thirties and his forties, Willem becomes a household name in the acting industry. More than one person recognizes him in public, and he gets nominated and wins awards for his work, with one speech being dedicated to Jude, even though he was watching from home. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_db9940c4 | |
| A Little Life / int_dda99fa8 | type |
Despair Event Horizon | |
| A Little Life / int_dda99fa8 | comment |
Despair Event Horizon: After Willem's death, there really is no hope left for Jude. | |
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| A Little Life | hasFeature |
A Little Life / int_dda99fa8 | |
| A Little Life / int_f12c6fb1 | type |
Surprisingly Sudden Death | |
| A Little Life / int_f12c6fb1 | comment |
Surprisingly Sudden Death: Every character expects Jude to die before Willem, whether because of his health issues or through suicide. The reader might also assume that Harold's letters to Willem take place after Jude's death while Willem is still alive, and we learn that the first part of that is true, but not the latter part. Willem dies at the age of 53 in a car accident that also kills Malcolm and his wife Julia, which no one - most likely including the reader - expected at all. Jude's death three years later was also this in-universe, much to the surprise of the characters who had been dreading the moment for decades. | |
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A Little Life / int_f12c6fb1 | |
| A Little Life / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| A Little Life / int_name | comment |
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A Little Life / int_name | |
| A Little Life / int_name | itemName |
A Little Life |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| A Little Life | hasFeature |
Adopting the Abused / int_def0a226 | |
| A Little Life | hasFeature |
Adult Adoptee / int_def0a226 | |
| A Little Life | hasFeature |
Ambiguously Brown / int_def0a226 | |
| A Little Life | hasFeature |
American Literature (J To M) / int_def0a226 | |
| A Little Life | hasFeature |
Self-Harm / int_def0a226 |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.