A Short Walk Through a Wide World

The many people whom Aubry meets along her journey demonstrate how people can find and foster emotional connections even when they know each other only briefly. These brief connections can have a lasting impact, often in surprising and unintended ways. From Aubry’s point of view, it is clear that the many characters she meets impact her life both positively and negatively, thus influencing her view of the world and herself, altering the choices she makes. For instance, Aubry’s encounter with Uzair, the first man she loves, has a deep and damaging impact on her outlook on life. Though many doctors have already tried to cure her sickness, Uzair’s intensity and assurance that he will fix her initially give Aubry hope that her sickness can be rationally explained and treated. However, by the end of their relationship, Uzair’s obsessive need to cure her proves to be dismissive, controlling, and cruel. After escaping Uzair, Aubry relinquishes any hope for a cure that she might still have possessed. Worse yet, Aubry’s love affair with Uzair painfully and negatively alters her perceptions of love. She attests that she previously believed that love was compassionate, gentle, and kind. Now, she understands that love can also be cruel, possessive, and manipulative.