A Little Life

As Jude finds himself unable to recover from Willem’s death despite the passage of time, he embarks on a campaign of trying to kill himself indirectly; rather than committing one act that will end his life, he weakens his body through near-starvation and hopes that an infection will kill him. He finds that when he starves himself for long enough, he has hallucinations of Willem, which he enjoys and therefore actively tries to cause. He begins withdrawing from his social life completely, canceling all plans and trying to conceal his alarming weight loss behind baggy clothes.

One day, Andy pays him a surprise visit at his office and is stunned by his emaciated frame. Shortly afterward, a group of his closest friends gather to confront him, a confrontation that ends with their insistence on his forced hospitalization. At this point, he finally gives in to his anger completely, fighting back viciously as he is strapped to a hospital bed and put on a feeding tube. He is only released many days later with strict regulations: He must eat all his meals in someone’s presence to ensure he is eating, he must see Andy regularly for physical check-ups, and he must resume his therapy sessions.