JESS
Jessica Bartlett is a single, live-alone aspiring writer on the cusp of youth and middle age. She was brought up on her own by her mother, and has no brothers or sisters.
She is a very methodical person, intellectual rather than
physical, a product of being an only child. Her own private
rituals and games took the place of interaction with real people
when she was growing up.
Her father has been completely
absent from her life, and with her mother working, Jess was alone a
great deal of the time. Because of this, she actively sought
the company of other people - any people - who would spend time with
her.
Rather than provide her with a multitude of friends, it only exposed her to the most irritating and repellant human qualities - selfishness and dependence.
Throughout her school years,
she attracted girlfriends who were solely image-focussed, who took
no responsibility for their own actions, and who kept her as a
friend so they could have someone to feel superior to. Her
relationships with men followed much the same course.
Not wanting to lose her friends, but being constantly worn down by their needs, has caused years worth of resentment to build up inside Jess.
She has shut real people out of her life entirely, in order to create a fantasy world of her own. Inheriting a love of writing from her estranged father, a famous author, she would rather live in her head, than live in the world.
Here, drink is a crutch for
her. Here, she can have the man of her dreams, who loves her,
cares about her, and respects her.
She is stuck in the past.
