A Little Life

by

Hanya Yanagihara

Julia Character Analysis

Julia is Harold’s wife. She’s a microbiologist who is originally from the United Kingdom. She and Harold are both professors in Cambridge. Julia, like Harold, loves and cares for Jude, and this love compels them to adopt him when he’s 30 (Julia and Harold have no biological children together). Like Harold, Julia hates to see Jude in pain and wants to see him heal psychologically, and she tries to support him through his struggles. At least at first, Julia seems more understanding of Jude’s desire for privacy, or at least cautious of it, than Harold is. When Jude first comes to over for dinner at their home in Cambridge, Harold asks a lot of prying questions about Jude’s past and calls out Jude for his failure to answer any of the questions. Julia, though, seems to sense that Jude has his reasons for being so secretive, and she urges Harold to leave Jude alone.

Julia Quotes in A Little Life

The A Little Life quotes below are all either spoken by Julia or refer to Julia . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Trauma Theme Icon
).
Part 2: The Postman: Chapter 3 Quotes

Every day the improbability of the situation seemed to grow larger and more vivid in his mind; every time he glimpsed the reflection of his ugly zombie’s hobble in the side of a building, he would feel sickened: Who, really, would ever want this? The idea that he could become someone else’s seemed increasingly ludicrous, and if Harold saw him just once more, how could he too not come to the same conclusion?

Related Characters: Jude St. Francis, Harold Stein, Julia , The Learys
Page Number: 213
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: The Axiom of Equality: Chapter 2 Quotes

I had meant what I told him that weekend: whatever he had done didn’t matter to me. I knew him. Who he had become was the person who mattered to me. I told him that who he was before made no difference to me. But of course, this was naïve: I adopted the person he was, but along with that came the person he had been, and I didn’t know who that person was. Later, I would regret that I hadn’t made it clearer to him that that person, whoever he was, was someone I wanted as well. Later, I would wonder, incessantly, what it would have been like for him if I had found him twenty years before I did, when he was a baby. Or if not twenty, then ten, or even five. Who would he have been, and who would I have been?

Related Characters: Harold Stein (speaker), Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson, Jean Baptiste “JB” Marion, Julia
Page Number: 397-398
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: The Happy Years: Chapter 2 Quotes

“I’m not Hemming, Willem,” Jude hisses at him. “I’m not going to be the cripple you get to save for the one you couldn’t.”

Related Characters: Jude St. Francis (speaker), Willem Ragnarsson, Harold Stein, Andy Contractor, Hemming , Julia
Related Symbols: Jude’s Self-Harm, Houses, Apartments, and Cabins
Page Number: 599
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: The Happy Years: Chapter 3 Quotes

On these days, he succumbed to a sort of enchantment, a state in which his life seemed both unimprovable and, paradoxically, perfectly fixable: Of course Jude wouldn’t get worse. Of course he could be repaired. Of course Willem would be the person to repair him. Of course this was possible; of course this was probable. Days like this seemed to have no nights, and if there were no nights, there was no cutting, there was no sadness, there was nothing to dismay.

Related Characters: Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson, Malcolm Irvine, Harold Stein, Hemming , Julia
Related Symbols: Jude’s Self-Harm, Houses, Apartments, and Cabins, Jude’s Wheelchair
Page Number: 649
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 6: Dear Comrade: Chapter 3 Quotes

“Jude,” Harold says to him, quietly. “My poor Jude. My poor sweetheart.” And with that, he starts to cry, for no one has ever called him sweetheart, not since Brother Luke. Sometimes Willem would try[..] and he would make him stop; the endearment was filthy to him […]. “My sweetheart,” Harold says again, and he wants him to stop; he wants him to never stop. “My baby.” And he cries and cries, […] for the shame and joy of finally getting to be a child, with all of a child’s whims and wants and insecurities, for the privilege of behaving badly and being forgiven, for the luxury of tendernesses, of fondnesses, of being served a meal and being made to eat it, for the ability, at last, at last, of believing a parent’s reassurances, of believing that to someone he is special despite all his mistakes and hatefulness, because of all his mistakes and hatefulness.

Related Characters: Harold Stein (speaker), Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson, Julia
Page Number: 792-793
Explanation and Analysis:
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Julia Quotes in A Little Life

The A Little Life quotes below are all either spoken by Julia or refer to Julia . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Trauma Theme Icon
).
Part 2: The Postman: Chapter 3 Quotes

Every day the improbability of the situation seemed to grow larger and more vivid in his mind; every time he glimpsed the reflection of his ugly zombie’s hobble in the side of a building, he would feel sickened: Who, really, would ever want this? The idea that he could become someone else’s seemed increasingly ludicrous, and if Harold saw him just once more, how could he too not come to the same conclusion?

Related Characters: Jude St. Francis, Harold Stein, Julia , The Learys
Page Number: 213
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: The Axiom of Equality: Chapter 2 Quotes

I had meant what I told him that weekend: whatever he had done didn’t matter to me. I knew him. Who he had become was the person who mattered to me. I told him that who he was before made no difference to me. But of course, this was naïve: I adopted the person he was, but along with that came the person he had been, and I didn’t know who that person was. Later, I would regret that I hadn’t made it clearer to him that that person, whoever he was, was someone I wanted as well. Later, I would wonder, incessantly, what it would have been like for him if I had found him twenty years before I did, when he was a baby. Or if not twenty, then ten, or even five. Who would he have been, and who would I have been?

Related Characters: Harold Stein (speaker), Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson, Jean Baptiste “JB” Marion, Julia
Page Number: 397-398
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: The Happy Years: Chapter 2 Quotes

“I’m not Hemming, Willem,” Jude hisses at him. “I’m not going to be the cripple you get to save for the one you couldn’t.”

Related Characters: Jude St. Francis (speaker), Willem Ragnarsson, Harold Stein, Andy Contractor, Hemming , Julia
Related Symbols: Jude’s Self-Harm, Houses, Apartments, and Cabins
Page Number: 599
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: The Happy Years: Chapter 3 Quotes

On these days, he succumbed to a sort of enchantment, a state in which his life seemed both unimprovable and, paradoxically, perfectly fixable: Of course Jude wouldn’t get worse. Of course he could be repaired. Of course Willem would be the person to repair him. Of course this was possible; of course this was probable. Days like this seemed to have no nights, and if there were no nights, there was no cutting, there was no sadness, there was nothing to dismay.

Related Characters: Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson, Malcolm Irvine, Harold Stein, Hemming , Julia
Related Symbols: Jude’s Self-Harm, Houses, Apartments, and Cabins, Jude’s Wheelchair
Page Number: 649
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 6: Dear Comrade: Chapter 3 Quotes

“Jude,” Harold says to him, quietly. “My poor Jude. My poor sweetheart.” And with that, he starts to cry, for no one has ever called him sweetheart, not since Brother Luke. Sometimes Willem would try[..] and he would make him stop; the endearment was filthy to him […]. “My sweetheart,” Harold says again, and he wants him to stop; he wants him to never stop. “My baby.” And he cries and cries, […] for the shame and joy of finally getting to be a child, with all of a child’s whims and wants and insecurities, for the privilege of behaving badly and being forgiven, for the luxury of tendernesses, of fondnesses, of being served a meal and being made to eat it, for the ability, at last, at last, of believing a parent’s reassurances, of believing that to someone he is special despite all his mistakes and hatefulness, because of all his mistakes and hatefulness.

Related Characters: Harold Stein (speaker), Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson, Julia
Page Number: 792-793
Explanation and Analysis: