The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

by

V. E. Schwab

Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father) Character Analysis

Addie’s father is her favorite person in the world, and it devastates Addie when Luc’s curse causes him to forget her. Addie is six when her father, a woodworker, takes her with him to the nearby city of Le Mans to sell his wares. The trip is a formative experience for Addie; it shows her how much lies beyond her small rural village of Villon-sur-Sarthe and leaves her longing for a larger, more adventurous life. Addie’s father ignores the social norms of the day and teaches Addie to read and write. He also contributes to her lifelong love of art and artists; Addie’s father is normally a quiet man, but he expresses himself beautifully through his art. One of Addie’s most prized possessions is a wooden ring her father carved for her when she was born, though Luc later corrupts the positive associations Addie has with the ring.

Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father) Quotes in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue quotes below are all either spoken by Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father) or refer to Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father). 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:
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
).
Part 1, Chapter 3 Quotes

And by the time they return home to Villon, she will already be a different version of herself. A room with the windows all thrown wide, eager to let in the fresh air, the sunlight, the spring.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 4 Quotes

Her mother wishes she was more like Isabelle Therault, sweet and kind and utterly incurious, content to keep her eyes down upon her knitting instead of looking up at clouds, instead of wondering what’s around the bend, over the hills.

But Adeline does not know how to be like Isabelle.

She does not want to be like Isabelle.

She wants only to go to Le Mans, and once there, to watch the people and see the art all around, and taste the food, and discover things she hasn’t heard of yet.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father), Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother), Isabelle Therault
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

Estele’s face darkens. “The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price.” She leans over Adeline, casting her in shadow. “And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”

Related Characters: Estele (speaker), Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father), Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother)
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 5 Quotes

There was no danger in it, no reproach, not when she was young. All girls are prone to dreaming. She will grow out of it, her parents say—but instead, Adeline feels herself growing in, holding tighter to the stubborn hope of something more.

The world should be getting larger. Instead, she feels it shrinking, tightening like chains around her limbs as the flat lines of her own body begin to curve out against it, and suddenly the charcoal beneath her nails is unbecoming, as is the idea that she would choose her own company over Arnaud’s or George’s, or any man who might have her.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father), Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother), George Caron
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 13 Quotes

This is how she would remember him. Not by the sad unknowing in his eyes, or the grim set of his jaw as he led her to church, but by the things he loved. By the way he showed her how to hold a stick of charcoal, coaxing shapes and shades with the weight of her hand. The songs and stories, the sights from the five summers she went with him to market, when Adeline was old enough to travel, but not old enough to cause a stir.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Related Symbols: Art
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 6, Chapter 1 Quotes

“Put it on, and I will come.” Luc leans back in his chair, the night breeze blowing through those raven curls. “There,” he says. “Now we are even.”

Related Characters: Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger (speaker), Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Related Symbols: Addie’s Wooden Ring
Page Number: 366
Explanation and Analysis:
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Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father) Quotes in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue quotes below are all either spoken by Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father) or refer to Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father). 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:
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
).
Part 1, Chapter 3 Quotes

And by the time they return home to Villon, she will already be a different version of herself. A room with the windows all thrown wide, eager to let in the fresh air, the sunlight, the spring.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 4 Quotes

Her mother wishes she was more like Isabelle Therault, sweet and kind and utterly incurious, content to keep her eyes down upon her knitting instead of looking up at clouds, instead of wondering what’s around the bend, over the hills.

But Adeline does not know how to be like Isabelle.

She does not want to be like Isabelle.

She wants only to go to Le Mans, and once there, to watch the people and see the art all around, and taste the food, and discover things she hasn’t heard of yet.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father), Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother), Isabelle Therault
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

Estele’s face darkens. “The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price.” She leans over Adeline, casting her in shadow. “And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”

Related Characters: Estele (speaker), Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father), Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother)
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 5 Quotes

There was no danger in it, no reproach, not when she was young. All girls are prone to dreaming. She will grow out of it, her parents say—but instead, Adeline feels herself growing in, holding tighter to the stubborn hope of something more.

The world should be getting larger. Instead, she feels it shrinking, tightening like chains around her limbs as the flat lines of her own body begin to curve out against it, and suddenly the charcoal beneath her nails is unbecoming, as is the idea that she would choose her own company over Arnaud’s or George’s, or any man who might have her.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father), Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother), George Caron
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 13 Quotes

This is how she would remember him. Not by the sad unknowing in his eyes, or the grim set of his jaw as he led her to church, but by the things he loved. By the way he showed her how to hold a stick of charcoal, coaxing shapes and shades with the weight of her hand. The songs and stories, the sights from the five summers she went with him to market, when Adeline was old enough to travel, but not old enough to cause a stir.

Related Characters: Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Related Symbols: Art
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 6, Chapter 1 Quotes

“Put it on, and I will come.” Luc leans back in his chair, the night breeze blowing through those raven curls. “There,” he says. “Now we are even.”

Related Characters: Luc/The Darkness/The Stranger (speaker), Adeline “Addie” LaRue, Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Related Symbols: Addie’s Wooden Ring
Page Number: 366
Explanation and Analysis: