Stage I English Literature, Responding to texts, Comparative

Compare and contrast the voices of the central characters the Rosie Project and Love is a Fallacy
and analyse the language, stylistic techniques and conventions used by the authors to create
these voices.
The Rosie Project is about romance and the comedic errors of Don Tillson, a man with an
undiagnosed syndrome. The story follows his search for a wife. He is a professor of genetics who
lives an orderly, predictable life in a protected academic background. On the other hand, Love is a
Fallacy is about a young, selfish man who uses logic in his search for a wife, but ironically fails. He
tries to educate his ‘love’ (Polly) so she can be a fit wife, hostess and mother in the future. These
two stories are similar, yet different.
Don and Dobie are both in search for a wife, albeit for different reasons. Dobie comments “I was
aware of the importance of the right kind of wife in furthering my career as a lawyer.” [Love is a
Fallacy, page 1.] Dobie is after a wife, not for love, but to further his career in the future. The
language he uses is logical and sophisticated, but disingenuous. He pretends to be sincere with
Polly, but she is not convinced, and, at the end of the book, she turns the tables on him. The
following conversation between the two sums this up nicely:

Dobie: My dear, we have now spent five evenings together. We’ve gotten along splendidly. It’s
clear that we are well matched.
Polly: Now THAT’S a Hasty Generalisation! How can you say that we are well-matched on the
basis of only five dates?
Dobie: Sweetheart, five dates is plenty. After all, you don’t have to eat a whole cake to know it’s
good.
Polly: Uh-uh-uh! False Analogy! I’m not a cake. I’m a girl! (Shulman, 1951)

Don is after true love. He wants a proper wife. In chapter one of the Rosie Project, he says, “I may
have found a solution to the Wife Problem. Gene and Claudia tried for a while to assist me with the
Wife Problem.” (Simsion, 2013) The language he uses is forthright, even blunt, much like
someone on the Autism spectrum, but, unlike Dobie, he is sincere.

Both characters appear to be very self-confident, Dobie more than Don, who has nagging doubts.
Dobie says, “I was cool and logical. Keen, calculating, acute. And think of it! – I was only
eighteen.” (Shulman, 1951) He comes across as arrogant and full of his own self-importance,
cocky and assured. These qualities prove to be his downfall, as he “loses” the girl in the end.

I am thirty-nine years old, tall, fit, and intelligent, with a relatively high status and above-average
income as an associate professor. Logically, I should be attractive to a wide range of women.
(Simsion, 2013)

Don Tillman is working through his thoughts, musing over why he does not have a wife and
rationalising the situation. Like Dobie, he uses logic, but not to change another person, rather to
state his case, and logically he is right, he has much going for him, so why don’t women like him?
Although he sounds confident, the language he uses, one word to be specific, belies this – should.
The word (in the first person) expresses acceptance. (Dictionary.com, 2019) He accepts that
women should like him, yet he remains single.
 Stage I English Literature, Responding to texts, Comparative
The ending of the two stories are different for both characters. Dobie comments, ‘the rat! You can’t
go with him, Polly. He’s a liar. He’s a cheat. He’s a rat!’ [Love is a Fallacy, page 4]. Polly rejects
him when she feels that he only wants her for his career and not for love. Dobie gets furious when
he finds out that his best friend cheated him and that his friend and polly made a plan against
Dobie. The language he uses is irrational and unrealistic.
Dobie: Polly, I must ask you something. Will you go steady with me?
Polly: No, I won’t!
Dobie: Why not?
Polly: Because this afternoon I promised Petey Burch that I would go steady with him.
Dobie: The rat! You can’t go with him, Polly. He’s a liar. He’s a cheat. He’s a rat!
Polly: Poisoning the Well! Now that’s not fair! And why don’t you stop shouting? I think that must
be a fallacy too!
Don and Rosie share the same feelings about each other. Don comments, “We are officially
married. Although I had performed the romantic ritual with the ring, I did not expect Rosie, as a
modern feminist, to want to actually get married. The term wife in Wife Project had always meant
‘female life partner.’” [the Rosie Project, chapter 36 page 211]. The language he uses is an opinion
on what he expected from Rosie. Unlike Dobie, he is true.
Both characters have different thoughts and actions towards their love lives. Other than Dobie
teaching polly logics, he also wants to change her and the way she thinks and is. Dobie explains,
“Polly fitted perfect specifications. Beautiful, she was. Gracious, she was. Intelligent? She was not!
But I believed that under guidance, she would smarten up” [Love is a Fallacy, page 1]. He thinks
that with a bit of guidance polly would smarten up. The language he uses is rapacious and selfish.
Dobie: “Polly fitted these specifications perfectly. Beautiful, she was. Gracious, she was.
Intelligent? She was not! But I believed that under guidance, she would smarten up. At any rate, it
was worth a try. I figured that it’s easier to make a beautiful, gracious, dumb girl, smart than to
make an ugly, smart girl, beautiful and gracious.”
On the other hand, Don falls in love with Rosie for who she is he doesn’t want Rosie just for
furthering his career. Don explains, “Had it not been for this unscheduled series of events, her
daughter and I would not have fallen in love.” [The Rosie Project, chapter 36]. He fell in love with
Rosie while on a mission to help Rosie find her biological father. The language he uses is grateful
and obliged. Unlike Dobie, he is more sincere and benevolent.

Don and Dobie have different personalities when it comes to finding the right partner. Dobie wants
an intelligent woman but also must be beautiful and gracious. Dobie comments, “I was aware of
the importance of the right kind of wife in furthering my career as a lawyer. The successful lawyers
I had observed were almost without exception married to beautiful, gracious, and intelligent
women.” [Love is a Fallacy, page 1]. It seems more like he isn’t looking for love, but he is looking
to further his career in being a lawyer. The language being used is opinionated and narcissistic.
Don at first did care a little about looks but after he met Rosie he felt the need to fall in love. He
comments, “I want to spend my life with you even though it’s totally irrational. And you have short
earlobes. Socially and genetically there’s no reason for me to be attracted to you. The only logical
conclusion is that I must be in love with you”, [The Rosie Project, chapter 35]. He feels the need to
fall in love with Rosie. The language being said is obligatory. Unlike Dobie, he is very obligated in
falling in love with Rosie.
In conclusion, the two characters (Dobie and Don) are both self-confident but in different ways.
The two stories are of romance and comedy. In the Rosie Project, Don hasn’t had a perfect
relationship, but he suddenly meets Rosie. Rosie and Don fall in love while searching for Rosie’s
biological father. In Love is a Fallacy, Dobie is in love with Polly but not with her personality or the
 Stage I English Literature, Responding to texts, Comparative
way she thinks. He uses logic to change her but the logic he uses turns against him. Although their
goals are the same Dobie and Don are very different characters

Bibliography
Shulman, M. (1951). Love is a fallacy. Minnesota USA: Findaspeech.com.
Simsion, G. (2013). Rosie Project, the. Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company.
Dictionary.com. (2019). Dictionary.com - The world’s favourite online dictionary! [Online] Available
at: https://www.dictionary.com/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2019].