High Fidelity

“Can you see your name in that lot, Laura?” 

High Fidelity begins by establishing Rob’s values. He organizes everything in his life into neat, easily consumable lists of his preferences. Being on a list, whether the list denotes his favorite songs or his worst breakups, is an achievement. In his defensive bluster, Rob claims that Laura will have to try harder if she is to make his top five. He issues her a challenge, though the premise of the novel indicates that this breakup is the most important in his life. The end of Rob’s relationship with Laura is so significant that it prompts him to change and grow as a person, ironically demonstrating that Rob is wrong and that the loss of Laura is the worst breakup of all. 

“They’re as close to being mad as makes no difference.” 

Rob’s self-loathing manifests in several different ways, including his attitudes toward his customers. Rob criticizes the obsessive record collectors who visit his store, even though he is financially dependent on them for survival—and even though he is almost exactly the same as them. Rob hates the customers because he sees so much of himself in them; by turning his displeasure on the customers, he can criticize himself without the painful recognition of his own flaws. Rob projects his self-loathing onto others, even though he knows that he is not addressing his flaws in a healthy manner.