Rooney’s approach offers a lot of insight into how we communicate with each other
If you’ve ever heard of Sally Rooney or her work, it’s probably been attached to some critique of her distinct grammar decision to leave conversations in her books quotation-less. It’s quite an interesting decision on Rooney’s behalf, especially considering how it goes against conventions of writing fiction that we are taught about in school.
According to Rooney, her decision to go without quotes around what her characters say is based on her lack of trust in the function that they serve in a novel. In a 2018 interview with Stet Magazine, discussing drafts of her debut novel Conversations with Friends, Rooney states: “I can’t remember ever really using quotation marks–I don’t see any need for theme, and I don’t understand the function they perform in a novel.” It’s quite the opposite of what you would expect a published author to be saying.
While many people may agree or disagree with Rooney’s sentiments about speech marks, in the end, they serve an important purpose in the context of the books she writes. Throughout her novels, miscommunication is a common motif used to convey notions of class, gender and how they intertwine to complicate relationships.
Normal People, which was published in 2018 and later adapted as a Hulu Original in 2020, is probably Sally Rooney’s most famous work. The novel follows Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron as they leave high school and enter university, always on the precipice of confessing their true feelings of desire for each other, but never daring to do so.
In the book, the line between inner feelings and outward expressions is blurred through Rooney’s lack of quotation. Through the reader’s physical interaction with the text, they are able to participate in Rooney’s theme of miscommunication and feel exactly how Marianne and Connell feel. This interaction between reader and characters that happens in Normal People is only really available through Rooney’s lack of quotation marks.
This lack of quotation marks that Rooney explores also demonstrates the dynamic that happens due to Marianne and Connell’s difference in gender. There are lots of things left unsaid due to outside patriarchal pressures, which are emphasized further through Rooney’s lack of quotes. Again, the physical act of reading furthers this and makes reading Normal People a very interactive, realistic reading experience.
Sally Rooney’s use of quotation marks makes a statement about the ways in which her characters navigate the world. The lack of clarity between where the thoughts of Rooney’s characters end and their spoken word begins helps develop this three-dimensional interaction with the reader, which emphasizes her message around the miscommunication that people commonly encounter. Despite the assumed absurdity behind Rooney’s lack of quotations, there is a level of craftsmanship and dedication to her themes that not many other authors employ.