Quote 4

Annie:   “Alvy, you’re incapable of enjoying life, you know that? I mean you’re like New York City. You’re just this person. You’re like this island unto yourself.”

Annie makes this remark to Alvy at a sidewalk café in Los Angeles after he flies out in an attempt to win her back with a desperate marriage proposal. The quotation sums up Annie’s view of Alvy, whose pessimism has driven her away. She has no hard feelings toward Alvy and wants to remain friends. In this conversation, Annie is finally strong and confident enough to tell Alvy what she really thinks of him, and she compares him to New York. The comment reinforces the parallel between Alvy and his home, New York City, but does so in a negative way. The film has been fiercely loyal to New York until this point, when Annie turns the tables and suggests that maybe New York is not paradise after all. Annie also differentiates herself here from Alvy. He has shaped her in his image in many ways, but this quotation demonstrates her separating herself from him, and from New York City, for good. It becomes clear in this moment that they will not get back together and that their relationship is over for good.

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