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Marianne, one of Normal People’s two protagonists, is in the contradictory position of being both one of the wealthiest people in her high school and one of the least popular. Among her school peers, she is bullied and harassed, while at home, she is emotionally and physically abused. During her time at university, though Marianne has friends and romantic partners, unlike in high school, she never totally sheds her status as an outcast. Largely because of the abuse she has suffered at home from her mother, brother, and now-deceased father, Marianne spends most of Normal People struggling with feelings of inadequacy, worthlessness, self-hatred, and depression. This causes her to seek out people who affirm her negative opinion of herself, from friends who demean her in public to sexual partners who degrade her in private. Marianne’s family wealth grants her admittance to high-ranking social circles populated by students who come from similarly affluent backgrounds, but her dramatically low self-esteem keeps her in destructive patterns, except for the rare stretches of time when her relationship with Connell is stable and positive.
The trajectory of Marianne’s relationship with Connell shows Marianne’s growth throughout the novel into a self-assured person who is capable of happiness. In high school, Marianne allows Connell to keep their sexual relationship a secret, even though she finds the experience humiliating, because she understands that his association with her would tarnish his reputation. After their first breakup when he invites someone else to the Debs, a school function, Marianne uses the start of university as an opportunity to reinvent herself into a glamorous social butterfly. The changes, though, are only skin-deep, and she still repulses herself below the surface. Still, over the ensuing years Connell’s mostly constant presence in her life, culminating in their public kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve in Normal People’s final chapter, slowly but surely convinces Marianne that she is genuinely worthy of love. Despite his initial cowardice, Connell now shows Marianne the kind of unconditional, unashamed love that she has never received before from anyone, and as she prepares for the possibility of Connell’s departure to New York, Marianne knows she is a different, stronger person thanks to him.
