There can be little doubt that jealousy is the dominant emotion felt throughout the text. At one time or another, every major character is gripped by a feeling of jealousy. In some cases, such as Bendrix, this jealousy comes to define them as a character and motivates much of their actions during the novel. Jealousy and what it means to be jealous is explored throughout the text, while discussions on the nature of jealousy appear in Bendrix’s prose and Sarah’s diary.

The first mention of jealousy in the book comes from Henry. As he sits in the pub with Bendrix, two men united by their love for the same woman, he declares that “jealousy's an awful thing” (6) when commenting on a piece of lurid graffiti Bendrix has seen in the bathroom. Bendrix initially takes this to be a comment on the graffiti itself, but when Henry follows it up by saying that “when you are miserable, you envy other people's happiness” (6), the sentiment becomes a diagnosis of Bendrix character. Bendrix is miserable, as he and Sarah are no longer together. This misery has metastasized into a burning jealousy, a jealousy of the man sat opposite him in the pub.