Rosemary Cooke: A Character Analysis

Running head: ROSEMARY COOKE
ROSEMARY COOKE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROSEMARY COOKE
Rosemary Cookie is the central character of the novel “We Are All Completely
Beside Ourselves” which was written by Karen Joy Fowler. The whole novel is being said
through her point of view. She was the narrator. Rosemary was born in the Bloomington,
Indiana. The Novel follows a Non-linear Narrative Structure. The Story Began with
Rosemary Cookie trying to cope up her studies in college. Rosemary was an intelligent and
bright student who studied at the Davis, California but find hard to communicate with her
fellow colleagues. She was not able to bond with her roommate Scully but was able to
connect with Harlow with whom she shared the same impulsive and animalistic instinct. As
the story progresses, the reader come to know that, Rosemary was closer and emotionally
attached to her mother than her father. She hardly talks to her father. The reader also comes
to know that Rosemary had had two siblings, Lowell and Fern, details of which were not
discussed much during that point of time. However, as the story progresses the reader comes
to know that Fern was actually a adopted Chimpanzee who was raised by her parents as
Rosemary`s “Twin” sister when she was only one month old. As a child, Rosemary and her
twin “sister” Fern were subjected to various experiments by her father and a group of
graduate students which had a huge impact on her childhood and overall character
development. She says, “Was my father kind to animals? I thought so as a child, but I knew
less about the lives of lab rats then. Let's just say that my father was kind to animals unless it
was in the interest of science to be otherwise. He would never have run over a cat if there was
nothing to be learned by doing so.
He was a great believer in our animal natures, far less likely to anthropomorphize Fern than
to animalize me. Not just me, but you, too––all of us together, I'm afraid. He didn't believe
animals could think, not in the way he defined the term, but he wasn't much impressed with
human thinking, either. He referred to the human brain as a clown car parked between our
ears. Open the doors and the clowns pile out” (Fowler, 2014). As the story progress, there are

2ROSEMARY COOKE
many events that occurs through which the reader cold get to know more about Rosemary`s
character and her past. Rosemary was also affected by the troubled situation within her
family. This was highlighted during Rosemary`s visit to her home during the thanksgivings.
Upon her arrival, she found that her family had moved on to a new home that she was not
aware about until date. The strained relation within Rosemary`s family was also reflected
here. Rosemary`s mother side of the family did not like her father. It was mainly because of
the atheist views of her father. In addition, the profession of the father as a scientists also
contributed to the fact that the mother`s side did not liked her father. In the novel,
Rosemary`s brother, Lowell staying with her had a huge impact of the overall character of the
Rosemary Cookie. During the visit, Rosemary remembers that while she was five, her family
moved to a new place leaving behind her “adopted sister” chimpanzee Fern. Her brother
Lowell was not supportive of this and he started revolting against his family. “It seemed to
Lowell that psychological studies of nonhuman animals were mostly cumbersome,
convoluted, and downright peculiar. They taught us little about the animals but lots about the
researchers who designed and ran them” (Fowler, 2014). During the second year, he ran away
from the family and joined the animal activist in order to help his “adopted” sister Fern
escaping from the laboratory. In the process, Lowell was caught but he was successful in
escaping “sparking the manhunt”. Rosemary was very much close to her brother Lowell and
adopted “sister” Fern. In addition, she was highly disturbed and traumatized over the
disappearance of them. She blamed herself for her sibling’s disappearance. She says, “I
would say that, like Lowell, I loved her as a sister, but she was the only sister I ever had, so I
can't be sure; it's an experiment with no control” (Fowler, 2014). However, slowly as time
passed, Rosemary was able to comprehend that she was not the reason for the disappearance
of her siblings and was able to get over her guilt and regret. She was finally able to confronts
her past memories which she previous tried to suppress. Towards the end of the novel, it was