Elaine is Billy's best friend. They have been friends since the start of high school, and have remained close friends for their entire lives. Throughout high school, Billy and Elaine used each other's company to hide their true selves from the general public by acting as though they were dating, and in a romantic relationship.
As they continued through life, Billy and Elaine lived together multiple times, shared every experience, and learned what love and life was about together. Billy is bisexual, Elaine is straight, and they almost have a romance of their own through their close friendship. Occasionally, Billy and Elaine have casual sexual encounters. They sleep in the same bed, visit the same families on holidays, and things of that nature. In essence, their relationship becomes one of a married couple in an open relationship, since both Billy and Elaine are not exclusively in relationships with each other.
This makes me question what love really is. Can two people live together and coexist peacefully and lovingly for more than sixty years? How is this not true love? The romance of Billy and Elaine is the only stable thing that has existed throughout each of their lives. They depend on each other, and function exactly how a married couple does. They think of each other constantly, and speak constantly.
I firmly believe the sole reason Elaine and Billy have not been married is because they each reject monogamy as a standard. They refuse to stay with one person for any long period of time, whether exclusively or not.
Irving's point in writing Elaine and Billy's relationship in this way makes me question if the standard of love prevalent in today's society is indeed true, and whether or not true love in any form exists for any two people. How is love the determining factor in so many people's lives today, and how does love shape our society?
I believe in all kinds of love. I think that Billy and Elaine's love is one particular form of love, but not the only form of love. Personally, I would prefer a different for of love, but love is something you feel toward a person who make you genuinely happy. Obviously, Billy and Elaine make each other happy. They do not have a conventional love or relationship, but the love is present, and that is the only thing that matters in the end.
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