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I've seen some people comment that Nick and Amy deserve each other, but I don't see how framing him for killing her is justice for him cheating on her. However, that got me wondering what would have been a suitable punishment for Nick? In the real world, I'd say justice for cheating would be either cheating right back or filing for divorce, but Amy is too creative and psychopathic for that. What uniquely Amy way could she have gotten back at him which wouldn't have been overkill?

"..but Amy is too creative and psychopathic for that"

Well, I guess this line of yours tells us that going by Amy's standard framing Nick for her murder was the best and the most applicable punishment. But, then again its not really normal to frame a man for murder, as a punishment for cheating.

In the real world I guess cheating back would suit well. But, maligning in public and getting a divorce would be the best!! :D

Yeah, I have to wonder about people sometimes. Really - the punishment for cheating should be being framed for murder? And honestly, this little frame-up job was only Amy's latest sociopathic scheme - she was a terrible person this whole time. Nick was a jerk, but I'm not going to be mad at a person for cheating on an abusive sociopath.

As for what Amy should have done - I don't know. I think probably she should have just filed for divorce. Possibly she could have transferred the rest of her assets to her parents' names (temporarily) so Nick wouldn't get a cent of her money. She also could have reported him to the school he worked at for sleeping with a student (!) which probably would have gotten him fired. All reasonable acts of revenge, imo. But obviously, none of that would have made for as interesting a book.

To my mind most normal people don't "get back at someone" for cheating.
In the real world you split up because it isn't working out or you see a counselor because you want to make it work.

No doubt many people "think" about doing something like that, but those who actually go through with it have some deep psychological issues of their own.
Often we see them on TN being led away in handcuffs.

But this book isn't about normal people.

it wasn't just cheating that Amy felt she was punishing Nick for; it was for his inability to love every aspect of her, even if it was a completely different person. Amy projected what she knew Nick and most men would be attracted to seal the deal, to ensure she not only looked good, but had a substance behind the pretty face. when the real her started to show after leaving New York, because, let's face it, she dropped everything she was involved in to be with him and support him, she was simply disappointed in his pulling away, his reaction to it. this is not a well-adjusted woman. she framed her ex for rape when he didn't answer her calls. and they weren't really together, simply dated and slept with one another for a while. she didn't even call him an ex. so Nick being frame for her murder was a justifiable response to him not accepting her and cheating on her with someone that could be considered the "old" her.

If it was real life they both probably would get what they deserved. A future of misery with them both increasingly bitter and twisted and blaming the world. Not a future I'd choose.
As patricia said "normal" people would split up and consider therapy!
Still a good book though.

Diana wrote: "If it was real life they both probably would get what they deserved. A future of misery with them both increasingly bitter and twisted and blaming the world. Not a future I'd choose.
As patricia s..."

How can a future of misery be just desserts for both of them when their respective errors are so different?

Many times in life people don't get the punishment they deserve.

I doubt this book would have received as much attention if Nick "turned from his ways and lived happily ever after."

I know I'm in the minority when I say I was actually rooting for Amy until the story "jumped the shark" towards the end. The ending saved the book from being a 2 star book for me.

I believe that Nick had the misfortune of meeting Amy. He was a flawed man and although he did mistreat his wife, no one deserves to be married to a sociopath. I can imagine this kind of thing happens in real life. Look at Debra LeFavre.

Everything he got.

Everything he got actually. I rather enjoyed the punishment she dealt out hmm sure that says something about me LOL

Charis wrote: "Everything he got actually. I rather enjoyed the punishment she dealt out hmm sure that says something about me LOL"
No Charis, it says everything about him. You are a wise woman.

Thanks, Paula and Charis. I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt Nick got what he deserved.

How exactly does cheating merit being framed for murder?

She should have walked away from him with her head held high showing him that he doesn't deserve her. Filed for divorce, made sure he never got a single penny of her money again and made his affair public to the school where he worked because a teacher sleeping with their student is just wrong no matter what age the student may be. And proven to him that she was the better person which she would've been had she not been so crazy/murderous/deranged...

Sammy wrote: "She should have walked away from him with her head held high showing him that he doesn't deserve her. Filed for divorce, made sure he never got a single penny of her money again and made his affair..."

Unfortunately women are always taking the high road and will continue to do so, including myself. Don't forget he used all her money in the bar and she had no money left. And who worked the bar, he and his sister. It is nice to see this kind a justice in fiction where no one gets hurt in reality.

Rosella wrote: "How exactly does cheating merit being framed for murder?"
well he did not serve any time for murder did he? She returned, didn't she?

Gone Girl has an unrealistic and farfetched plot, riddled with characterisation inconsistencies and contradictions, poor language usage (including the cute, in-text authorial references to supposedly correct grammar) and a shirt-load of faulty logic. However, most American readers will devour it in spades, bless them! It is a page-turner that sends all the wrong messsages to all the wrong people. Let's hope Flynn gets it right for the screenplay, particularly the ending?

Manny wrote: "I believe that Nick had the misfortune of meeting Amy. He was a flawed man and although he did mistreat his wife, no one deserves to be married to a sociopath. I can imagine this kind of thing hap..."

exactly!! wow

Brendan wrote: "It is a page-turner that sends all the wrong messsages to all the wrong people. "
What messages does it send to what people?

Paula wrote: "Rosella wrote: "How exactly does cheating merit being framed for murder?"
well he did not serve any time for murder did he? She returned, didn't she?"

So if he had actually served time, that would have been taking it too far?

Rosella wrote: "Brendan wrote: "It is a page-turner that sends all the wrong messsages to all the wrong people. "
What messages does it send to what people?"

By not having characters accountable for their actions, particularly Amy,the message being conveyed to readers, many with already dodgy moral compasses, perhaps, is that it's okay. That is, she gets away with murder. It doesn't have to be as simplistic as the lofty 'good triumphanting over evil' message as in a fairy tale, but having Amy and Nick end up with each other as mutual tormentors doesn't quite cut it as a satisfying resolution.

Sammy wrote: "She should have walked away from him with her head held high showing him that he doesn't deserve her. Filed for divorce, made sure he never got a single penny of her money again and made his affair..."

what about the fact that it was HER PARENTS that lost the vast majority of her money - that the reason he was able to convince Amy to go back to his hometown was because the house they were living in had to be sold to settle her parents debts...really, what other options did they have - get a cheap apt in NYC where he was unemployed and not likely to get another job due to the economy (I can't remember what Amy did), or move somewhere where cost of living is cheaper, so they could have a house, where he has a job

This is a really dysfunctional marriage altogether! HA! They seem to work out but yet unequally in some ways. As lenient as Amy was in letting Nick think he was in charge and always , always psychoanalyzing everything to the greatest detail to CONTROL ALL , I would say she practically planned the ending of her own demise because she truly was not happy. She never could really be happy because she had to ALWAYS BE IN CONTROL ! Controlling someone and everything around you is not loving and I would think is boring , thus you have Amy playing with the lives of everyone she knows around her! She really is a " Gone Girl"'! HA ! But what a great plot to think of such a manipulative sick woman that really successfully gets away with the sociopathic - " Gone Girl" , way out in left field things she does. What is so frightening is I really think people exist around us in our everyday lives more than we realize. I think I know a few.... SCARY! Dawn

Amy's response to Nick cheating was definitely overkill but she was a flawed human being probably due to her upbringing. Her parents exploited her from a child and I think she buried a lot of her anger which exploded in manipulative ways rather than her voicing it in a normal way. A normal response to his cheating would be to confront and either resolve the reason for him cheating in the first place or divorce him for adultery. I do not think she really loved him but was just unwilling to be the one cast off. Really scary person!

Rosella wrote: "Paula wrote: "Rosella wrote: "How exactly does cheating merit being framed for murder?"
well he did not serve any time for murder did he? She returned, didn't she?"

So if he had actually served ti..."

Duh

Brendan wrote: "Rosella wrote: "Brendan wrote: "It is a page-turner that sends all the wrong messsages to all the wrong people. "
What messages does it send to what people?"

By not having characters accountable f..."

Oh my gosh, it's fiction. No rational person would emulate this book. and the dodgy people you refer to don't need this book for inspiration.

Paula wrote: "Brendan wrote: "Rosella wrote: "Brendan wrote: "It is a page-turner that sends all the wrong messsages to all the wrong people. "
What messages does it send to what people?"

By not having characte..."

No one's suggesting emulation of actions from this piece of fiction; more about conveying/reinforcing a message that's dodgy because of an inconclusive ending. No one's talking about "dodgy people" but questionable moral compasses. Maybe that's why as kids we're fed fairy tales and fables where the goodies come out on top and the baddies get smacked? Hence the ballyhoo about this book's ending.

It's a little strange and not at all what I would think in real life but I found I was hoping all along that Amy would get away with it! I found it very hard to sympathise with Nick but of course he did not deserve to be framed. I think though that having his dirty laundry aired in public was the worst possible form of punishment for a person who so badly wanted people to like him his whole life. As for punishment for a cheater, I don't really believe in the whole tearing up his clothes/selling his stuff/cheating back thing but I do think that moving on and acting like you don't care is the best form of punishment.

Brendan wrote: "Brendan wrote: It doesn't have to be as simplistic as the lofty 'good triumphanting over evil' message as in a fairy tale, but having Amy and Nick end up with each other as mutual tormentors doesn't quite cut it as a satisfying resolution. "

What would have been a more satisfying resolution for you?

Catherine wrote: "In the last few chapters you realize that Nick IS just like Amy. Not in the scheming and planning, but in the fact that he thrives on the drama, chaos and mess that is their marriage. "

I agree that they both need or think they need to drama which forms the foundation of their marriage, but I disagree that they need this in the same way. Amy is a pscyhopath who thrives on the control she exerts over Nick. Nick, on the other hand, has been shaped into the victim by Amy's pscyhopatic manipulation. He can now no longer function succussfully without her control.

Dee wrote: "Sammy wrote: "(I can't remember what Amy did), "

She wrote quizes for magazines.

Rosella wrote: "Brendan wrote: "Brendan wrote: It doesn't have to be as simplistic as the lofty 'good triumphing over evil' message as in a fairy tale, but having Amy and Nick end up with each other as mutual t..."
Not sure. Maybe Amy stays entrapped by Desi forever more, as in John Fowles' The Collector - nice irony - while Nick gets set up by Andy and a few of her mates so that he loses his college job, the bar and becomes a destitute drunk?

What I liked about the ending is that I feel that we are doing just what Flynn wanted readers to do : play the psychological " Amazing Amy " Quiz Game!!

A) Nick is set up for murder and jailed for life because Amy is a control freak and has grown completely tired of playing this game with Nick! It is just not working for her anymore. She is not able to manipulate Nick to be only dependent on her to get her way.

B) Amy returns to get Nick out of the mess she put him into in the first place to teach him a lesson and get what she has wanted by letting Nick think Amy is all he needs.

C) y'all get it ??? Based on an individual's psychological personality that is the choice that would be the best ending according to YOU THE READER!!!

Does anyone else agree ? There are so many choices based on psychological profiles ????

Dawn