Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Discussion Question #1

Norah from the novel
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick from the novel
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Compare and contrast Nick and Norah's previous relationships.

Nick and Norah, from Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, have both suffered from recent breakups leaving them emotionally hurt, depressed, and unable to commit to any other relationships. Nick's relationship was more brutal, because his ex knew how much of a god boyfriend Nick was, but simply felt bad because she was not willing to commit as much as he was. She cheated on him, made fun of him, and broke up with him after he told her that he loved her. Norah's breakup was not as official nor as brutal as Nick's, but it was very confusing and mentally draining for her. She altered her future for Tal, her ex, and after she realized how he did not truly love her, she decided to break things up once and for all. Both Nick and Norah suffer from flashbacks on their previous relationships, and find it extremely hard to move on with their lives and focus on new people and new opportunities. Also, they both  do not know how to deal with their depression.  Nick's breakup was worse than Norah's, because he was the one who got dumped, he did everything right but was taken advantage of, and he truly cared about her when she did not feel the same about him. Some may argue that Norah's end to her relationship may have caused more difficulty because she didn't get to go to the good college that she was going to go to, due to Tal's preference, but Nick's relationship contained more emotional strain. Nick had his heart broken while his ex, Tris, didn't even care. For example, after Tris broke up with Nick, she brought a new boyfriend to a concert that Nick's band was playing in even though she knew that would hurt him. Nick suffered severely, while Norah only went through mild emotional injury.

Tris, Nick's ex-girlfriend

Tal, Norah's ex-boyfriend

This short clip demonstrates Nick and Norah's different personalities, and shows how Nick's heartbreak has really damaged him while Norah just seems a little guarded.