We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Summary & Key Insights

Karen Joy Fowler's "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves" narrates the unconventional life of Rosemary Cooke through a fragmented, non-linear structure. The story unfolds primarily from Rosemary's perspective as she recounts her unusual childhood and adolescence, gradually revealing a central secret that profoundly impacts her family and her own identity.

The Cooke family – parents Lowell and Fern, and Rosemary's older sister, Lowly – are presented as a seemingly ordinary, if somewhat eccentric, family. However, their normalcy is shattered by the presence of a chimpanzee, Fern’s pet, nicknamed “Lowly.” The novel initially depicts a close-knit family marked by both love and tension, with Lowly integrated into their lives in a way that blurs the lines between human and animal. Lowly's existence, however, is carefully concealed from the outside world, adding to the family’s inherent secrecy and creating a sense of unease.

As Rosemary recounts her childhood, interspersed with memories of Lowly and snippets of her parents' past, the narrative gradually shifts focus. The reader learns that Lowly is not just a chimpanzee, but a crucial part of a complex and ethically questionable experiment conducted by Lowell, involving the raising of a chimpanzee alongside a human child. The experiment’s aim was to study the similarities and differences in development and socialization. The ambiguity surrounding the nature of Lowly’s upbringing – the extent to which she was raised as a human versus a chimpanzee – forms a central tension throughout the novel.

The family’s attempt to maintain Lowly’s secret places a significant strain on their relationships, leading to fractured communication and concealed emotions. The narrative slowly reveals the devastating consequences of this secret, particularly on Lowly herself, as the family attempts to navigate the complexities of her identity and her place in human society. This eventually forces a dramatic separation and profoundly impacts the relationships within the Cooke family.

The novel's core themes revolve around the blurred lines between humanity and animality, the ethical implications of scientific experimentation, the complexities of family relationships, and the enduring power of secrets. It explores the concept of identity, challenging the reader to consider what constitutes "humanity" and how our understanding of ourselves is shaped by our relationships and experiences. The fragmented narrative mirrors Rosemary's own fragmented memory and understanding of her past, highlighting the unreliable nature of memory and the subjective nature of truth. Ultimately, "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves" is a poignant exploration of family, identity, and the unforeseen consequences of our choices.