Day

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses suicidal ideation.

Wolfe is the invented online persona that Isabel and Robbie create, posting photos stolen from other people’s social media to create a person with thousands of online followers. As such, Wolfe is a symbolic representation of Isabel and Robbie’s dreams and desires. He is first described as “if [he] were real, he’d be the elusive figure at the heart of the story. […] He’s both fabulous and obtainable, a regular guy with the volume turned up a little, the lights on full” (7). In other words, he is “regular” in the sense that he posts photos of his pets, about his job, and of vacations that he takes; however, he does so in a way that is more exciting and fulfilling than the lives that most people—specifically Isabel and Robbie—live.

Each of the photos that Robbie posts as Wolfe is something that they wish they had in their lives. For example, on the first day Robbie posts a photo of a farmhouse with the caption “Just saw this house for sale. What if we were to buy it? Take the plunge” (47). This post comes while he and Isabel are talking about Robbie moving out, with Isabel expressing her sadness at the fact that she and Dan have been unable to buy the house in the country they always dreamed of—with room for Robbie to live with them.