a determined activist and very good-looking woman. He spent six years of this life with her and only remembers bad memories. In my opinion, a wife or a husband is someone who is there for you. But as he has no one to ease his fears, pains and worries, he's alone to face those things of life. For example, when their daughter has concerns, he has to calm her down about her mother, one more problem. Along the book, we discover some memories of Alan's past that he remembers. His divorce with Ruby is one of them. "She had done him great harm, repeatedly – she'd torn him open, thrown all kinds of terrible ruinous stuff inside him, and then had sewn him back up" (A Hologram for the King, p99)
             "Ruby was an unholy pain in the ass" (A Hologram for the King, p4)
             Another aspect of his "psychological nothingness" is that he has any true friends. At no time in the book he mentions a friendship. Friends are our crutches when we don't feel good. Well that's my opinion. As Alan has no crutches, he has to limp alone, and maybe fall alone, with no one to help him. Of course he will make some friends during his travel, like Yousef, but soon they felt apart (because Alan almost shot at a boy).
             "Adnan stayed in the car, looking tired and unhappy. Yousef opened the back door and Alan got in.
             It's important to me that you're my friend.
             Give me some time. I have to remember what I like about you." (A Hologram for the King, p262)
             What the man that committed suicide by walking clothed into the lake next Alan's house concerns, I cannot say that they were real friends as Alan kept criticizing him. But, on the other side, he repeatedly thought about him, his death. Here is a proof that they were not real friends:
             "Annette, Charlie Fallon's widow, left a message, asking for copies of any letters Alan might have received from him. How could he tell her he&a...