Extases inexplicables
Unexplainable Ecstasies

Summary/Abstract: In Serotonin, the houellebecquian homunculus, Florent-Claude Labrouste, is a “dead man walking.” Disenchanted and full of regrets about his past, he decides to break with society and disappear from the world. Bound one more time to a painful and lonely life, the hero uses antidepressants to numb his pain. His newfound emotion-deprived awareness allows him to reflect on his journey, on the missed opportunities that life had bestowed upon him and on the far-fetched possibilities left behind. This article will examine Serotonin’s take on love and its epitome, the romantic couple. Love according to Houellebecq is an existential deed, one that propels the homunculus into existence in a world bent on its destruction, as the romantic couple creates a space, an otherworldly and literary dimension in which every human can potentially find redemption – every human it seems but Houellebecq’s hero; his shrinking masculinity threatens his chances to partake in any meaningful relationship. Florent-Claude passively witnesses his two first loves leaving his life, and he seems incapable of any meaningful action to stop this decaying process. This work will try to answer the riddle that is the homunculus, torn between a redeeming far-fetched ecstasy and the quick fixes of modern society.

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