Fifty Shades Darker

Christian Grey, the 27-year-old CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc., is the romantic interest and tragic hero in Fifty Shades Darker. The first installment of the trilogy focused on Christian as a powerful businessperson and dominant. This novel focuses on Christian as a human, who has trauma and experiences fear. The author masks his insecurity in the first novel with his control of people and circumstances. Ana sees a fuller picture of who he is as they enter a more traditional romantic relationship.

Christian begins the novel by reinserting himself into Ana’s life after the playroom cane incident. He informs Ana that he has all her personal information on file after making a direct deposit into her bank account. He tells her, “I don’t misuse the information. Anyone can get ahold of it if they have half a mind to, Anastasia. To have control, I need information. It’s how I’ve always operated” (108). In the opening section of the novel, Christian still holds tightly to control over Ana, thinking this is the way to keep the relationship.

As the story progresses, Christian begins to understand that Ana’s autonomy is critical for the success of the relationship. He whisks her off on his sailboat, allowing her to steer. He lets Ana drive, though that does not end well, and he lets Ana touch him, taking the lead physically. Christian realizes that letting go of control is an integral part to building trust. Ana works with Christian to deepen trust and empathy, telling him:

‘I’m not going to run. I’ve told you and told you and told you, I won’t run. All that’s happened. It’s overwhelming. I just need some time to think. Some time to myself. Why do you always assume the worst?’ My heart clenches again because I know; it’s because he’s so doubting and so full of self-loathing (323).

Ana sacrifices her autonomy and her body for Christian. She acknowledges and accepts his past and his issues, but Christian still needs more. He does not feel secure until Ana agrees to marry him.

Ana sees a laughing and carefree Christian when she accepts his proposal. Christian can finally relax in the knowledge that Ana will not leave him. His childhood trauma and abandonment bred a deep sense of insecurity and worthlessness. Elena’s abuse of him as a minor made him believe that connections to people only make him weak. Ana shows Christian that he is worthy of love and acceptance.

Elena Lincoln brought Christian into the BDSM lifestyle as her submissive when he was 15. Ana initially calls her “Mrs. Robinson” because of the large age gap between Elena and Christian when their relationship began. Elena serves as the primary antagonist. Ana comes face to face with Elena multiple times throughout the novel. James uses Elena as a foil for Ana, the opposite of who she is and what she wants. Elena consistently undermines Christian’s wishes, leaning on her grooming of him to keep him at her disposal. Ana describes Elena as “a molester of children” and tells her that “Christian and I have nothing to do with you. And if I do leave him and you come looking for me, I’ll be waiting—don’t doubt it. And maybe I’ll give you a taste of your own medicine on behalf of the 15-year-old child you molested’” (160). Elena spent years cultivating a trauma bond with Christian, abusing him and telling him he needed her. She tries desperately to keep herself in Christian’s life.

Christian’s perception of Elena shifts drastically over the course of the narrative. He considers her a friend, smiles at her protectiveness, and offers his help when she faces struggles. Ana tries to show Christian how she is using him and has abused him, but it is not until the conclusion of the novel, once Christian announces Ana and his engagement, that Elena attacks Ana. Elena tells Christian, “I was the best thing that ever happened to you […] Look at you now. One of the richest, most successful entrepreneurs in the United States. Controlled, driven, you need nothing. You are the master of your universe” (521). Elena tries to convince Christian that he owes his success to her and that she is the match for him. She then tells him that love is for fools.

Elena molested and groomed Christian as a 15-year-old. She abused him to keep him bonded to her. Christian cannot see the problem with his relationship with Elena when the novel begins, but Ana and his mom, Grace, show him that he was wrong. Ana and Grace show Christian that he deserves more; he deserves love.

Leila Williams is a former submissive of Christian’s that acts as a minor antagonist in the first half of the novel. She was a submissive to Christian more than two years before his relationship with Ana began. Leila reenters his life by stalking Ana outside her work. Christian tries to keep Leila from Ana, but Leila’s recent loss has caused a mental health crisis.

Leila drives the plot for the first section of the novel. She serves to drive Ana and Christian into high-conflict, high-stress situations that force them to confront their own feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. Ana makes Leila’s mental health crisis about her insecurity and self-doubt. Christian reminds her that “[t]his is not about you, Ana. It’s about her […] Right now, she’s a very sick girl” (319). Ana’s fear that she is not enough, not “kinky” enough or submissive enough, overwhelms her ability to sympathize with Leila. Christian then takes Ana’s doubt as a sign that she is going to leave him, tapping into his own fear of abandonment.

Leila serves to illustrate the growing relationship between Ana and Christian, highlighting their issues as individuals and as a couple. Leila enters psychiatric care after she takes a gun to Ana’s apartment. Ana learns that she is more important to Christian than his submissives ever were.