The Love Hypothesis

Dr. Adam Carlsen is Olive’s love interest and one of the top biologists in the world. He has a reputation for being rude and aloof, and Olive describes him as “ridiculously intimidating with dark eyes and even darker hair” (11). Combined with his large physical stature, Adam comes across as intimidating, which he shows in the harsh way he interacts with his grad students and fellow faculty members.

Adam isn’t gruff toward Olive, showing the unique relationship they have. Adam has been pining after Olive since they met in the Sanford lab bathroom two years before the main part of the story. He treats her with gentle kindness, offering emotional and the occasional monetary support. Olive brings out Adam’s lighthearted side. He only ever smiles around her, symbolizing the effect the right person can have on our personality. Adam’s past with his grad school advisor mirrors the trouble Olive faces with Tom in the later chapters. Both have experienced loneliness and abuse, and sharing those experiences brings them closer together.

Tom Benton is a colleague of Adam’s who heads Harvard’s biology lab. Tom looks like the all-American good guy with blonde hair and a boyish grin, and there is “a smooth charm to him” (85). While Tom’s outward appearance is appealing, he is dominated by jealousy and fear within. He bullies anyone he can lord power over because he feels inadequate and like his contributions to science aren’t as great as they could be. Tom represents an inappropriate response to self-doubt. Rather than deal with his fears, he takes out the anger they cause him on others to build himself up. Tom’s presence also personifies the white male academic atmosphere found in higher level academia. His objectification and verbal abuse towards Olive highlight the toxic figures that persist in academia, preventing a truly diverse expansion of knowledge.

Anh is of Vietnamese descent and one of Olive’s best friends and a fellow graduate student in the program. She heads a group for BIPOC women on Stanford’s campus and throws herself whole heartedly into everything she does, making her “beautiful and fierce” (191). Anh is the first person who Olive has felt connected to since her mother’s death. As a result, Olive will do anything to make sure Anh is happy, which leads to the fake-dating plot. Anh is Olive’s catalyst for love.

Holden is a professor at Stanford and Adam’s oldest friend. After seeing Holden and Adam together, Olive realizes “Holden was Adam’s Anh” (184)—he’s the person in Adam’s life he can turn to for anything. Holden offers Olive advice about Tom and Adam, and by the end of the book, he is also someone Olive can turn to if she needs anything.

Malcolm is Olive’s roommate and other best friend. While Olive and Anh throw themselves completely into academia, Malcolm manages “to have a life outside of grad school” (62). He foils Olive’s fierce dedication to her work. Later, when he gets involved with Holden, Malcolm mirrors Olive as a student who’s in a relationship with a professor.

Jeremy is Olive’s ex-boyfriend and the secondary reason for the fake-dating plan. To show Anh that she is completely detached from Jeremy, Olive pretends to date Adam, setting the events of the novel into motion. Jeremy serves to connect the narrative to Olive’s past relationships, many of which were lackluster due to her failure to connect with them. Jeremy represents Olive’s fear of confronting her feelings. He is also partly responsible for Adam and Olive ending up together.

Though she died before the book’s beginning, Olive’s mom plays a huge role in Olive’s growth throughout the book. Olive’s mom represents grief and how time may help wounds feel less raw but does not heal them entirely. She is also the motivation behind Olive’s research and one reason Olive is such a dedicated scientist and student.