Love Quotes in The Bourne Identity

This is General Villiers, speaking of his love for his assassinated son. Villiers became a politician to carry on his son's political career after his death. Obviously, the relationship between Villiers and his son is not an instance of romantic love, but it is one of the only other instances in the book portraying any kind of love at all. (David and Gordon Webb love each other, presumably, but we never see them on the same continent, much less in the same room.)

As mentioned in the "Symbols: Fashion" discussion, Ludlum can have a surprising flare for humor. Bourne is here pretending that his wife, or mistress, is betraying him—that she is meeting her lover in church, where they are actually going to have sex. The cabbie he is speaking to is scandalized. It's a good indication of how love outside of the Bourne-Marie relationship is generally presented.

That's Marie, coming in at the end of the narrative to finish the spy story out with love, peace, and happiness. Is she just a useful plot device, or are you convinced by this ending?