Rob is a morose person who needs this excuse to always complain. He 's a very pessimistic person, who can 't seem to find a positive outlook in anything. Rob is also a very self-conscious person who is not content with himself. He believes that he lacks in the areas he views as important in his life. He depends on his woman to keep him happy, and judges his life according to the woman he 's with. He simply can 't manage to be happy without one. His unhappiness drives him to be very critical and judgmental to the world around him. He makes a jerky remark to everything he notices. All and all Rob has a weak character which depends on other things rather than himself to be happy.
Rob seems to be a very pessimistic person. He sees everything in a negative fashion because he is not content with his life, and assumes it is impossible for things to improve. Once Rob returns home after seeing Marie sing with another man, he feels depressed and turns to his records for some sort of reassuring escape:
Is it so wrong, wanting to be home with your record collection? It 's not like collecting records is like collecting stamps, or beermats, or antique thimbles. There 's a whole world in here, a nicer, dirtier, more violent, more peaceful, more colorful, sleazier, more dangerous, more loving world than the world I live in; there is history, and geography, and poetry, and countless other things I should have studied at school, including music. (Hornby, 83)
Rob seems to feel as though his records are the only thing he can rely on. Everyone has some sort dependence on certain sentimental things, be it a pet, friend or family member. In Rob 's case, his music is the only constant that will never let him down. He sees a whole different world inside his music, one which doesn 't value the real world 's standards or values. It brings him somewhere else for a bit, somewhere which doesn 't remind him of the depressing things in his life. It seems to