Atmospheric Disturbances 3

Leo is currently still questioning whether Rema is really Rema. That was giving him enough trouble but after the "Royal Academy of Meteorology" contacted him he wasn't sure of what to believe. However when he insists Rema said something and she denies it, he says , " "You said," I said again,"Anatole." Her eyes were watering. "No, I didn't"(Galchen 47). Leo is certain that Rema said "Anatole" but she denies it, claiming she only asked how he was feeling. This is only adding to his confusion. He doesn't feel like any of his life is real and he is starting to look for problems that aren't there. Everything that has happened to him has slowly worn him down. He is fatigued and he is unable to comprehend what is happening. When he is walking the dog, "I caught sight of an adorable dog leading an old man whose coat was buttoned wrong. Twice now. I needed to look at myself on purpose,I resolved.Not by accident. I readjusted the buttons on my coat"(Galchen 51). He looked at a window and for a second he didn't recognize the reflection. The situation has caused his physical appearance to become sloppy. He is shocked by a reflection of himself and what he has become.
However Leo is still a logical person and he has tried to maintain as much reason as possible. When he is unable to rest he walks to the library and tries to unravel the mysteries in his life. When he decides on a process to choose what subject to research he tells himself, "I had not,however,abandoned my faith in experimental controls"(Galchen 55). He has done everything in his life logically and even during this time of turmoil, he is trying to do things
reasonably. Logic is what he is comfortable with so he is trying to keep it close to him during this troubling time.

Atmospheric Disturbances 2

Leo is a psychiatrist and one of his patients particularly interests him. His name is Harvey, and he seems to believe that he works for the "Royal Academy of Meteorology". He disappears for a couple days and reappears claiming he was doing an assignment by the academy. Leo obviously thinks Harvey is crazy but he gets a call saying, "I'm calling from the Royal Academy of Meteorology; we'd like to invite you to become a fellow"(Galchen 39). This confuses him because he didn't think the academy was real. He believed it was just Harvey's imagination. This plus the fact that he thinks his wife was replaced with an identical copy is causing him to question a lot of things in his life. When Leo is confused or afraid of something he attempts to reassure himself. When Leo is walking home he thinks to himself, "I comforted myself with the likelihood that I would soon see Rema"(Galchen 35). He is trying to tell himself that this was just his imagination and that when he got home Rema would be back. He doesn't seem to actually do anything about his worries most of the time.
As a child, Leo had some very interesting character traits. On the rare occasion that he lies he feels extremely uncomfortable afterwards. When he was with his mom, "In order to avoid saying thank you, upon prompting,for things I wasn't truly thankful for,I would bury my face in my mother's skirt"(Galchen 22). Perhaps this trait is what makes him a psychiatrist. Whenever he lies he feels as if a burden is placed upon him and feels the need to confess the truth. No matter what the reason, Leo is very uncomfortable with lying.

Atmospheric Disturbances 1

One night when Leo's wife,Rema, comes home he is certain that this woman is a fake. He believes that that is not the real Rema. He doesn't have any proof but he trusts his own decision . He tells himself that the imposter is the, "Same everything, but it wasn't Rema. It was just a feeling, that's how I knew"(Galchen 3). He is quite sure of himself although nothing else seems to indicate any problems. He is the kind of person that will believe his ideas even though everybody else is saying otherwise. He wondered, "if he might have knowledge of the circumstances behind Rema's absence,behind her replacement,but I could divinve-I just could-that there was nothing-nothing at all-to be learned from that man"(Galchen 8). Once again he is going on his own intuition and thoughts. He is sure that this man knows nothing about Rema's supposed disappearance from just a feeling he gets.
He cares about his wife a lot. He likes seeing her happy and likes to entertain her with details from his job. When someone seeks him out he thinks to himself, "it pleased me,the thought of telling Rema that a woman had sought me out after reading an article of mine"(Galchen 12). How is seen by his wife is very important to him. He enjoys it when Rema is impressed with something he did. The respect of his wife is highly valued and he feels he has to do things to keep her respect and to ensure she looks up to him. He is even willing to do something he doesn't particularly like if he thinks that it will impress Rema.