to his affair "It was her tears and her silence that excited me, every time I visited Renee"(769). Another example of Gallimard's choice of illusion is his belief that Song bore his child. Song claims she is pregnant and then runs away only to come back several months later with a child. Gallimard never sees her pregnant yet he still chooses to turn his back on reality and looks to illusion.In the end Gallimard confesses to his choice of illusion and wishes to remain there because the reality is to ugly to face. When Song reveals her true gender Gallimard confesses "I knew all the time somewhere that my happiness was temporary, my love a deception. But my mind kept the knowledge at bay"(783). In Gallimard's attempt to obtain a more manly and fulfilling identity he ultimately has to live in a fantasy.Gallimard is so desperate to hang on to his Pinkerton-like identity that he consciously chooses to turn his back on reality and find solace within illusion. Tragically he continues to embrace illusion until the end as he places the wig upon his head and exclaims, "My name is Rene Gallimard-also known as Madame Butterfly"(785) and kills himself. Ultimately in the end he refuses to face reality and takes the easy way out and ironically he becomes the butterfly that "writhe[s] on a needle"(757)....
