Nadja by Breton: Finding Nadja to Find/Lose Himself?

My initial reaction to Breton - not simply as a character, but also an individual since this novel allegedly recounts his true life story - is that he a lost figure. He is unfulfilled by his marriage and by life as a whole. I believe that this discontent with his life is first illustrated in his pessimistic view of Parisians on the street. He basically refers to them as bleak and useless, quoting "no, it was not yet these who would be ready to create the Revolution".

However, it is as though Breton's soul wakes up when he sees Nadja. He is captivated by her, and how she "carried her head high, unlike everyone else on the sidewalk". This is quite literally a picturesque representation of a (married) man with "wandering eyes". At this point, I am already not fond of Breton. Why is he critiquing the people on the streets of Paris while acting like a lowlife himself? 

Back to my initial thoughts on Breton as an individual who is lost - I think this is precisely the reason why he becomes so intensely infatuated with Nadja. The way I see it, Breton was actively searching for something, or someone, to pull him out of his "unsatisfactory" life. So, when Nadja comes along, he clings to her, and whether he realizes it or not, wants to find a sense of himself within her. 

Unfortunately for Breton, I think he loses himself even more once he starts spending time with Nadja. This is apparent in Nadja's "There (pointing to the top of the window), someone's there. I just saw a head upside down" - and then Breton also sees this "man"? Honestly this part made me feel very uneasy. 

Nearing the end of the book, I think Breton slightly starts to comes to his senses. I mean this girl did try to crash their car by blindfolding him at the wheel right? Finally, when Nadja gets admitted to the mental hospital, I was surprised that Breton did not seem to go after her. Instead, Nadja became some sort of deep memory. I think this act was him letting go of her as a person, but holding onto her as a representation of the surreal.

As mentioned during the lectures, this novel possesses an interesting theme of surrealism. I believe that Breton's search for something more in his life, and Nadja's embodiment of an unconventional societal figure, serve as representations of the surrealism. Since this whole novel occurs somewhere between the lines of reality and a dreamlike place, as readers we are given the opportunity to interpret what is real and what is not - and I think this concept is freeing.

I've decided that my theme for these blogposts will be to include a photo that represents my vision of the given novel (I love Pinterest). So, attached below is how I visualized Breton and Nadja's relationship throughout the book: dark, secretive, and a bit uncanny.

My question to those reading this: should Breton be understood as a figure who is simply morally deficient, or as someone whose actions reflect deeper struggles with identity?