Antoine Roquentin’s feelings of “adventure” and Anny’s notion of “perfect moments” tie together throughout Nausea. Roquentin spends most of his time alone, self-analyzing, but it is through his adventure that he discovers what he has been missing. Unlike Roquentin, Anny had been chasing these “perfect moments” her whole life and by the end of the book, she feels as if she has run out of them. Anny and Roquentin’s lives seem to almost run parallel to each other, but going the opposite directions; Anny always seeking adventure then giving up on them and
Roquentin finally seeking an adventure only to find they only exist once they’re over. Although entirely different concepts throughout Nausea, Roquentin’s “adventures” and Anny’s “perfect
moments” …show more content…
He thought back of night and places and thought to himself how he wanted to go back to a certain night or woman, but would never be able to. He did not know how special those moments were until after they were over. The next day, Roquentin had “reconsidered my thoughts of yesterday” and states that,
“Nothing happens while you live. The scenery changes, people come in and go out, that’s all.
There are no beginnings.” (39) He argues that when you tell a story about life, you are actually starting at the end, which is what gave value to a beginning because “the man is already the hero of the story.” (40) By already being the hero, this helps further establish Roquentin’s stance on the feeling of adventure.
Roquentin’s belief of adventures is also that “feeling of adventure definitely does not come from events: I have proved it. It’s rather the way in which the moments are linked together.” (56) This is because time passes, but you can’t see it passing by and can only see what is in the instants. He describes this in his example about growing old with a woman. “You see a woman, you think one day she will be old, only you don’t see her grow old. But there …show more content…
“I live in the past. I take everything that has happened to me and arrange it. From a distance like that, it doesn’t do any harm; you’d almost let yourself be caught in. Our whole story is fairly beautiful.
Then I close my eyes and I give it a few prods and it makes a whole string of perfect moments.”
(152) Instead of finding more “perfect moments” to chase, she lived through he “adventures” by looking back on her and Roquentin’s past relationship.
Anny’s “perfect moments” were related to Roquentin’s feelings of “adventures” because while looking ahead for these moments, she was going on and searching for adventures.
Roquentin at the beginning of the novel didn’t believe he had even been on an adventure, but looking back realized he had, but they only existed in the past. These situations are complete opposites and are inversely parallel because one is looking forward and one is looking back.
Anny was always looking ahead for “perfect moments,” while Roquentin is looking back at his adventures like looking in a rearview mirror at his “perfect
Roquentin finally seeking an adventure only to find they only exist once they’re over. Although entirely different concepts throughout Nausea, Roquentin’s “adventures” and Anny’s “perfect
moments” …show more content…
He thought back of night and places and thought to himself how he wanted to go back to a certain night or woman, but would never be able to. He did not know how special those moments were until after they were over. The next day, Roquentin had “reconsidered my thoughts of yesterday” and states that,
“Nothing happens while you live. The scenery changes, people come in and go out, that’s all.
There are no beginnings.” (39) He argues that when you tell a story about life, you are actually starting at the end, which is what gave value to a beginning because “the man is already the hero of the story.” (40) By already being the hero, this helps further establish Roquentin’s stance on the feeling of adventure.
Roquentin’s belief of adventures is also that “feeling of adventure definitely does not come from events: I have proved it. It’s rather the way in which the moments are linked together.” (56) This is because time passes, but you can’t see it passing by and can only see what is in the instants. He describes this in his example about growing old with a woman. “You see a woman, you think one day she will be old, only you don’t see her grow old. But there …show more content…
“I live in the past. I take everything that has happened to me and arrange it. From a distance like that, it doesn’t do any harm; you’d almost let yourself be caught in. Our whole story is fairly beautiful.
Then I close my eyes and I give it a few prods and it makes a whole string of perfect moments.”
(152) Instead of finding more “perfect moments” to chase, she lived through he “adventures” by looking back on her and Roquentin’s past relationship.
Anny’s “perfect moments” were related to Roquentin’s feelings of “adventures” because while looking ahead for these moments, she was going on and searching for adventures.
Roquentin at the beginning of the novel didn’t believe he had even been on an adventure, but looking back realized he had, but they only existed in the past. These situations are complete opposites and are inversely parallel because one is looking forward and one is looking back.
Anny was always looking ahead for “perfect moments,” while Roquentin is looking back at his adventures like looking in a rearview mirror at his “perfect