One is the Loneliest Number

Initially I had no idea why we were watching the movie Trust. I did not see any connections between Maria and Matthew, and Meursault. In The Stranger, Meursault went through the motions throughout his whole life and showed no opinions. Maria and Matthew did the opposite. Maria flunks out of high school and gets pregnant, and Matthew refuses to follow his father's orders and take a job fixing computers. 

However, once I looked at the bigger picture I realized that Meursault, Maria, and Matthew actually have a lot in common. First of all, they all feel alone. They all are struggling to make meaning of their lives and fit social norms. They also all experience problems with their parents. Meursault cannot afford to support his mother, Maria shocks her dad to death and is on bad terms with her mom, and Matthew's dad is unhappy with Matthew's unaccomplished life.

Despite the many similarities between the characters, I think that the most significant similarity is that they all lack healthy relationships and have a hard time maintaining the relationships they do have. They all try to pretend as if they are strong on their own, but all seek the attention of others. Maria's boyfriend breaks up with her and she confesses that she expected him to take care of her. Meursault doesn't particularly like any of his friends, but misses his mother and obsesses over attention from Marie. Lastly, Matthew has no one but his father, and then asks Maria to marry him so they can be together forever. As different as the stories may seem, all three characters show that life is never easy alone and isolated from society.

In the end of The Stranger, Meursault comes to the conclusion that life is only a period of time leading to an inevitable death. Do you think that Maria and Matthew will come to the same conclusion, or make meaning of their lives?

Comments

[Ada S.]

Primarily, i'm just confused. I didn't know what to think either when we first started the movie. I agree in that they all have that loneliness factor in common and they do seek attention from other people to fill the gap, but i also am confused on if Matthew asked Maria to marry him because he's in love with her and wants to have a family, or because he was in a tough situation and didn't know what else to say. It's going to be really interesting how this movie plays out and i'm really interested in seeing if Maria and Matthew get their happy ending.

[Hunter S]

I think that Maria and Matthew, when it comes to death, only talk about in terms of suicide. They are never confronted with the extreme inevitability like Meursault and so I don't think they will come to a similar conclusion about death as Meursault. I do think that in the end of the movie they will make some sort of discovery about life in general though. I think it will have to do with their complicated and messed up relationship or their relationships with their parents.

[Zack W.]

I think that Marie and Matthew will eventually come together and get married. Marie will end up leaving her mother and living with Matthew somewhere far away. I think they both do not fit into society so they will end up isolating themselves. They will end up dying together. Unlike Meursault, Marie and Matthew might think they are alone, they have each other and Meursault is left alone to figure out that life is only a period of time. Marie and Matthew will never understand like Meursault because they will always have each other to share these idea with.