Throughout this unit, The Stranger, Trust, and Exit West all had one thing in common: lack of emotion for the death of a family member. In The Stranger, one of the main event that the reader may recall was when Meursault didn't show emotion when notified about his mother's death. This argument was also used during the court case, and even Meursault realized that he was lacking remorse when he stated, "I didn't feel much remorse for what I'd done" (100). Meursault's apathetic reaction over his mother's death may have contributed to his execution in the end.
Similarly to what happened in The Stranger, the movie Trust also represent a similar scenario where the main character, Maria, did not show much emotion after her father died. Although it is obvious that Maria felt bad about what she had done, there was no evidence of her feeling sad about what she had happened. She did not cry nor felt depressed after what had happened, rather she was very apologetic to her family about it.
Finally, Exit West also dealt with a similar event. Although brief, the novel stated that Nadia did not attend her cousin's funeral. Although it was stated that she did not attend "not for lack of emotion", it said that it was "to avoid being the cause of unpleasantness". Nadia did not tell the reader about how she felt during the process, making the reader wonder how Nadia really felt when she experienced the death of her family member as well as isolation from the family.
I wouldn't say that in Exit West, Nadia choosing not to attend her cousin's funeral to be an indicator of a lack of remorse. I think that her estrangement from her family when she left, deserting their values and gaining independence, is what kept her away. That is why she is avoiding the "unpleasantness". In fact, her future relationship with Saeed's father and repetitive mention of guilt is an indicator of her abilities to be emotive.
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