"You're like me, but worse. Much worse."

I found The Moviegoer to be, though daunting at times, a true and unfettered statement about the human condition. The search for meaning in one's life is no new feat, especially in the literary world, and to conclude decisively as to whether or not Binx is successful in his search is to bring false certainty to subjectivity. The "malaise" is everywhere and in everything and everyone...maybe true maturity and enlightenment only come with comprehending and accepting that fact. It is not my intention to imply that life is all gloom and doom and ultimately death...I only mean that there is no real escape from "everydayness." I would venture to say that we all can relate to that; I know I can.

John ("Jack") Bickerson ("Binx") Bolling is just like me, but worse. Much worse. I, too, find myself quite often with the inability to connect with the world (and the people) around me. I, too, struggle with the age old existential meaning of my life. I find that the majority of my day to day conversations are wrought with everydayness and superficiality. I can probably count the number of people who truly understand me on one hand. Do these things alone make me strange and out of place? No...it is the fact that I am able to identify the malaise and the everydayness (where others may simply avoid it) that makes introspective creatures like Binx and I aware of the despair.

The fact that Binx has such a lengthy list of aliases alone is a bit of tangible proof that this man has absolutely no idea who he is.

Do I believe that Binx has found what he is looking for? My answer is no. I feel that Binx goes on this great quest for amazing and all-inclusive answers that will let him know his place in this world. That is not what he finds. He cannot look to his father for the answer, nor to his mother, nor Marcia/Linda/Sharon, nor God, for that matter. He cannot find it by making money or pleasing Aunt Emily or fixing Kate. Binx can only make sense of his life once he accepts that the malaise is just part of it...and running from it won't help, for its only a matter of time before the malaise presents itself all over again with someone/something new. Those few moments in life where the malaise is gone are what make it worth living; those moments where we see beyond the everydayness of it all and can feel nothing but gratitude. I cannot say with certainty that Binx has this revelation, but I hope so.