Opinions On the Beginning

I thought the story started off unusually. The narrator talks about how boring and lacking in character the town of Oran is – the town where the story will take place. The town basically never changes and is always hot and ugly with only bearable weather coming in winter. This town is run on the basic principal of survival of the fittest, however, with a modern capitalistic twist. In the town everyone’s sole concern is making money, “as much as possible” (4). The town is so driven by this material incentive that it is no place for the sick; they will be overlooked, “while the whole population, sitting in cafes or hanging on the telephone, is discussing shipments, bills of landing, discounts!” (5). While he doesn’t give us a specific setting, the narrator tells us that the story takes place during the 1940’s. The narrator then amends his seemingly harsh criticism of the town and its citizens’ moral by saying that once one develops habits, existence in the town becomes manageable – in fact the town becomes a place one can trust. He creates the image that although life here is mundane and boring, it’s safe; while it is “treeless, glamour-less, soulless, the town of Oran ends by seeming restful and, after a while, you can go complacently to sleep here” (6). This description of the boring yet safe life that the citizens of Oran lead serves as a background for the mayhem the author foreshadows will come.