| Quote #1 "It was clear that she was cheating on me. So I left her. But first I smacked her around. And then I told her exactly what I thought of her. I told her that all she was interested in was getting into the sack." […] He’d beaten her till she bled. […] What bothered him was that he "still had sexual feelings for her." (1.3.9-11) |
Raymond hates his girlfriend because he feels his sexual attraction to her makes him powerless.
| Quote #2 He [Raymond] asked if I thought she was cheating on him, and it seemed to me she was; if I thought she should be punished and what I would do in his place, and I said you can't ever be sure, but I understood his wanting to punish her. (1.3.11) |
While Meursault doesn’t feel normal sex-related emotions himself (like love, or jealousy, or possession), he rationally understands when others feel them.
| Quote #3 Marie came over as we’d planned. I wanted her so bad when I saw her in that pretty red-and-white striped dress and leather sandals. You could make out the shape of her firm breasts, and her tan made her face look like a flower. […] |
Meursault’s attitude toward and interest in Marie is primarily sexual.