Nausea

Roquentin prefaces his entry by professing his sympathy for the Self-Taught Man, whom he says has now entered permanent solitude. Earlier that day, Roquentin went to the reading room and started to read a local newspaper. He saw the Self-Taught Man, but he didn’t seem to want to talk to Roquentin. As Roquentin read, two high school boys enter the room and sit next to the Self-Taught Man. Roquentin noticed that the boy sitting closest to the Self-Taught Man had an arrogant and mischievous expression. The Self-Taught Man began to whisper to the boys and stroke the arrogant-looking boy’s hand. Roquentin felt worried that the Self-Taught Man would be caught if he wasn’t careful, but the Self-Taught Man continued to touch the boy.

When the Self-Taught Man reached under the table to touch the boy further, the Corsican guard snuck up behind him and loudly threatened him. The Self-Taught Man tried to deny touching the boy, but a woman patron in the room backed the guard up, calling the Self-Taught Man a “monster.” The Corsican guard hit the Self-Taught Man in the face twice. Roquentin saw gentleness and fear in the Self-Taught Man’s eyes as he took the beating. Roquentin grabbed the guard and lifted him by the neck, but he let him go when the guard questioned him. Roquentin tried to help the Self-Taught Man tend to his wounds, but the Self-Taught Man fled into the city.