Both Albert Camus’ novel The Outsider and Zack Braff’s movie Garden State share a few similarities. The most obvious aspect that they share is the personality of the main character. Meursault from The Outsider and Andrew from Garden State are both young men, who seemingly live life without any emotions. While both men follow a similar path, their endings are very different. In fact, many people will find the ending of Garden State more satisfying than the ending of The Outsider because of the choices that Andrew makes in the end of the movie.
While both stories follow similar themes and events, such as the main character’s mother’s death and a lack of emotion for the mother’s funeral, their endings are very different. It is because of that why more people can accept the ending of Gorden State instead of The Outsider.
In the final chapter of Camus’ The Outsider, Meursault meets with the chaplain, who Meursault has refused to see three times, to discuss God. It is during this discussion that Meursault finally shows emotion through the outburst that he has at the chaplain. The next morning, Meursault begins to understand why his mother began a relationship with Thomas Perez at the end of her life and decides that he is ready to live the same way, even though it is the morning of his execution because he realizes that the world is just like him; unconcerned about others.
This contrasts with the ending of Zack Braff’s Garden State. At the end of the movie, when Andrew is saying goodbye to Sam at the airport, he admits to her that even though she had changed his life in the short amount of time that he had been visiting home, he still had to fix his own personal problems before he felt that he could continue the relationship. After this, Andrew boards his plane, but leaves before the flight takes off, going back to Sam and telling her that he doesn’t want to waste any more of his life without her.
While both men finally show emotion and come to the realization that it is the time to live their life to the fullest, the ending to Garden State is seen as much more acceptable by people than The Outsider. This is because at the end of Garden State, Andrew makes the decision to stay with Sam. This wraps up the movie with a happy ending because Andrew realized that he wants Sam in his life and that he cannot live without her, thus deciding to stay with her.
The ending of The Outsider is not as joyful. Even though Meursault sees what the world is truly like and happily accepts it, it is too late because he comes to this realization the morning of his execution. The readers of the novel know this. This is why many would find the Garden State has a more satisfying ending than The Outsider. Andrew realizes what he really wants and decides to stay with Sam to continue their romance while Meursault patiently waits in his prison cell for his impending execution.
Many people would refuse to accept the fact that Meursault comes to the realization of what the world is really like, only to be killed afterwards, which is why they would enjoy the ending of Garden State more.
