The Accidental Tourist- Macon's Change - Essay Example

The novel is mainly based on Macon Leary and how his metamorphosis comes about. How one deals with death and tragedy matters a lot, Macon loses his son in a shoot-out so he is clearly shown as a devastated man, the same also affects his marriage with his life and they decide to separate. The process of reconciliation is important, initially Macon does not want to be friendly with anyone, he is hostile and extremely upset because he loses his son but he later changes his attitude and adapts well in-spite of his great loss.

Sarah and Muriel are the two love interests in the life of Macon, Muriel is his lover in the novel and Sarah is his wife. Some very interesting and important sequences of events happen in Paris. Macon gets injured in Paris in the novel, his back gets badly hurt and Sarah looks after him. He gets to juxtapose the qualities of the two women this time around, in doing so he finds that he is really uncomfortable with Sarah and he has to be someone else when he is with his wife Sarah. On the other hand he finds life to be rosy when he is with Muriel; he is really comfortable when she is around.

This makes a lot of difference in how events unfold in the novel, Macon also changes a lot after he notices such fine differences in the two women in his life. “In spite of Muriel’s difference from Macon in age, class, and outlook on life, once Macon has admitted to her his pain over Ethan’s death, he comes to realize, that she too, has been hurt in her life, that he is not the only person ever to feel pain.” (The Accidental Tourist) Macon changes and finds that even though Muriel is eccentric she is much different from Sarah and he falls for her.

"Now that Ethan's dead I sometimes wonder if there's any point to life," Macon responds, "It never seemed to me there was all that much point to begin with." (The Accidental Tourist) The way Sarah dealt with the loss of their child was extremely different from the way Macon dealt with the loss, the differences between the two most important characters of the novel are very important to observe to be able to determine the extent of change Macon went through in the novel. “When Macon is with Muriel he is not detached and cold; he gradually comes to see other people in the world not as faceless mobs of people but as individuals doing the best they can to get through life” (The Accidental Tourist) Macon realizes the differences between Sarah and Muriel; he wanted to start a relationship with Muriel in-spite of their differences.

There were quite a few differences between the two, their age was not ideal nor was anything else, both belonged to different cultures and Sarah had even pointed out the changes but they complimented each other well. “He had not taken steps very often in his life  . . . all seemed to have simply befallen him.  He couldn’t think of a single major act he had managed of his own accord.  Was it too late to begin?  Was there any way he could learn to do things differently.” (The Accidental Tourist) Macon finally realized that Muriel was the woman who brought the best out of him each day and he can be happy should he decide to stay with Muriel.

His outlook towards life changed because of Muriel, with Sarah he was a very different person and with Muriel he was another person. “