The Trusting Tourists

Lost Tourists

While reading Ian McEwan’s novel, The Comfort of Strangers, I couldn’t help but feel anything but comfortable. This story follows Mary and Colin on a journey abroad. While lost one night in the winding streets of the city they encounter a native man named Robert. Robert is eager to help the young couple and offers them his hospitality. Robert is almost too eager to help these two tourists. Why would a native be so interested in two foreigners without some sort of ulterior motive in mind? This may be a pessimistic attitude but it is necessary for tourists to exercise caution while abroad. It is interesting that the couple is so trusting of this complete stranger that they follow him to his bar and later his house and nothing is ever the same.

On page 106, Colin says to Robert “the thing about a successful holiday is that it makes you want to go home”. This statement is true for many tourists and rarely true for travelers. Tourists and travelers differ in many ways. A traveler is usually gone for an undecided amount of time. They can come and go as they please because most of the time they are searching for something in their travels. On the other hand, a tourist is a person who is usually traveling for a certain amount of time and has a life to return to at home. While on their vacation tourists usually mingle with other tourists and rarely encounter “authentic” experiences. At the end of many vacations, tourists look forward to returning home. After being away from their normal lives they come to appreciate what they have. In a way, they want that scheduled and comfortable life back while many travelers long for uncertainty and spontaneity.

Mary and Colin are undoubtedly tourists. They are only on vacation for a couple of days and they constantly get lost in the city they are visiting. They are always seen walking around the city streets with their eyes glued to their maps. Can you imaging Jake Barnes from The Sun Also Rises, a definite traveler, wandering around the Parisian streets with a map in his hands? No. Travelers are more confident and proud of their knowledge of the place they are visiting. While tourists are sometimes wary of a new and strange location, therefore they stay in “touristy” areas where they can find some sort of comfort.

Perhaps Mary and Colin should have been a little bit more wary of the people they encountered. When Robert insists that they return with him to his house to meet his wife, Caroline, the couple gives a bit of resistance but in the end spends the night at his home. In today’s world this would be seen as a ludicrous thing to do. It is not only irresponsible to trust complete strangers but it is also irrational. For many tourists it is easy to be taken advantage of while in a foreign locale. Whether it is being overcharged for a tee shirt on the street or ripped off by a taxi driver who takes the longest route possible, it is always important for tourists to be aware of their surroundings and smart with their decisions.