People
I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.
— Albert Camus · Meursault in The Stranger
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker imagines an execution attended by a large, openly hostile crowd and wishes for that response. The desire reverses the more familiar hope for sympathy. Its unsettling force comes from seeking hatred at the very moment when comfort or reconciliation might be expected.
Context reviewed