WARNING! This character spotlight contains many spoilers. If you have
not read Eat, Prey, and No Love, you may not want to read this entry.
“You didn’t even recognize me standing in your face.”
Omar
Eat, Prey, and No Love
Imagine living a life where your abusive mother was addicted to drugs, had you robbing, cheating, and stealing and the one person you had, your brother, instantly died? Well, this was Omar...until he discovered that his brother truly hadn’t died and was actually livin’ it up as a millionaire, leaving him behind. Quite naturally, this left Omar feeling betrayed and enraged.
Omar dealt with his reality in many different jacked up ways, including stealing someone’s identity, raping and nearly killing an innocent woman, and killing his brother’s best friend—all in the name of seeking revenge. While I don’t condone any of these things, you have to wonder, can you blame Omar for feeling slighted? I mean, he was literally hiding in plain sight communicating with his brother face to face on several occasions without being recognized by him. That’s gotta hurt, right?
Listen, I know that Omar is the “villain” because he dealt with his pain in socially unacceptable and evil ways. But is he really the villain? I mean, look at Tremaine... he lied to EVERYONE in his life, abandoned his little brother where he continued to be victimized, and subjected him to things no one should be subjected to. Like, Tremaine did this WILLINGLY. While his brother was struggling, he was chillin’, sitting on top of millions. So, really, who is the true villain?
My heart went out to Omar. I will admit, he was probably one of the most toxic characters I’ve ever read about, but no one should have to live a life full of trauma alone. Having to live like that would make anybody crazy.
