How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The criminal has fled. The child was raped. They found her body, the fingers clawing at the mud. (22.39)
In case we didn't get the point, Antoine wants us to know that sex isn't a beautiful thing that gives meaning to life. More often than not, it's a terrible thing that's forced on people. People who disagree with his negative view of human life might point to sex and love as good reasons to live, but he seems intent on showing us that this definitely isn't the case.
Quote #5
Antoine Roquentin is not dead, I'm fainting: he says he would like to faint, he runs, he runs like a ferret, "from behind" from behind from behind, little Lucienne assaulted from behind, violated by existence from behind. (22.39)
Most of the examples of sex in this book are negative ones. Antoine has meaningless sex with a woman who doesn't love him, the Self-Taught Man makes advances on young boys, and Antoine reads a story in the newspaper about a little girl being raped and murdered. He compares her rape to the way he feels every day, because he basically thinks that existence itself (or the pain of being alive) is constantly violating him.
Quote #6
They're going to sleep together. They know it. Each one knows that the other knows it. But since they are young, chaste and decent […] several times a week they go to dances and restaurants. (24.133)
It's not good enough to keep having sex. The only way the young people will successfully distract themselves from the emptiness of life is to go about the whole "performance" of dating. They'll go dancing, they'll flirt, and they'll pretend that they're after more than just sex. But the fact remains for Antoine that all the kids are trying to do is avoid the crushing feeling of boredom.