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Thesis Statement:
By contrasting the motif of the sun and sky in part one with the same motif in part two, Camus shows that a change of environment changes the meaning of familiar aspects of one's life. Because he uses a symbol of nature to convey this idea, Camus further expresses that even the most constant things in life, such as nature, are not immune to a change of meaning amidst new surroundings.
At the end of The Stranger, Meursault comes to the conclusion that nobody and nothing in life really matter, and that in general there is no meaning to the world. With the acceptance of this idea, Meursault is strangely comforted and realizes this is the philosophy that has made him the happiest all along. "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again" (Camus 123). Camus does not want the reader of the book to come to the same conclusion as Meursault. From the beginning of the story, Camus sets up Meursault as an antihero. As the reader spends time discovering Meursault, a character with no expression of emotion and a sense of apathy towards the world, they have a hard time empathizing with him and pushing for him to succeed. Because Meursault is set up as an antihero who the reader does not necessary like, it is difficult for the reader to willingly agree with his actions, traits, and philosophies. Camus takes advantage of his antihero when he uses him to illustrate the philosophy of the lack of meaning of the world and its people. By demonstrating this philosophy through Meursault, Camus deliberately steers the reader away from agreeing with the idea of a world and people with no meaning.
Camus creates two parts to The Stranger to showcase two distinctly different sides of Meursault. Part 1 portrays him a man lacking emotion (or the ability to express it) who wastes his life watching, not doing. Meursault's apathetic nature is seen, for example, when Marie asks him if he wants to get married and he replies that it makes no difference to him, but they could if she wanted to. In Part 1, Meursault is also not aware of (or just does not care about) the emotions of others. When describing people, he sticks to the facts of what they are wearing, doing, and saying, but rarely describes how they are feeling. Since part 1 ends before Meursault goes to jail, his traits in part 1 are all those of a free man. Part 2 opens with Meursault in jail and we can begin to see the changes in his character as a prisoner. Meursault starts to express small amounts of emotion, which is a definite change from his previous lack of feelings. In addition, now that he is imprisoned, Meursault shows signs of wanting to come out of his trial innocent, longing to be out of his cell to experience the summer nights he used to love - replacing Meursault's apathetic nature from part 1 with one that shows he wants to live. Once in jail, he also becomes more aware of the feelings of others. For example, he recognizes his lawyer is upset with him: "He left, looking angry" (Camus 65). I think by giving Meursault such contrasting character traits in the two parts of the book, Camus wants the reader to examine the effects of freedom and lack of freedom on a person, and to realize how being locked up in prison can cause a person's traits and views on life to change.
Meursault becomes much more aware of his feelings in part two than he was in part one. He is more open to talking about his emotions (although not extensively, but definitely more than previous chapters). "What I can say for certain is that I would rather Maman hadn't died" (Camus 65).
Meursault is also suddenly more aware of the feelings of others. In part one when describing other people, he only stated facts of what they were doing, not recognizing what they were feeling (or maybe recognizing but ignoring their feelings). Now, when interacting with people, he notices their feelings and more often shares them with the reader: "He left, looking angry" (Camus 65), or "He seemed to be very tired" (Camus 69).
A third difference I noticed in Meursault from part one to part two is that he very slowly starts to reveal things about his Maman. In part one, he seemingly avoids describing her or even mentioning her life much at all, leaving the reader with an ambiguous view of his Maman. Now, he talks about her, not just her death, for one of the first times in the whole book. "Anyway, it was one of Maman's ideas, and she often repeated it, that after a while you could get used to anything" (Camus 77).
Motifs:
Pleasure is repeated often in the book, demonstrating that Meursault's actions are (for the most part) only driven by what makes him happy. "Before leaving the office to go to lunch, I washed my hands. I really like doing this at lunchtime. I don't enjoy it so much in the evening" (Camus 25).
"I didn't like having to explain to them, so I just shut up, smoked a cigarette, and looked at the sea" (Camus 54). Once again, Camus uses the motif of pleasure to show that Meursault's actions are driven by his own individual pursuit of happiness, not caring about the needs of others.
Time is another element that Camus brings up over and over in the story. " She left at one o'clock and I slept awhile. Around three o'clock there was a knock on my door and Raymond came in" (Camus 37). This is just one of the many passages that mentions time. Camus may be using the motif of time to emphasize the importance of structure and schedule in a person's life.
"Of course I had read that eventually you lose wind up losing track of time in prison. But I hadn't understood how days could be both long and short at the same time: long to live through, maybe, but so drawn out that they ended up flowing into one another" (Camus 80). This passage highlights the importance of time in a human's everyday life and the feeling of being lost when there is not a schedule or routine to follow.
Meursault's lack of expression of feelings is also repeated throughout the book. "That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to" (Camus 41). Camus is likely using Meursault's lack of emotions to emphasize the importance of emotions in the day to day life of people by contrasting our normal views of feelings with this abstract view.
"I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings" (Camus 65). This particular passage suggests that Meursault is indeed capable of emotion, but is not capable of easily expressing his emotions.
Dianaism :)
- One God created the universe and continues to rule it. (This principle developed from my religous views and natural evidence found in the vast world around us. It is important to realize the world was not created by accident, but with purpose.)
- God has personal relationships with individuals and gives them freedom to make choices. (Developed from my religious views. Important because a relationship with God gives life meaning and shows life is bigger than an individaul person.)
- An individual's choices make them who they are. (I've seen this through experience - your actions define your character. Important because it promotes mentality of creating one's self instead of trying to "find" one's self.)
- Progress is essential to human satisfaction. (Since a young age, I've always been taught to try my best. A person cannot be happy in life if they constantly stay at the same level and never improve. Realizing this avoids later unhappiness with one's self.)
- Material things cannot bring happiness. (Developed from values taught by parents, and religous views. Counting on material possesions to bring happiness to an individual only causes emptiness as they realize their satisfaction cannot be fulfilled through these things.)
- Purpose of life can be realized through relationship with God. (Religous views. Although an individual will likely not be 100% sure of the purpose set for their life, by putting faith in God and trusting Him, their meaning will become more clear).
- Relationships with others provide happiness. (Values instilled by family. A selfish person cannot be completely happy. However, by helping other people and creating relationships with them, a person is brought satisfaction. )
- Humans are in no way machines. (I've learned this through experiences in life. Humans have emotions, feel pain, and have the ability to love. We were made with the freedom of making our own choices, unlike robots which are created fully programmed and have no sense of decision making.)
In the beginning of the book, Meursault finds out that his mother has just died, so he takes two days off of work to travel to Marengo to the "old people's" home where she lived. He speaks with his mother's caretaker and the director of the home, then is sent to her vigil in a small room in the garden where he dozes off every now and then. The next morning, the funeral procession begins, with the hearse leading the way to the church through the countryside. It is followed by several people including the director of the home, Meursault, and Perez (Mersault's mother's very good friend). After the funeral, Meursault rides the bus back home to Algiers, where he goes swimming at the beach and finds a woman named Marie who used to work at his office. He takes her to the movies, then they sleep back at his house. Meursault stays in bed most of the next day, and after finally getting up makes lunch then sits in a chair on his porch until evening, watching people go about their Sunday activities. After making dinner it occurs to Meursault that his mother is dead, yet he feels nothing has changed.
I don't understand the character of Meursault, mostly because of the disinterest he shows to the world. He seems very quiet, professional, and unemotional, yet some of the things he does are caring gestures (such as taking a date to the movies, and visiting his mother after her death). However, for the most part Meursault acts in a way that suggests he is not sensitive towards the feelings of others, or even towards his own. In the first chapter, Meursault describes how Perez, a grieving old man, keeps falling behind in the funeral procession. He does not show any sympathy towards the man, nor does he make any attempts to help him. He simply tells the facts of what is going on. Meursault's lack of emotion makes it hard for me to like him because I cannot relate well to his story.
By creating a character like Meursault, Camus is trying to emphasize the importance of emotions in the world we live in. Through the lack of emotions seen in Meursault, it is highlighted that emotions are necessary to empathize with others. Another reason for Meursault's apathy might be so the reader can take meaning simply from Meursault's actions without feelings getting in the way. The story has a completely different mood to it when told from a straight, unattached point of view as is through Meursault than it would through another more connected point of view.
In 1942 in Algiers, France, World War II was being fought. As part of Operation Torch, Oon November 8, 1942 the allies staged an invasion of Algiers, led by the United States. The allies landed along several coasts in France, then fighting began in Algiers when French troops fired artillery to prevent another party of United States troops from landing. The french troops were surrounded, and with little resistance they surrendered to the Allies.
