In chapters 1 and 2, the reader is able to see how Meursault lacks emotion when it comes to his mother's death. As we all know by the first line of the book, Meursault's mother dies and he finds this out through a telegram. The first couple lines of the book say, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know"(1.1). When I read this, it made me feel a little frustrated because it seems as if he doesn't even care how, when, where, and why his mother died. It's like he didn't try to discover the cause of her death. Most of us would try and find out why and when the death of a family member was. It's not the case with Meursault. Later on in chapter one, when Meursault is explaining why he didn't visit his mother often, he says, "And also because it took up my Sunday- not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling"(1.5). Again, he evokes this tone of carelessness to the reader. To him, his mother was less important than his Sunday. He also believed seeing his mother is not worth the whole bus ride and all the chaos that it brings. Most of us would disagree with his thoughts on this. At least I know that I would definitely make the effort to try and see my mother more often. I also would not say that she "took up my Sunday". At the end of chapter 1, Meursault says, "... and my joy when the bus entered the nest of lights that was Algiers and I knew I was going to go to bed and sleep for twelve hours"(1.18). The death of a family member, especially someone as close as your mother, is usually extremely tough to handle. The following days after the death of someone that close can also be really difficult. So when Meursault suddenly says that he is excited about getting twelve hours of sleep after the death of his mother, it makes the reader think that he didn't really care for his mother that much. Also, in chapter 2, Meursault seems completely fine when he is with Marie. After Meursault told Marie that his mother died a few days ago, Marie "gave a little start"(2.20). It seems like she was surprised because of how well and calm Meursault was taking it. I personally believe he was too calm and laid back about it because it got to the point where it seems like he doesn't care at all. What do you guys think?
Okay--just being devil's advocate here, but, in the grand scheme of things DOES it really matter? Do you think it's possible that we, as readers, punish Meursault for simply being honest when we might behave the same way? (I am NOT saying I think that personally, of course!) Good points! :) Ms. Ballard
I liked and related to Meursalt quite a bit. I went through a phase my sophomore year where I was brutally honest to my family- I told them exactly what I was thinking whenever I was pressed for information. I was really attracted to the idea of living simply, and nothing is simpler than the truth. It often takes major balls to be completely honest and is something that Meursalt does exceptionally well. People shouldn't be chastised for choosing to avoid the wall that everyone else is hiding behind, even if the thoughts/feelings they are sharing are unconventional.
Through out the first two chapters, I noticed the theme of human life having no meaning. This relates to Camus's philosophy of absurdity, in which he believes that there is zero purpose or redeeming meaning to life. It seemed ironic how Meursault acted so careless about his mother's death, in relation to Camus's philosophy. As the reader, it caught my attention when Meursault said "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don't know," (pg 3). He seems to be emotionless about the death of his mother, to the point where the elderly who have known her for a very limited time show more grief than himself. As the reader, I found his lack of emotion towards his mothers death to be very strange, and somewhat concerning. Also, this theme was relevant when Meursault spent the night with Marie Cardona, because such action is a typical "rebound," or something that will temporarily cover up his pain. At the end of chapter two, Meursault said "It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed," (pg 24). Clearly, he is an emotionless character who sees little meaning to life, because his world was altered in just a few days, yet he failed to acknowledge the change. Although Meursault doesn't fully understand the idea that life is meaningless until later in the story, I believe that the first two chapters give an excellent glimpse of this theme, and Meursault's personality as a whole. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts about Meursault, the theme of a meaningless human life, or Camus's ideas about absurdity.
My attention was also caught with the first line of the book about the main character's mother's death. I was surprised also at the concerning insensitivity towards it. Concerning the main character's ideals lining up with Camus', do you think the Meursault is just an extension of the author himself? Is this character Camus?
I don't think it's insensitivity so much as it is rational explanation on Meursault's part. While it can be considered insensitive in that Meursault has no emotional response, he still has a response, just not the one the average person might expect. Throughout the entire first two chapters, he really doesn't describe any emotional responses, he has reactions to certain situations, but only offers reasons as to why he has that reaction. I think Meursault is an extension of Camus, but not Camus himself. while they share many qualities and beliefs, Camus seems to serve his own purpose in writing, that he felt language was an art meant to tell the truth. Meursault follows many of Camus' own beliefs, remaining nonjudgmental and rather indifferent, but I felt Meursault was more of a reflection of Camus' own person and beliefs, not Camus imposing himself in the story.
I think you're right, Jeremy--he has a response, just not a socially acceptable response. Which beliefs, aside from language being meant for the truth, do we see right off the bat? Ms. Ballard
You make a valid point. I feel like the majority of people would react a different way than he did though. That being said, we can't judge him for the way he is acting because we don't exactly know Meursault and his mom's relationship. Maybe his mom treated him unfairly as a child so that is why he is showing this type of emotion. Or maybe it's truly because he feels this way.
“I asked him if he could turn off one of the lights. The glare on the white walls was making me drowsy. He said he couldn’t. That was how they’d been wired: it was all or nothing. I didn’t pay too much attention to him after that.” (9)
In this portion of the story, Meursault is attending his mother’s funeral, and through indifferent diction as well as showing Meursault's unique views about different aspects of life, the reader begins to be able to explore the neutral and disinterested personality of the main character. Throughout this portion of the story, Meursault constantly is complaining of the light, whether it is coming from bulbs or the sun, and of the heat outside. He is nearly blinded when the caretaker comes into the room he is in and turns the light on and so asks him to turn one of the lights off, as it is hurting his eyes. I found this interesting because more often than not in literature, light is a sign of purity or goodness, and is viewed as a positive element of the story. To Meursault, and ultimately to Camus as well, the things that society may normally interpret as positive, such as something as simple as light in a story or something more serious like religion, are not necessarily positive things to them. It is also commenting about how aspects of life such as religious choices, philosophies, or other things that are seen as “the light” cannot be engaged in only halfway, because “that was how they’d been wired. It was all or nothing” (9). In the eyes of Meursault (pun intended), the light that would often be interpreted positively seems to be more painful than the death of his own mother. Although the light is obviously causing him pain, he still speaks in concise and somewhat careless phrases as he narrates. Rather than further explaining his pain, he simply states that, “the glare on the white walls was making [him] drowsy” (9), and throughout the story, when speaking about pain, or any kind of emotion or sensation for that matter, he is completely disinterested and detached from the natural human state of involvement in emotions. Another thing that struck me about this quote was the fact that “he didn’t pay too much attention to him after that” (9), referring to the caregiver when he was told that he could not turn off all of the lights. Meursault's willingness to abandon conversation and avoid giving attention shows that he is self-centered, but also has no intention to deal with unnecessary formalities, and his disinterested attitude can either be interpreted as rudeness and egocentrism, or as a personality that sees no purpose in the rules, roles and formalities of society. The aloof state of Meursault is to show that a person who truly sees through society’s roles and sees that everything is absurd will not take interest in things simply because society tells them to.
“‘Would you like to see your mother one last time?’ I said no.” (13)
By this point, the reader has realized how little Meursault cares about anything. While the “average person” would be in terrible mourning after the death of their mother, Meursault seems to believe that he owes his attention to nothing, and his mother’s passing is no excuse. He simply cannot see a purpose for looking at his mother again, and it leads the reader to ask a very large and somewhat scary question: do people care because of societal obligations or do they care because of what they truly feel? Although he comes across as emotionally vacant, many of his actions make sense. He does not talk just to have small talk or do things that he does not believe have a purpose, such as seeing his mother again. As cruel as his actions may seem, they force the reader to question what they do because they are told to versus what they do because they want to. Most people do not hold small talk conversations because they enjoy them, but rather because it is an obligation. Declining to see his mother one last time was an extreme way of asking the question of how much free will we really have, given the norms that we live with.
One prominent literary component I noticed throughout chapter one was Camus' sentence structure. Throughout the narrator's various situations involving his mother's death, his sentence structure changes drastically. Closer to the beginning of the chapter when the narrator is interacting with the caretaker, he speaks with very short and precise sentences. He says, "But I wasn't hungry. Then he offered to bring me a cup of coffee with milk... I drank the coffee. Then I felt like having a smoke." (8). While describing his interaction with the caretaker, the narrator does not go into great detail. In fact, his sentences are directly to the point. The short sentences indicate his lack of interest in this type of situation. The reader can infer, along with other indicators, that the narrator does not enjoy interaction with other people. He is very impersonal shown through his vaguely stated observations about what is happening. The narrator rarely uses in depth descriptions or metaphors which also shows his indifference towards society. The narrator only goes into detail with his descriptions when it interests him. However, it seems as though the only things that truly interest him are things that annoy him. He barely shows emotion over his mother's death but fawns over the unimportant aspects of it, such as the heat. The narrator states, "But today, with the sun bearing down, making the whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhuman and oppressive... I was surprised at how fast the sun was climbing in the sky... The sweat was pouring down my face." (15-16). His sentences, when talking about the funeral, and especially the heat, are both longer and more descriptive. The narrator uses personification and imagery to convey his annoyance with the heat during the procession. Showing such emotion over a simple problem that would go away in a short period of time, shows the narrators egocentrism. The narrator has no emotion towards the death of his mother or any situations that involve other people. He solely cares about things revolving around himself or that affect him directly. The reader gets the sense that the narrator only views things from his own perspective and is very self involved. The character's egocentrism detaches the reader from his character and makes it hard for them to see him positively or to connect with him.
An interesting aspect I observed was the juxtaposition of Meursault's pessimism and his honesty. In general, Meursault comes off as having a negative mindset. Several different quotes express his negativity, one of which is, "I remembered that it was Sunday, and that bothered me: I don't like Sundays... I didn't feel like having lunch at Céleste's like I usually did because they'd be sure to ask questions and I don't like that," (21). Camus utilizes past and present tense within the same sentence in order to creating the feeling of ever-present negativity which serves to characterize Meursault. Meursault "didn't" feel like having lunch, but he also doesn't like Sundays and being asked questions which emphasizes that his dislike exists up to the time at which he recounts his story. The effect of Meursault's characterization is to convince the reader that Meursault's pessimism is not fleeting; rather, his pessimism is a trait embedded deeply into his being. Camus also utilizes short sentence structure to characterize Meursault. By interjecting short, explicit sentences, Camus characterizes Meursault as a person who believes in the truth of their own thoughts. Meursault rarely justifies his thinking; it's almost as if his own word is law to himself which gives the reader the impression of self-reliance and isolation from outside "truth." Camus juxtaposes Meursault's negativity and self-belief with his brutal honesty. Meursault makes several comments that seem out of place or uncalled for like, "Almost all the women were wearing aprons, and the strings, which were tied tight around their waists, made their bulging stomach stick out even more. I'd never noticed what huge stomach old women can have," (10). At first, Meursault's honest remarks seem harsh and unnecessary, however one still has to admire his ability to be honest with himself. Meursault never tries to lie to or disillusion himself into seeing the world as something different than the way it really is. His mantra of presenting the world as nothing more than its true form (no matter how brutal it may seem) ties into existentialism because existentialism criticizes the human need to want to understand and contain the natural chaos that exists in the universe. The effect of juxtaposing Meursault's pessimism with his honesty is in order for Camus to elaborate on the nature of existentialist thinking. In order to see and accept the world as it really is, one must come to terms with the fact that the world is not a happy place and that it does not exist to nurture human need. In essence, pessimism is not a problem if it allows one to accept the indifferent nature of the universe.
One thing that I really noticed in these first two chapters was the basis on which Meursault treats people. Shown with his interactions with others, the reader is provided with insight as to the main characters personality, achieved primarily through a tone of disinterest. Having just fallen asleep within the first couple pages of the book, Meursault wakes up to find that he, "was slumped up against a soldier who smiled at me and asked if I had been travelling long. I said, "Yes," so I wouldn't have to say anything else" (4). At this point in the story, Meursault is being driven by bus to see his mother who has passed in the previous couple nights at her retirement home. This is the first encounter where we see him with another person. I found it very odd that the character introduced first in the story is one who is never mentioned again after that. Normally an author uses the main character's first introductory interaction of the novel as a way to stress a relationship or importance between the two characters. The soldier however, is never heard of again after this. The fact that Camus characterizes him as a soldier I found to be also very ironic due to Meursault's response to the man. Soldiers are known as a well respected figure; they put their lives on the line daily to fight for people whom they have often never even met before. They do things for the good of people as a whole, not just themselves. (This follows how Camus sees a revolt should be). Common courtesies such as offering a seat to a soldier is not uncommon to see. Muersault however ignores him entirely in the sense that he even manages to fall asleep on him. Previously, the soldier isn't even introduced by the author, it was like the main character didn't even see him before he fell asleep on him. Completely opposite of the soldier who fights for all, Muersault refuses to even to acknowledge one who has done so much for him. Could having the soldier as Muersault's first interaction be merely an expression of the main character's foil? Through the irony surrounding the situation, and the short dialogue in the scene, a tone of disinterest is created. This tone helps the reader to connect Meursault's character as an outcast- a self chosen outcast, but still an outcast at that. When the main character arrives at the retirement home, he automatically seems to separate himself from his surroundings, describing, "The sound was like muffled parakeets" (5). By comparing the home's residents to parakeets, he is almost dehumanizing them, not with negative intent, but instead to draw himself further away from them. He realizes he is the odd one out in a room of parakeets, a bird who all repeat tweeting patterns back to one another and look relatively the same, act the same, etc. The diction of the word "muffled" further accentuates the tone with the soft 'f' consonants to represent the main characters faded view of his surroundings. He notices many things but nothing has clarity for him, he doesn't seem to quite understand it all. These components help the reader to further understand Meursalt's views.
There are two areas in which Camus best exemplified the theme that life essentially has no meaning. At the very beginning, the narrator apathetically states, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know...That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday" (1). The narrator explicitly demonstrates his existential views of life being worthless by using concise syntax, producing a flippant and uncaring tone towards even the major events in his life, including his mother's death. Because he states such depressing statements in the beginning, he sets up the main apathetic mood in the book. His robotic descriptions carry on in chapter two, when he meets with Marie Cardona and states, "I had the whole sky in my eyes and it was blue and gold. On the back of my neck I could feel Marie's heart beating softly" (20). The narrator produces an extremely boring tone by refraining from expounding upon details and vivid imagery, merely describing the sky as "gold and blue," and utilizing bland excuses for figurative language. The gold and blue colors of the sky most likely symbolize materialism and grief respectively, which are the only views of the world that the narrator has. He exemplifies a sense of indulgence by performing flirtatious gestures at Cardona, and develops a shallow, selfish perspective of the world by remarking his boss' feelings about him leaving work for his mother's burial rather than his sorrow towards his mother's death. Therefore, the narrator greatly portrays Camus' views of the world as absurd and essentially pointless to live in through his shallow, apathetic characteristics.
Meursault's straightforwardness was what struck me most about these first two chapters. Right away the audience is introduced to a very honest character, almost brutally so. His narration appears to be pessimistic, but realistic, but at other times his descriptions appear plain and logical, "I ran so as not to miss the bus. It was probably because of all the rushing around, and on top of that the bumpy ride, the smell of gasoline, and the glare of the sky and the road, that I dozed off" (4). I found the plain diction here to act as an indicator for Meursalt's character and Camus' ideas. Meursalt acts in a way not because of moral beliefs, not whether something is right or wrong, but whether or not it is necessary or if there is reason not to. In a way, Meursault is almost detached from the world, as a person he is very indifferent and objective, and thus lacks subjectivity. He offers only a rational explanation for his actions, running to the bus so as not to miss it, but doesn't talk of his exhaustion. Instead, he says that because of the exhaustion, he fell asleep. The emotionless description and the way the sentence is set up effectively delivers this idea of Meursault's objective, detached personality, in his logical, plain, and honest descriptions. This was clear to me again in the ending sentence of the second chapter, "It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed" (24). After what most would consider an emotional ordeal, or at least an impactful event in some way, Meursault sees as just another passing moment. In his world, nothing has changed, the fact that others around him are gone, especially someone like his own mother, matter not anymore because he is grown, his relationship with his mother no longer relevant. While Meursault seems rather emotionless and somewhat of a depressing realist, I thought that the way he summed up the events in the first couple of chapters as liberating in a way. While many would be annoyed at the inconvenience, or struck with grief, Meursault is unafflicted, and able to continue without worry. His go with the flow method of life, which lacks judgement or critical analysis of situations is purely observational. He still has reactions, and lives, but without being tethered to the weight of the world and its expectations.
The first thing I noticed about Camus’ writing style was his use of a hopeless tone. In the first chapter, when Meursault is walking in the funeral parade he ponders, “She said, ‘If you go slowly you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and get a chill inside the church.’ She was right. There was no way out” (17). This passage seems to set the mood for the rest of the novel. This tone of hopelessness reminded me of Camus’ main idea of acceptance. Instead of experiencing fear and anxiety over the fact that he is trapped, Meursault stays calm and his consciousness continues on throughout the novel in relatively even sentence lengths; shown here in the two long sentences followed by two short ones. I also noticed Meursault's lack of emotion in the second chapter. Once Meursault returns to his room he remembers that, “...one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed” (24). In this passage Camus’ long sentence structure projects a bored tone to the reader. This makes the reader feel as if Meursault does not care about his mother’s death at all. By placing such a drastic change, like his mother’s death, next to an everyday occurrence, returning to work, Camus’ distances his character from the reader and makes Meursault seem like even more of a stranger.
The idea of acceptance, I feel, is also shown in the various situations he is placed in. Without much regard or though he simply goes on no matter what the situation is. Be it waking up on a soldier or noticing a man with a limp has trouble going to a funeral, he passes over these as though they lack any significance and thus accepts nearly everything he is presented.
The main feature I noticed in The first chapter was the tone created through the details and the internal monologue of the narrator. Throughout the chapter various details are given about the scene, the events that occur but the narrator treats them with almost an intolerant level of disinterest or does not even think about them in the slightest. Events like meeting the soldier on the bus, which could have led to interesting and captivating events and social interaction, are disregarded by the narrator replaced by his own thoughts and opinions. These are all very dry and seem to never be given more internal deliberation than a few sentences. The sentence structure however is very long and drawn out helping to give readers the feeling of a lack of enjoyment and bring out the monotony of the supposedly important event for the narrator. Furthermore, the narrator continues through out the chapter to show an extremely high level of disregard for the importance of what has just happened. It is because of the different features included in the book that readers are led to believe that He simply does not care at this moment and could not care if he tried.
"Mother is deceased. Funeral tomorrow... That doesn't mean anything"(Camus 1). In the first two chapters in The Stranger, there were three features to Camus' writing style that caught my attention. One was the contrast of bright and dark imagery, another was Camus' short sentence structure, and the narrator's lack of emotion. I believe that through all these features, Camus conveys his existential outlook on life, and explores existential themes, such as the absurd and suicide.
The contrast between light and dark imagery in the first two chapters creates a "gray" and dismal mood, almost as if the book is "black and white". Camus writes, "There wasn't a shadow anywhere in-front of me, and every object, every angle and curve stood out so sharply it made my eyes hurt"(Camus 9). Later during the funeral, the narrator describes the tar in the country-side, "All of it- the sun, the smell of leather and horse dung from the hearse, the smell of varnish and incense... was making hard for me to see or think straight"(Camus 17). Camus utilizes the juxtaposition of bright and dark imagery to create a "black and white" tone, throughout the chapter there is a nihilist tone, thus having the effect of oppression on the reader. The reader can relate to the narrator.
Camus' use of short sentences also help set this "gray" mood. By utilizing short, abrupt sentences, Camus can convey truth and reality in a brutally honest way. He writes, "...that bothered me: I don't like Sundays... I didn't feel like going down stairs... I smoked some cigarettes... I was a little bored..."(Camus 21). These short sentences convey to the reader the indifference of the narrator. He almost has a suicidal tone. Earlier, his indifference was manifested in his rather emotionless experience in the mortuary and funeral.
in the first two chapters, i noticed the main characters lack of emotion towards many aspects of his life, one of them being his mothers death. usually when someones mother dies, you would be a lot more upset than he was, but it made me think that maybe he wasnt very close with his mom. he said a couple times throughout the chapter tha it seemed like nothing had reall changed for him. this shows that his mom was already absent in his life, so her being dead didnt impact his life as much. when he was talking about the lady who was sobbing in chapter one, his attitude is seen through the diction of his dialogue. one of the coments he says was, "She sniffled a lot. then finally she shut up" (11). this quote shows his lack of emotion towards the situation. by using the words shut up, it like her saddness was annoying to him and he didnt like people around him being emotional about his mothers death. i also noticed that throughout both of these chapters, he describes the sy many times. he talks about the colors mostly and describes what he thinks is going to happen such as storms. why do you think he talks about the sky so much? one quote that i thought was interesting was when he said "i had the whole sky in my eyes and it was blue and gold" (20). what i thought was interesting about thsi quote was that you usuaslly dont see the sky blue and gold at the same time. usually the sky is blue during the day and golden at sunset or sunrise. im not sure what this might represent, but i thought i should bring it up.
The first two chapters of this book were very interesting to me. One quote that stood out to me was on page 5 and it says "That's partly why I didn't go there much this past year. And also because it took up my Sunday-not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling". I found this very strange at first and a little unsettling. One would think that buying tickets and putting aside one day out of the week would be a reasonable sacrifice to see is mother. Instead, however, he acts as if it were a burden and pointless. It paints a picture of the main character as rather emotionless and passive even with people close to him. This first impression made me not like or connect with him very well as I was beginning to get into the story. This characterization was further reinforced later on in the reading on page 10. The author writes, "The woman kept on crying. It surprised me, because I didn't know who she was. I wished I didn't have to listen to her anymore". This, again, struck me as odd. When a person sees another person crying, the response is usually compassion or some feeling of remorse, especially when it is over losing someone important to them. Instead, the main character views the woman as a burden and an annoyance. I would have expected him to show the most emotion out of all the people there since that is his mother, but he seems to be the least affected by the tragedy, or at least so he lets show.
One aspect of the opening chapters of The Stranger that really struck me was how Meursault was very underwhelmed with the events that transpired. All of his reactions were very severe yet it almost appeared as if he did not care. This is first evident in the opening paragraph when he learns about the death of his mother. Camus wrote, “ ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” (1). Initially, what surprised me was his general lack of emotion in response to this event, most people would be very distraught and sad, but he is very calm. Camus displays existential ideals in that Meursault just expects the worst and is not surprised by tragic events. As a result, his reaction is not what many would consider socially acceptable. The reader can tell that he is very underwhelmed by this event because of his short sentence structure. This makes the reader not have as much sympathy for the narrator because t seems that he does not care, which I do not believe is the actual case. Additionally, this sentence structure creates a depressed tone for the chapter that is only bolstered by the constant reminder of death. My judgment that Meursault might care but just expects the worst in the world is reinforced by his thoughts a t the need of the second chapter. He thinks about the events that he has recently had to deal with, “It occurred to me that one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.” (24). Camus included this quote to continue to introduce existential ideas. Meursault’s thoughts indicate that he has no true faith in humanity, which elicits a pessimistic tone. Consequently, the reader has an uneasy feeling about Meursault and what he may do since he does not seem to be aware of the significance of important life events. Moreover, his sentence structure has changed throughout these two chapters; now, he speaks in long, compound sentences. In this quote specifically, this indicates that he is sure about what he is saying. Overall, I do not have a complete understanding of Meursault’s beliefs yet, but I believe Camus created this character to manifest his existential views. Please comment if you have anything to add!
Something that I found interesting as I was reading these first two chapters was the relationship between his mother and Thomas Perez and how her death was affecting him. I found this to be interesting because the death of his mother didn’t seem to affect him but all of his mother’s friends were greatly affected. Thomas Perez was affected the most because he was very close to her. When the director was telling Meursault who was going to the funeral, the relationship between Perez and his mother is described and how the other residents perceived the two of them. “It’s a rather childish sentiment. But he and your mother were almost inseparable. The others used to tease them and say, ‘Perez has a fiancée.’ He’d laugh. They enjoyed it.” (13) This describes that they were almost always together and were happy together, which Meursault did not know anything about prior to his arrival. This also then makes the way that Perez takes her death interesting and that it was affecting him more than it was effecting Meursault. The director also tells Meursault this and how he could not refuse to allow him to go to the funeral. “And the truth is he’s taking Madame Meursault’s death very hard.” (13) This states that Perez is missing her and does not like that she is not there for him, which is not how Meursault is feeling at all because he is not making an effort to know which day she died and his life is not affected by it. When they are walking into the village for the funeral, I thought that it was interesting how Camus described where Perez was in the precession. He writes, “Perez seemed to be way back there, fading in the shimmering heat.” (17) I think that this causes the reader to feel some sympathy towards Perez because he had just lost someone important to him and was having a hard time adjusting to them being gone. I took this as him starting to lose his will to live and not really wanting to live without her.
A fascinating aspect of this book can be found in what Meursault considers "interesting". The first example is when the director explains how Meursault's mother is going to be buried. "He'd told me that they had to bury her quickly, because it gets hot in the plains, especially in this part of the country...I thought what he'd been saying was interesting and made sense." (7-8). It's reenforced by most of the characters in the book that a person should go through a mourning process after the death of a loved one. If one doesn't, it's considered unorthodox, and in some cases, even evil. Meursault shows interest in the logistics of how his mother is buried, but he seems to show no more than apathy to his mother's death itself. Another example when Meursault observes the church where his mother's ceremony is held. "I noticed right away that the screws on the casket had been tightened and that there were four men wearing black in the room...Varnished, glossy, and oblong, it reminded me of a pencil box...Strange, flopping, thick-rimmed ears struck out through his fine, white hair, and I was struck by their blood-red color next to the pallor of his face." (14-15). Meursault consistently notices the screws, suggesting that there is a significance (such as the "sureness" of death) in the difference of tightened and untightened. When he sees his mother's casket, he compares it to an elementary school utility. The way he described the people conducting the ceremony is interesting as well. This section ultimately shows that Meursault is quite different from most people. Situations that usually having meaning don't, and vice versa. Cases where Meursault's interest is shown are direct hints to his personality.
Ever book is different from another in the way that it is unveiled and how it draws the reader in. In the first two chapters of The Stranger by Albert Camus, one can see through the way Camus characterizes Meursault that the main theme is life having no meaning. In the beginning of the book the author establishes a dominant affect of frustration as the reader sees all of Meursault's reactions towards the elderly people and his mom in the past. The book opens with the line,"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know."(3) The fact that Meursault's says this makes the reader feel a little irritated because here we have someones mom pass away and he doesn't even seem to care. At first as a reader one might feel this way but if some thought were put into it, one could start to question himself in saying that maybe it doesn't matter if you know what day someone passed away because the fact of the matter is they are dead. With this in consideration it might be said that Meursault has done nothing wrong even though he doesn't know the day his mother passed away. As the story went on though, it became more evident that maybe Meursault really is a cold hearted person who doesn't care about anyone else but himself. This can be conveyed to the reader when the author utilizes visual imagery later on when Meursault gets to the room his mother is kept in. When entering the room the author writes,"All you could see were some shiny screws, not screwed down all the way, standing out against the walnut-stained planks."(6) Since Meursault is so focused on the setting around his mother it shows that he is paying attention to the wrong thing and not the most important thing his mother. Later the caretaker asks him if he would like to see his mom and he responds with "No."(6) This posses the question, why would you not want to look at a loved one when it will be your last time seeing them? It is clear that Meursault doesn't care much about his mother and always saw her as a hand full even when he later talked about how long it took him to get to her house on Sundays but it still doesn't suggest why wouldn't even bother to take a glimpse at her, she is indeed his mom. More of this frustration is evident when at the funeral he pays attention to the wrong things and not the big picture. Meursault when sitting at his mothers funeral he describes the caretaker as,"breathing down my neck and starting to annoy me."(7) He also pays close attention to hornets buzzing around the glass roof. All in all this causes an irritation in the reader knowing that if it were there loved one the would be sitting there in sorrow only thinking about them. One action that stood out above the rest is when he was at funeral and all the elderly friends of his mom came, one of them was crying and the whole time he was complaining about how," she would never stop","I wish i didn't have to listen to her anymore."(10) With this his respect can be seen to be slim to none because here there are people mourning the dead of his mom and he won't even respect the fact that it hurt some more than others. Once the same lady stopped crying he then got irritated because the people there were not making a sound so,"it was getting on his nerves,"(11) In conclusion his character can be seen as child like because of his tendency to drop things so quickly and change gears to something else. I wonder if later on he realizes that he is acting like a child and that he will have to change to acting and thinking like a grown up.
[No Subject] Me to Natasha VeneciaSent In chapter one and two Camus uses detail to express Meursault as a character. For instance, "All of it- the sun, the smell of leather and horse dung from the hearse, the smell of varnish and incense, and my fatigue after a night without sleep- was making it hard for me to think straight."(17). In this sentence the reader soon gets to understand why Meursault is so focused on the physical aspects other than emotional. Unlike many people Mersault lacks the idea of emotion in many ways. For example, when his mother dies he doesn't "care" instead he doesn't question her death instead he takes the suffering and moves on with his life. I believe Camus did this to 1) relate to existentialism and 2) to show the parallel between ones that except the world and for those who don't. This is reflected on the aftermath of his mothers death. Meurseault is fine and goes on with his life while the others relive the past. I believe there are many examples of this continuos theme of suffering and wonder what the outcome will be?
Camus’ initial characterization of Meursault made me question the validity of living with a continued sense of indifference. The first hint at Meursault’s abnormal behaviour is his reaction to his mother’s death. “Mama died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (3). Meursault’s lack of reaction generally infers a feeling of dislike among readers, which I only slightly understand. Of course lack of concern at the death of a loved one is cause for a questionable moral compass, but actions don’t always speak for emotions. The feeling I got from the first few lines of The Stranger was one of numbness. I read Meursaul’s thoughts in the voice of Henri, the subject of our beloved cat videos. As I continued reading, however, I realized that Meursault approached everything as he did his mother’s death- with indifference. Though Meursault has a decent life (gotta love Marie), is he actually living if he doesn’t ever make any choices? Is indifference a choice?
The whole part 1 is there to address the absurdity of the world, and the first two chapter of set the base and tone of it. The absurdity is represented by different characters in the novel except Meursault. I think Meursault, in the first part, is more described as an individual who is swallowed up by the absurdity. He doesn’t act against the absurdity and therefore he doesn’t assign meaning to life and death. This ignorance makes him look like he is lack of emotion. For the absurdity, it is represented by the circumstance around Meursault. In the very first page when Meursault goes to his boss and explains about his maman’s death, he describes, “...But he [the boss] wasn’t too happy about it. I even said, “It’s not my fault.” He didn’t say anything... but he probably will day after tomorrow, when he sees I’m in mourning” (3). The first line indicates the boss doesn’t want Meursault to skip the work. However, according to the society’s rule, he feels uncomfortable when Meursault says it’s not his fault, because it sounds like he’s blaming his mother for skipping the work. One should not blaming his dead mother, if he has conscience. At the end, even though the boss doesn’t like the situation, he will show his condolences because that’s what he’s supposed to do. This serves like sarcasm, by showing hypocrisy of the boss or the conscience of the society represented by the boss. Another example of absurdity happens at the funeral of the mother, when her friends visit her before the walk. Meursault sees them thinks, “For a second I had the ridiculous feeling that they were there to judge me,” ”I even had the impression that the dead woman lying in front of them didn’t mean anything to them”(10-11). The first line, similar to the example before, refers to society’s conscience. Because Meursault is the dead women’s son, he should act like he’s sad and depressed. However, he doesn’t feel any emotion over it, so he feels like they are judge him. This also a foreshadowing the trial later he will have. The second line indicates hypocrisy of the society. Even though the old people are there because the mother have died, Meursault’ impression describes them like it doesn’t matter to them, and what they are thinking is something different. I don’t what they are thinking exactly. It might be the death of their own, since they are very old. The point is, that there is gap between their action and true thought. They are there to demonstrate absurdity Meursault is facing.
In the beginning of the first chapter, Camus reveals the main character, Mersault, to be a very indifferent toward interaction and emotions. When he is first given the news that his mother has passed away, he does not grieve. Mersault can be described as detached, cold and indifferent. In the very first couple lines Camus writes, " That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday"(I.1). Camus illustrates the indifference in Mersaults attitude toward life and major events. This makes him difficult to put in a category because he shows no emotion at such big news. If he was joyful that his mother had passed away, he could be categorized as a monster or immoral. If he were to grieve it would show the caringness of him as a character. He is very indifferent now and throughout the entire book. However, Mersault is not indifferent about practical or physical situations. He is too worried about practical things, such as the attire he will be wearing at his mothers funeral. Camus writes, " And also because it took up my Sunday-not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling"(I.4). He is ignoring emotional and social contents of this situation he is in. This creates a very mutual but confusing tone for the reader, leaving many questions about Mersualt and his character.
In chapters 1 and 2, the reader is able to see how Meursault lacks emotion when it comes to his mother's death. As we all know by the first line of the book, Meursault's mother dies and he finds this out through a telegram. The first couple lines of the book say, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know"(1.1). When I read this, it made me feel a little frustrated because it seems as if he doesn't even care how, when, where, and why his mother died. It's like he didn't try to discover the cause of her death. Most of us would try and find out why and when the death of a family member was. It's not the case with Meursault. Later on in chapter one, when Meursault is explaining why he didn't visit his mother often, he says, "And also because it took up my Sunday- not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling"(1.5). Again, he evokes this tone of carelessness to the reader. To him, his mother was less important than his Sunday. He also believed seeing his mother is not worth the whole bus ride and all the chaos that it brings. Most of us would disagree with his thoughts on this. At least I know that I would definitely make the effort to try and see my mother more often. I also would not say that she "took up my Sunday". At the end of chapter 1, Meursault says, "... and my joy when the bus entered the nest of lights that was Algiers and I knew I was going to go to bed and sleep for twelve hours"(1.18). The death of a family member, especially someone as close as your mother, is usually extremely tough to handle. The following days after the death of someone that close can also be really difficult. So when Meursault suddenly says that he is excited about getting twelve hours of sleep after the death of his mother, it makes the reader think that he didn't really care for his mother that much. Also, in chapter 2, Meursault seems completely fine when he is with Marie. After Meursault told Marie that his mother died a few days ago, Marie "gave a little start"(2.20). It seems like she was surprised because of how well and calm Meursault was taking it. I personally believe he was too calm and laid back about it because it got to the point where it seems like he doesn't care at all. What do you guys think?
ReplyDeleteOkay--just being devil's advocate here, but, in the grand scheme of things DOES it really matter? Do you think it's possible that we, as readers, punish Meursault for simply being honest when we might behave the same way? (I am NOT saying I think that personally, of course!) Good points! :)
DeleteMs. Ballard
I liked and related to Meursalt quite a bit. I went through a phase my sophomore year where I was brutally honest to my family- I told them exactly what I was thinking whenever I was pressed for information. I was really attracted to the idea of living simply, and nothing is simpler than the truth. It often takes major balls to be completely honest and is something that Meursalt does exceptionally well. People shouldn't be chastised for choosing to avoid the wall that everyone else is hiding behind, even if the thoughts/feelings they are sharing are unconventional.
DeleteThrough out the first two chapters, I noticed the theme of human life having no meaning. This relates to Camus's philosophy of absurdity, in which he believes that there is zero purpose or redeeming meaning to life. It seemed ironic how Meursault acted so careless about his mother's death, in relation to Camus's philosophy. As the reader, it caught my attention when Meursault said "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don't know," (pg 3). He seems to be emotionless about the death of his mother, to the point where the elderly who have known her for a very limited time show more grief than himself. As the reader, I found his lack of emotion towards his mothers death to be very strange, and somewhat concerning. Also, this theme was relevant when Meursault spent the night with Marie Cardona, because such action is a typical "rebound," or something that will temporarily cover up his pain. At the end of chapter two, Meursault said "It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed," (pg 24). Clearly, he is an emotionless character who sees little meaning to life, because his world was altered in just a few days, yet he failed to acknowledge the change. Although Meursault doesn't fully understand the idea that life is meaningless until later in the story, I believe that the first two chapters give an excellent glimpse of this theme, and Meursault's personality as a whole. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts about Meursault, the theme of a meaningless human life, or Camus's ideas about absurdity.
ReplyDeleteMy attention was also caught with the first line of the book about the main character's mother's death. I was surprised also at the concerning insensitivity towards it. Concerning the main character's ideals lining up with Camus', do you think the Meursault is just an extension of the author himself? Is this character Camus?
DeleteI don't think it's insensitivity so much as it is rational explanation on Meursault's part. While it can be considered insensitive in that Meursault has no emotional response, he still has a response, just not the one the average person might expect. Throughout the entire first two chapters, he really doesn't describe any emotional responses, he has reactions to certain situations, but only offers reasons as to why he has that reaction. I think Meursault is an extension of Camus, but not Camus himself. while they share many qualities and beliefs, Camus seems to serve his own purpose in writing, that he felt language was an art meant to tell the truth. Meursault follows many of Camus' own beliefs, remaining nonjudgmental and rather indifferent, but I felt Meursault was more of a reflection of Camus' own person and beliefs, not Camus imposing himself in the story.
DeleteI think you're right, Jeremy--he has a response, just not a socially acceptable response. Which beliefs, aside from language being meant for the truth, do we see right off the bat?
DeleteMs. Ballard
You make a valid point. I feel like the majority of people would react a different way than he did though. That being said, we can't judge him for the way he is acting because we don't exactly know Meursault and his mom's relationship. Maybe his mom treated him unfairly as a child so that is why he is showing this type of emotion. Or maybe it's truly because he feels this way.
Delete“I asked him if he could turn off one of the lights. The glare on the white walls was making me drowsy. He said he couldn’t. That was how they’d been wired: it was all or nothing. I didn’t pay too much attention to him after that.” (9)
ReplyDeleteIn this portion of the story, Meursault is attending his mother’s funeral, and through indifferent diction as well as showing Meursault's unique views about different aspects of life, the reader begins to be able to explore the neutral and disinterested personality of the main character. Throughout this portion of the story, Meursault constantly is complaining of the light, whether it is coming from bulbs or the sun, and of the heat outside. He is nearly blinded when the caretaker comes into the room he is in and turns the light on and so asks him to turn one of the lights off, as it is hurting his eyes. I found this interesting because more often than not in literature, light is a sign of purity or goodness, and is viewed as a positive element of the story. To Meursault, and ultimately to Camus as well, the things that society may normally interpret as positive, such as something as simple as light in a story or something more serious like religion, are not necessarily positive things to them. It is also commenting about how aspects of life such as religious choices, philosophies, or other things that are seen as “the light” cannot be engaged in only halfway, because “that was how they’d been wired. It was all or nothing” (9). In the eyes of Meursault (pun intended), the light that would often be interpreted positively seems to be more painful than the death of his own mother. Although the light is obviously causing him pain, he still speaks in concise and somewhat careless phrases as he narrates. Rather than further explaining his pain, he simply states that, “the glare on the white walls was making [him] drowsy” (9), and throughout the story, when speaking about pain, or any kind of emotion or sensation for that matter, he is completely disinterested and detached from the natural human state of involvement in emotions. Another thing that struck me about this quote was the fact that “he didn’t pay too much attention to him after that” (9), referring to the caregiver when he was told that he could not turn off all of the lights. Meursault's willingness to abandon conversation and avoid giving attention shows that he is self-centered, but also has no intention to deal with unnecessary formalities, and his disinterested attitude can either be interpreted as rudeness and egocentrism, or as a personality that sees no purpose in the rules, roles and formalities of society. The aloof state of Meursault is to show that a person who truly sees through society’s roles and sees that everything is absurd will not take interest in things simply because society tells them to.
“‘Would you like to see your mother one last time?’ I said no.” (13)
By this point, the reader has realized how little Meursault cares about anything. While the “average person” would be in terrible mourning after the death of their mother, Meursault seems to believe that he owes his attention to nothing, and his mother’s passing is no excuse. He simply cannot see a purpose for looking at his mother again, and it leads the reader to ask a very large and somewhat scary question: do people care because of societal obligations or do they care because of what they truly feel? Although he comes across as emotionally vacant, many of his actions make sense. He does not talk just to have small talk or do things that he does not believe have a purpose, such as seeing his mother again. As cruel as his actions may seem, they force the reader to question what they do because they are told to versus what they do because they want to. Most people do not hold small talk conversations because they enjoy them, but rather because it is an obligation. Declining to see his mother one last time was an extreme way of asking the question of how much free will we really have, given the norms that we live with.
Good points about the light imagery! Keep paying attention to that!
DeleteMs. Ballard
One prominent literary component I noticed throughout chapter one was Camus' sentence structure. Throughout the narrator's various situations involving his mother's death, his sentence structure changes drastically. Closer to the beginning of the chapter when the narrator is interacting with the caretaker, he speaks with very short and precise sentences. He says, "But I wasn't hungry. Then he offered to bring me a cup of coffee with milk... I drank the coffee. Then I felt like having a smoke." (8). While describing his interaction with the caretaker, the narrator does not go into great detail. In fact, his sentences are directly to the point. The short sentences indicate his lack of interest in this type of situation. The reader can infer, along with other indicators, that the narrator does not enjoy interaction with other people. He is very impersonal shown through his vaguely stated observations about what is happening. The narrator rarely uses in depth descriptions or metaphors which also shows his indifference towards society. The narrator only goes into detail with his descriptions when it interests him. However, it seems as though the only things that truly interest him are things that annoy him. He barely shows emotion over his mother's death but fawns over the unimportant aspects of it, such as the heat. The narrator states, "But today, with the sun bearing down, making the whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhuman and oppressive... I was surprised at how fast the sun was climbing in the sky... The sweat was pouring down my face." (15-16). His sentences, when talking about the funeral, and especially the heat, are both longer and more descriptive. The narrator uses personification and imagery to convey his annoyance with the heat during the procession. Showing such emotion over a simple problem that would go away in a short period of time, shows the narrators egocentrism. The narrator has no emotion towards the death of his mother or any situations that involve other people. He solely cares about things revolving around himself or that affect him directly. The reader gets the sense that the narrator only views things from his own perspective and is very self involved. The character's egocentrism detaches the reader from his character and makes it hard for them to see him positively or to connect with him.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting aspect I observed was the juxtaposition of Meursault's pessimism and his honesty. In general, Meursault comes off as having a negative mindset. Several different quotes express his negativity, one of which is, "I remembered that it was Sunday, and that bothered me: I don't like Sundays... I didn't feel like having lunch at Céleste's like I usually did because they'd be sure to ask questions and I don't like that," (21). Camus utilizes past and present tense within the same sentence in order to creating the feeling of ever-present negativity which serves to characterize Meursault. Meursault "didn't" feel like having lunch, but he also doesn't like Sundays and being asked questions which emphasizes that his dislike exists up to the time at which he recounts his story. The effect of Meursault's characterization is to convince the reader that Meursault's pessimism is not fleeting; rather, his pessimism is a trait embedded deeply into his being. Camus also utilizes short sentence structure to characterize Meursault. By interjecting short, explicit sentences, Camus characterizes Meursault as a person who believes in the truth of their own thoughts. Meursault rarely justifies his thinking; it's almost as if his own word is law to himself which gives the reader the impression of self-reliance and isolation from outside "truth." Camus juxtaposes Meursault's negativity and self-belief with his brutal honesty. Meursault makes several comments that seem out of place or uncalled for like, "Almost all the women were wearing aprons, and the strings, which were tied tight around their waists, made their bulging stomach stick out even more. I'd never noticed what huge stomach old women can have," (10). At first, Meursault's honest remarks seem harsh and unnecessary, however one still has to admire his ability to be honest with himself. Meursault never tries to lie to or disillusion himself into seeing the world as something different than the way it really is. His mantra of presenting the world as nothing more than its true form (no matter how brutal it may seem) ties into existentialism because existentialism criticizes the human need to want to understand and contain the natural chaos that exists in the universe. The effect of juxtaposing Meursault's pessimism with his honesty is in order for Camus to elaborate on the nature of existentialist thinking. In order to see and accept the world as it really is, one must come to terms with the fact that the world is not a happy place and that it does not exist to nurture human need. In essence, pessimism is not a problem if it allows one to accept the indifferent nature of the universe.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I really noticed in these first two chapters was the basis on which Meursault treats people. Shown with his interactions with others, the reader is provided with insight as to the main characters personality, achieved primarily through a tone of disinterest. Having just fallen asleep within the first couple pages of the book, Meursault wakes up to find that he, "was slumped up against a soldier who smiled at me and asked if I had been travelling long. I said, "Yes," so I wouldn't have to say anything else" (4). At this point in the story, Meursault is being driven by bus to see his mother who has passed in the previous couple nights at her retirement home. This is the first encounter where we see him with another person. I found it very odd that the character introduced first in the story is one who is never mentioned again after that. Normally an author uses the main character's first introductory interaction of the novel as a way to stress a relationship or importance between the two characters. The soldier however, is never heard of again after this. The fact that Camus characterizes him as a soldier I found to be also very ironic due to Meursault's response to the man. Soldiers are known as a well respected figure; they put their lives on the line daily to fight for people whom they have often never even met before. They do things for the good of people as a whole, not just themselves. (This follows how Camus sees a revolt should be). Common courtesies such as offering a seat to a soldier is not uncommon to see. Muersault however ignores him entirely in the sense that he even manages to fall asleep on him. Previously, the soldier isn't even introduced by the author, it was like the main character didn't even see him before he fell asleep on him. Completely opposite of the soldier who fights for all, Muersault refuses to even to acknowledge one who has done so much for him. Could having the soldier as Muersault's first interaction be merely an expression of the main character's foil? Through the irony surrounding the situation, and the short dialogue in the scene, a tone of disinterest is created. This tone helps the reader to connect Meursault's character as an outcast- a self chosen outcast, but still an outcast at that. When the main character arrives at the retirement home, he automatically seems to separate himself from his surroundings, describing, "The sound was like muffled parakeets" (5). By comparing the home's residents to parakeets, he is almost dehumanizing them, not with negative intent, but instead to draw himself further away from them. He realizes he is the odd one out in a room of parakeets, a bird who all repeat tweeting patterns back to one another and look relatively the same, act the same, etc. The diction of the word "muffled" further accentuates the tone with the soft 'f' consonants to represent the main characters faded view of his surroundings. He notices many things but nothing has clarity for him, he doesn't seem to quite understand it all. These components help the reader to further understand Meursalt's views.
ReplyDeleteGood points! Can you think of other reasons that the disinterest, aside from revolt, might be so important?
DeleteMs. Ballard
There are two areas in which Camus best exemplified the theme that life essentially has no meaning. At the very beginning, the narrator apathetically states, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know...That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday" (1). The narrator explicitly demonstrates his existential views of life being worthless by using concise syntax, producing a flippant and uncaring tone towards even the major events in his life, including his mother's death. Because he states such depressing statements in the beginning, he sets up the main apathetic mood in the book. His robotic descriptions carry on in chapter two, when he meets with Marie Cardona and states, "I had the whole sky in my eyes and it was blue and gold. On the back of my neck I could feel Marie's heart beating softly" (20). The narrator produces an extremely boring tone by refraining from expounding upon details and vivid imagery, merely describing the sky as "gold and blue," and utilizing bland excuses for figurative language. The gold and blue colors of the sky most likely symbolize materialism and grief respectively, which are the only views of the world that the narrator has. He exemplifies a sense of indulgence by performing flirtatious gestures at Cardona, and develops a shallow, selfish perspective of the world by remarking his boss' feelings about him leaving work for his mother's burial rather than his sorrow towards his mother's death. Therefore, the narrator greatly portrays Camus' views of the world as absurd and essentially pointless to live in through his shallow, apathetic characteristics.
ReplyDeleteMeursault's straightforwardness was what struck me most about these first two chapters. Right away the audience is introduced to a very honest character, almost brutally so. His narration appears to be pessimistic, but realistic, but at other times his descriptions appear plain and logical, "I ran so as not to miss the bus. It was probably because of all the rushing around, and on top of that the bumpy ride, the smell of gasoline, and the glare of the sky and the road, that I dozed off" (4). I found the plain diction here to act as an indicator for Meursalt's character and Camus' ideas. Meursalt acts in a way not because of moral beliefs, not whether something is right or wrong, but whether or not it is necessary or if there is reason not to. In a way, Meursault is almost detached from the world, as a person he is very indifferent and objective, and thus lacks subjectivity. He offers only a rational explanation for his actions, running to the bus so as not to miss it, but doesn't talk of his exhaustion. Instead, he says that because of the exhaustion, he fell asleep. The emotionless description and the way the sentence is set up effectively delivers this idea of Meursault's objective, detached personality, in his logical, plain, and honest descriptions. This was clear to me again in the ending sentence of the second chapter, "It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed" (24). After what most would consider an emotional ordeal, or at least an impactful event in some way, Meursault sees as just another passing moment. In his world, nothing has changed, the fact that others around him are gone, especially someone like his own mother, matter not anymore because he is grown, his relationship with his mother no longer relevant. While Meursault seems rather emotionless and somewhat of a depressing realist, I thought that the way he summed up the events in the first couple of chapters as liberating in a way. While many would be annoyed at the inconvenience, or struck with grief, Meursault is unafflicted, and able to continue without worry. His go with the flow method of life, which lacks judgement or critical analysis of situations is purely observational. He still has reactions, and lives, but without being tethered to the weight of the world and its expectations.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I noticed about Camus’ writing style was his use of a hopeless tone. In the first chapter, when Meursault is walking in the funeral parade he ponders, “She said, ‘If you go slowly you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and get a chill inside the church.’ She was right. There was no way out” (17). This passage seems to set the mood for the rest of the novel. This tone of hopelessness reminded me of Camus’ main idea of acceptance. Instead of experiencing fear and anxiety over the fact that he is trapped, Meursault stays calm and his consciousness continues on throughout the novel in relatively even sentence lengths; shown here in the two long sentences followed by two short ones. I also noticed Meursault's lack of emotion in the second chapter. Once Meursault returns to his room he remembers that, “...one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed” (24). In this passage Camus’ long sentence structure projects a bored tone to the reader. This makes the reader feel as if Meursault does not care about his mother’s death at all. By placing such a drastic change, like his mother’s death, next to an everyday occurrence, returning to work, Camus’ distances his character from the reader and makes Meursault seem like even more of a stranger.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of acceptance, I feel, is also shown in the various situations he is placed in. Without much regard or though he simply goes on no matter what the situation is. Be it waking up on a soldier or noticing a man with a limp has trouble going to a funeral, he passes over these as though they lack any significance and thus accepts nearly everything he is presented.
DeleteThe main feature I noticed in The first chapter was the tone created through the details and the internal monologue of the narrator. Throughout the chapter various details are given about the scene, the events that occur but the narrator treats them with almost an intolerant level of disinterest or does not even think about them in the slightest. Events like meeting the soldier on the bus, which could have led to interesting and captivating events and social interaction, are disregarded by the narrator replaced by his own thoughts and opinions. These are all very dry and seem to never be given more internal deliberation than a few sentences. The sentence structure however is very long and drawn out helping to give readers the feeling of a lack of enjoyment and bring out the monotony of the supposedly important event for the narrator. Furthermore, the narrator continues through out the chapter to show an extremely high level of disregard for the importance of what has just happened. It is because of the different features included in the book that readers are led to believe that He simply does not care at this moment and could not care if he tried.
ReplyDelete"Mother is deceased. Funeral tomorrow... That doesn't mean anything"(Camus 1). In the first two chapters in The Stranger, there were three features to Camus' writing style that caught my attention. One was the contrast of bright and dark imagery, another was Camus' short sentence structure, and the narrator's lack of emotion. I believe that through all these features, Camus conveys his existential outlook on life, and explores existential themes, such as the absurd and suicide.
ReplyDeleteThe contrast between light and dark imagery in the first two chapters creates a "gray" and dismal mood, almost as if the book is "black and white". Camus writes, "There wasn't a shadow anywhere in-front of me, and every object, every angle and curve stood out so sharply it made my eyes hurt"(Camus 9). Later during the funeral, the narrator describes the tar in the country-side, "All of it- the sun, the smell of leather and horse dung from the hearse, the smell of varnish and incense... was making hard for me to see or think straight"(Camus 17). Camus utilizes the juxtaposition of bright and dark imagery to create a "black and white" tone, throughout the chapter there is a nihilist tone, thus having the effect of oppression on the reader. The reader can relate to the narrator.
Camus' use of short sentences also help set this "gray" mood. By utilizing short, abrupt sentences, Camus can convey truth and reality in a brutally honest way. He writes, "...that bothered me: I don't like Sundays... I didn't feel like going down stairs... I smoked some cigarettes... I was a little bored..."(Camus 21). These short sentences convey to the reader the indifference of the narrator. He almost has a suicidal tone. Earlier, his indifference was manifested in his rather emotionless experience in the mortuary and funeral.
in the first two chapters, i noticed the main characters lack of emotion towards many aspects of his life, one of them being his mothers death. usually when someones mother dies, you would be a lot more upset than he was, but it made me think that maybe he wasnt very close with his mom. he said a couple times throughout the chapter tha it seemed like nothing had reall changed for him. this shows that his mom was already absent in his life, so her being dead didnt impact his life as much. when he was talking about the lady who was sobbing in chapter one, his attitude is seen through the diction of his dialogue. one of the coments he says was, "She sniffled a lot. then finally she shut up" (11). this quote shows his lack of emotion towards the situation. by using the words shut up, it like her saddness was annoying to him and he didnt like people around him being emotional about his mothers death. i also noticed that throughout both of these chapters, he describes the sy many times. he talks about the colors mostly and describes what he thinks is going to happen such as storms. why do you think he talks about the sky so much? one quote that i thought was interesting was when he said "i had the whole sky in my eyes and it was blue and gold" (20). what i thought was interesting about thsi quote was that you usuaslly dont see the sky blue and gold at the same time. usually the sky is blue during the day and golden at sunset or sunrise. im not sure what this might represent, but i thought i should bring it up.
ReplyDeleteThe first two chapters of this book were very interesting to me. One quote that stood out to me was on page 5 and it says "That's partly why I didn't go there much this past year. And also because it took up my Sunday-not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling". I found this very strange at first and a little unsettling. One would think that buying tickets and putting aside one day out of the week would be a reasonable sacrifice to see is mother. Instead, however, he acts as if it were a burden and pointless. It paints a picture of the main character as rather emotionless and passive even with people close to him. This first impression made me not like or connect with him very well as I was beginning to get into the story. This characterization was further reinforced later on in the reading on page 10. The author writes, "The woman kept on crying. It surprised me, because I didn't know who she was. I wished I didn't have to listen to her anymore". This, again, struck me as odd. When a person sees another person crying, the response is usually compassion or some feeling of remorse, especially when it is over losing someone important to them. Instead, the main character views the woman as a burden and an annoyance. I would have expected him to show the most emotion out of all the people there since that is his mother, but he seems to be the least affected by the tragedy, or at least so he lets show.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of the opening chapters of The Stranger that really struck me was how Meursault was very underwhelmed with the events that transpired. All of his reactions were very severe yet it almost appeared as if he did not care. This is first evident in the opening paragraph when he learns about the death of his mother. Camus wrote, “ ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” (1). Initially, what surprised me was his general lack of emotion in response to this event, most people would be very distraught and sad, but he is very calm. Camus displays existential ideals in that Meursault just expects the worst and is not surprised by tragic events. As a result, his reaction is not what many would consider socially acceptable. The reader can tell that he is very underwhelmed by this event because of his short sentence structure. This makes the reader not have as much sympathy for the narrator because t seems that he does not care, which I do not believe is the actual case. Additionally, this sentence structure creates a depressed tone for the chapter that is only bolstered by the constant reminder of death. My judgment that Meursault might care but just expects the worst in the world is reinforced by his thoughts a t the need of the second chapter. He thinks about the events that he has recently had to deal with, “It occurred to me that one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.” (24). Camus included this quote to continue to introduce existential ideas. Meursault’s thoughts indicate that he has no true faith in humanity, which elicits a pessimistic tone. Consequently, the reader has an uneasy feeling about Meursault and what he may do since he does not seem to be aware of the significance of important life events. Moreover, his sentence structure has changed throughout these two chapters; now, he speaks in long, compound sentences. In this quote specifically, this indicates that he is sure about what he is saying. Overall, I do not have a complete understanding of Meursault’s beliefs yet, but I believe Camus created this character to manifest his existential views. Please comment if you have anything to add!
ReplyDeleteSomething that I found interesting as I was reading these first two chapters was the relationship between his mother and Thomas Perez and how her death was affecting him. I found this to be interesting because the death of his mother didn’t seem to affect him but all of his mother’s friends were greatly affected. Thomas Perez was affected the most because he was very close to her. When the director was telling Meursault who was going to the funeral, the relationship between Perez and his mother is described and how the other residents perceived the two of them. “It’s a rather childish sentiment. But he and your mother were almost inseparable. The others used to tease them and say, ‘Perez has a fiancée.’ He’d laugh. They enjoyed it.” (13) This describes that they were almost always together and were happy together, which Meursault did not know anything about prior to his arrival. This also then makes the way that Perez takes her death interesting and that it was affecting him more than it was effecting Meursault. The director also tells Meursault this and how he could not refuse to allow him to go to the funeral. “And the truth is he’s taking Madame Meursault’s death very hard.” (13) This states that Perez is missing her and does not like that she is not there for him, which is not how Meursault is feeling at all because he is not making an effort to know which day she died and his life is not affected by it. When they are walking into the village for the funeral, I thought that it was interesting how Camus described where Perez was in the precession. He writes, “Perez seemed to be way back there, fading in the shimmering heat.” (17) I think that this causes the reader to feel some sympathy towards Perez because he had just lost someone important to him and was having a hard time adjusting to them being gone. I took this as him starting to lose his will to live and not really wanting to live without her.
ReplyDeleteA fascinating aspect of this book can be found in what Meursault considers "interesting". The first example is when the director explains how Meursault's mother is going to be buried. "He'd told me that they had to bury her quickly, because it gets hot in the plains, especially in this part of the country...I thought what he'd been saying was interesting and made sense." (7-8). It's reenforced by most of the characters in the book that a person should go through a mourning process after the death of a loved one. If one doesn't, it's considered unorthodox, and in some cases, even evil. Meursault shows interest in the logistics of how his mother is buried, but he seems to show no more than apathy to his mother's death itself. Another example when Meursault observes the church where his mother's ceremony is held. "I noticed right away that the screws on the casket had been tightened and that there were four men wearing black in the room...Varnished, glossy, and oblong, it reminded me of a pencil box...Strange, flopping, thick-rimmed ears struck out through his fine, white hair, and I was struck by their blood-red color next to the pallor of his face." (14-15). Meursault consistently notices the screws, suggesting that there is a significance (such as the "sureness" of death) in the difference of tightened and untightened. When he sees his mother's casket, he compares it to an elementary school utility. The way he described the people conducting the ceremony is interesting as well. This section ultimately shows that Meursault is quite different from most people. Situations that usually having meaning don't, and vice versa. Cases where Meursault's interest is shown are direct hints to his personality.
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ReplyDeleteEver book is different from another in the way that it is unveiled and how it draws the reader in. In the first two chapters of The Stranger by Albert Camus, one can see through the way Camus characterizes Meursault that the main theme is life having no meaning. In the beginning of the book the author establishes a dominant affect of frustration as the reader sees all of Meursault's reactions towards the elderly people and his mom in the past. The book opens with the line,"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know."(3) The fact that Meursault's says this makes the reader feel a little irritated because here we have someones mom pass away and he doesn't even seem to care. At first as a reader one might feel this way but if some thought were put into it, one could start to question himself in saying that maybe it doesn't matter if you know what day someone passed away because the fact of the matter is they are dead. With this in consideration it might be said that Meursault has done nothing wrong even though he doesn't know the day his mother passed away. As the story went on though, it became more evident that maybe Meursault really is a cold hearted person who doesn't care about anyone else but himself. This can be conveyed to the reader when the author utilizes visual imagery later on when Meursault gets to the room his mother is kept in. When entering the room the author writes,"All you could see were some shiny screws, not screwed down all the way, standing out against the walnut-stained planks."(6) Since Meursault is so focused on the setting around his mother it shows that he is paying attention to the wrong thing and not the most important thing his mother. Later the caretaker asks him if he would like to see his mom and he responds with "No."(6) This posses the question, why would you not want to look at a loved one when it will be your last time seeing them? It is clear that Meursault doesn't care much about his mother and always saw her as a hand full even when he later talked about how long it took him to get to her house on Sundays but it still doesn't suggest why wouldn't even bother to take a glimpse at her, she is indeed his mom. More of this frustration is evident when at the funeral he pays attention to the wrong things and not the big picture. Meursault when sitting at his mothers funeral he describes the caretaker as,"breathing down my neck and starting to annoy me."(7) He also pays close attention to hornets buzzing around the glass roof. All in all this causes an irritation in the reader knowing that if it were there loved one the would be sitting there in sorrow only thinking about them. One action that stood out above the rest is when he was at funeral and all the elderly friends of his mom came, one of them was crying and the whole time he was complaining about how," she would never stop","I wish i didn't have to listen to her anymore."(10) With this his respect can be seen to be slim to none because here there are people mourning the dead of his mom and he won't even respect the fact that it hurt some more than others. Once the same lady stopped crying he then got irritated because the people there were not making a sound so,"it was getting on his nerves,"(11) In conclusion his character can be seen as child like because of his tendency to drop things so quickly and change gears to something else. I wonder if later on he realizes that he is acting like a child and that he will have to change to acting and thinking like a grown up.
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Me to Natasha VeneciaSent
In chapter one and two Camus uses detail to express Meursault as a character. For instance, "All of it- the sun, the smell of leather and horse dung from the hearse, the smell of varnish and incense, and my fatigue after a night without sleep- was making it hard for me to think straight."(17). In this sentence the reader soon gets to understand why Meursault is so focused on the physical aspects other than emotional. Unlike many people Mersault lacks the idea of emotion in many ways. For example, when his mother dies he doesn't "care" instead he doesn't question her death instead he takes the suffering and moves on with his life. I believe Camus did this to 1) relate to existentialism and 2) to show the parallel between ones that except the world and for those who don't. This is reflected on the aftermath of his mothers death. Meurseault is fine and goes on with his life while the others relive the past. I believe there are many examples of this continuos theme of suffering and wonder what the outcome will be?
Camus’ initial characterization of Meursault made me question the validity of living with a continued sense of indifference. The first hint at Meursault’s abnormal behaviour is his reaction to his mother’s death. “Mama died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (3). Meursault’s lack of reaction generally infers a feeling of dislike among readers, which I only slightly understand. Of course lack of concern at the death of a loved one is cause for a questionable moral compass, but actions don’t always speak for emotions. The feeling I got from the first few lines of The Stranger was one of numbness. I read Meursaul’s thoughts in the voice of Henri, the subject of our beloved cat videos. As I continued reading, however, I realized that Meursault approached everything as he did his mother’s death- with indifference. Though Meursault has a decent life (gotta love Marie), is he actually living if he doesn’t ever make any choices? Is indifference a choice?
ReplyDeleteThe whole part 1 is there to address the absurdity of the world, and the first two chapter of set the base and tone of it. The absurdity is represented by different characters in the novel except Meursault. I think Meursault, in the first part, is more described as an individual who is swallowed up by the absurdity. He doesn’t act against the absurdity and therefore he doesn’t assign meaning to life and death. This ignorance makes him look like he is lack of emotion. For the absurdity, it is represented by the circumstance around Meursault. In the very first page when Meursault goes to his boss and explains about his maman’s death, he describes, “...But he [the boss] wasn’t too happy about it. I even said, “It’s not my fault.” He didn’t say anything... but he probably will day after tomorrow, when he sees I’m in mourning” (3). The first line indicates the boss doesn’t want Meursault to skip the work. However, according to the society’s rule, he feels uncomfortable when Meursault says it’s not his fault, because it sounds like he’s blaming his mother for skipping the work. One should not blaming his dead mother, if he has conscience. At the end, even though the boss doesn’t like the situation, he will show his condolences because that’s what he’s supposed to do. This serves like sarcasm, by showing hypocrisy of the boss or the conscience of the society represented by the boss. Another example of absurdity happens at the funeral of the mother, when her friends visit her before the walk. Meursault sees them thinks, “For a second I had the ridiculous feeling that they were there to judge me,” ”I even had the impression that the dead woman lying in front of them didn’t mean anything to them”(10-11). The first line, similar to the example before, refers to society’s conscience. Because Meursault is the dead women’s son, he should act like he’s sad and depressed. However, he doesn’t feel any emotion over it, so he feels like they are judge him. This also a foreshadowing the trial later he will have. The second line indicates hypocrisy of the society. Even though the old people are there because the mother have died, Meursault’ impression describes them like it doesn’t matter to them, and what they are thinking is something different. I don’t what they are thinking exactly. It might be the death of their own, since they are very old. The point is, that there is gap between their action and true thought. They are there to demonstrate absurdity Meursault is facing.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the first chapter, Camus reveals the main character, Mersault, to be a very indifferent toward interaction and emotions. When he is first given the news that his mother has passed away, he does not grieve. Mersault can be described as detached, cold and indifferent. In the very first couple lines Camus writes, " That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday"(I.1). Camus illustrates the indifference in Mersaults attitude toward life and major events. This makes him difficult to put in a category because he shows no emotion at such big news. If he was joyful that his mother had passed away, he could be categorized as a monster or immoral. If he were to grieve it would show the caringness of him as a character. He is very indifferent now and throughout the entire book. However, Mersault is not indifferent about practical or physical situations. He is too worried about practical things, such as the attire he will be wearing at his mothers funeral. Camus writes, " And also because it took up my Sunday-not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling"(I.4). He is ignoring emotional and social contents of this situation he is in. This creates a very mutual but confusing tone for the reader, leaving many questions about Mersualt and his character.
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