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The stranger albert camus characterization
The stranger essay introduction
The stranger albert camus characterization
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Albert Camus written a novel called The Stranger. In this novel it’s one main character name Merusault. As you read the novel of The Stranger, from the beginning Merusault mother dies. In this novel as it goes on, Merusault made me realize that he don’t really express his feelings because when his mother died he never did cry or felt emotional. I feel as though Merusault should feel guilty because of his mother death. He won’t never have another mother like the one he once had. If Merusault and his mother didn’t have a strong bond he should still feel guilty. He had no emotions in his mother’s funeral like he didn’t care, and so therefore he should feel the guilt in him. It seems as though Merusault is a great son. Merusault lack of sadness
Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of [my mother’s] death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger.
Through an intimate maternal bond, Michaels mother experiences the consequences of Michaels decisions, weakening her to a debilitating state of grief. “Once he belonged to me”; “He was ours,” the repetition of these inclusive statements indicates her fulfilment from protecting her son and inability to find value in life without him. Through the cyclical narrative structure, it is evident that the loss and grief felt by the mother is continual and indeterminable. Dawson reveals death can bring out weakness and anger in self and with others. The use of words with negative connotations towards the end of the story, “Lonely,” “cold,” “dead,” enforce the mother’s grief and regressing nature. Thus, people who find contentment through others, cannot find fulfilment without the presence of that individual.
Tragedies are dramas based on human sufferings, where often many characters or events can be blamed for. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the two forbidden lovers’ deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. Romeo and Juliet’s heartbreaking fate can be attributed to Mercutio’s disobedient behavior, Friar Lawrence, and the Capulet’s party.
Of the many themes and philosophies that Camus struggled with during his life and presented to the world through his writings, one of the more prevalent was that of the absurd. According to Camus, the world, human existence, and a God are all absurd phenomenons, devoid of any redeeming meaning or purpose. Through Mersaults’ epiphany in The Stranger, where he opens himself to the “gentle indifference of the world”, we see how Camus understands the world to be a place of nothingness, which demands and desires nothing from humans. He further explores this philosophy in The Plague, where the world of indifference is understood as a world of fear, which takes a symbolically tangible form in the plague itself. In The Plague the citizens of Oran fear that which they cannot control, understand or fight. They are faced with the most fundamental experiences of life and death, and it is only in the end that a very few find a way to cope with and understand these two ultimatums.
She explains how feeling vulnerable is exactly what people seek when going through hardships. How being recognized and desired after going through grief is homologous to what it means to be human. Butler points out that majority of society has troubles locking emotions up in their heads, and explains how hard it is for them to unlock their emotions in the fear of being unrecognized. That to be vulnerable, means to let others into our emotions while obtaining the ability to communicate in order to understand their emotions as well. Butler clarifies this by confessing that grief itself, and vulnerability, are the underlying examples of how we are substantially affected by other’s recognition. Though, with the capacity of vulnerability, we also create dimensions of negative connectedness as well, Butler
It has been suggested by some scholars that one of the distinguishing features of Bonhoeffer’s theology and ethics is that he took up the theme of guilt with directness and political interest that few of his contemporaries dared to touch. While the idea of accepting guilt as an ethical concept is made most explicit in Bonhoeffer’s Ethics (particularly “History also present in Sanctorum Communion and Discipleship much earlier in his career. Therefore the idea was not a novel one and in fact was a concept that Bonhoeffer worked on throughout his career. For Bonhoeffer guilt is not merely an emotion or form of moral shame, but it comes out of a real encounter and relationship with Christ. One must confess their own guilt in order to be reconciled
... evening, on leaving the office, they forgather, at an hour that never varies, in the cafes, stroll the same boulevard, or take the air on their balconies. The passions of the young are violent and short-lived; the vices of older men seldom range beyond an addiction to bowling, to banquets and "socials," or clubs where large sums change hands on the fall of a card (Camus,The Plague)." Here it shows an example of existentialism as it did in The Stranger. In both novels the main characters of interest are consumed by repetitive redundant lives; which reflects the philosophy. But this novel, The Plague, also shows possibly a reason why Camus denies existentialism. In The Plague it is expressed that man is good of at least has potential to be good.
Often times an author incorporates a thought or philosophy into a work that can shape or reshape the attitude emitted from the novel. In Albert Camus', The Stranger, the Existential philosophy that the author fills into the work give an aura of apathy. With the opening lines of "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure," Camus immediately sets a tone of indifference (1). Though the protagonist, Mersault, is not completely without cares, the overall attitude of passiveness he has toward himself, as well as toward others, give the entire novel a tone of apathy.
The wandering thoughts of a grieving daughter after her mother’s death are sure to come with sadness unless the daughter does not feel any grief. Derricotte
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
This quote also shows Meursault’s idea of human life is meaningless. This shows that Meursault believes it doesn’t really matter if his mother died, he’s probably implying that his mother was dying anyway.... ... middle of paper ... ... The persecutor compares Meursault emotionless and lacking in remorse for his killing the same as a person killing their own father.
Whether a person’s life is something experienced authentically, or factually written down as literature, there are more complexities faced then there are simplicities on a daily basis. This multifariousness causes constant bewilderment and hesitation before any sort of important decision a person must make in his or her life. When it comes to characters of the written words, as soon sensations of ambiguity, uncertainty, and paranoia form, the outlook and actions of these characters are what usually result in regrettable decisions and added anxiety for both that character as well as the reader. Examples of these themes affecting characters in the world of fiction are found in the novel The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, and the play Glengarry Glen Ross written by David Mamet. Throughout both of these texts, characters such as Oedipa Maas who allows these emotions to guide her in her journey of self discovery, and Shelly Levene who is so overcome with these emotions that they become his downfall. For both of these characters, these constant emotional themes are what guide their most impulsive actions, which can generally also become regrettable decisions. Even though it is a distinguishing factor of human beings, when these characters are portrayed in print, it somehow seems to affect the reader more, because they are able to see the fictional repercussions, and also know how they could have been avoided.
The Narrator’s family treats her like a monster by resenting and neglecting her, faking her death, and locking her in her room all day. The Narrator’s family resents her, proof of this is found when the Narrator states “[My mother] came and went as quickly as she could.
After a tragic loss someone will go through a grieving process that will either be constructive or destructive. Mourning is a period of time when the person experiencing this loss begins to search for reconciliation and a way to deal with the sadness. They will attempt to move on, forgive and forget, the past. Freud wrote that mourning is a normal reaction to the loss of a love object, which is consciously known and identifiable. People mourning will express their sadness but will be able to eventually part from their love lost. Inversely, Freud says that melancholia develops when the sadness is inappropriate to the situation and becomes internalized. The person suffering from melancholia identifies the lost object or person with himself or herself on an unconscious level, leading to ego loss. Two films dealing with mourning and melancholia are Journey From The Fall and New Year Baby.
The death of Maman in The Stranger conveys an example of existentialism. The phlegmatic and unattached response to the death of his mother shows an excellent example of Mersault’s existentialism; he accepts life or death without looking for a deeper significance. Mersault receives a telegram from the home notifying him of his mother’s death, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother Deceased. Funeral Tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’”(Camus 3). When he gets to the home he does not even want to see the body, instead of mourning he sits back and relaxes drinking coffee and smoking. Mersault seems more concerned about taking time off of work to go to his mother’s funeral that he has nothing to do with, than the actual death of his mother. The first thought of his day is about work, “As I was waking up, it came to me why my boss had seemed annoyed when I asked him for two days off…”(Camus 19). Mersault does not show any emotion at all while at the nursing home that Maman lived. He is just there because he feels as if he has to be. Everything about the weekend seems to annoy him events like the vigil, the funeral, and some Maman’s friends, in particular to the sobbing woman at the vigil.