Memory, Imagination, and Consciousness in Funes the Memorious and Meursault
Consciousness separates humans from sense perceiving “garbage heaps.” Jorge Luis Borges, in “Funes the Memorious,” and Albert Camus, in “The Stranger,” explore the causes of consciousness. They are philosophers who write fiction to answer the question, “What makes us aware?” An imperfect memory and imagination define our reality. Funes can be aware of other realities because has a perfect memory. Meursault reveals that the missing element for Funes to possess consciousness is imagination. I will define consciousness, assess memory and imagination as essential, discuss metaphor as a manifestation of consciousness, and isolate the affect of the awareness of other consciousness’.
Without memory, we could not compare a past object or idea with a present one. Memory allows us to enhance past objective observations with present sensory perceptions. Because we have an imperfect memory, that is, we cannot remember every detail, we embellish. We give a past idea or object an identity independent from the external world because we perceive and imagine it differently than our initial sensory reaction. We change our original reaction with our imagination. Thus, creative people experience life more vividly. In the process of consciousness, we first remember something imperfectly, and then qualify it with other embellished thoughts. The act of thought, then, is not consciousness. Thought is the comparison of one object to another. We are not conscious because we notice a difference between two things. Once, we embellish the relationship however, we create an internal reality that is an imperfect copy of our true sensory reaction. We possess consciousness...
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.... Together, Camus and Borges show us that through our imperfect memories and our distorting, lying imaginations, we obtain an individual identity.
Works Cited
Borges, Jorge Luis. Labyrinths: “Funes the Memorious”. New York: New Directions Publishing Co., 1964.
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Random House, 1988.
Christ, Ronald. The Narrow Act: Borges’ Art of Fiction. New York: Lumen Books, 1995.
Hart, Thomas R. Jr. “Borges’ Literary Criticism.” Modern Critical Views: Jorge Luis Borges. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 5-20.
Jaynes, Julian. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Boston: Houghton, 1976.
Müller, Max. The Science of Thought. London: Longmans Green, 1887. 78-9.
Sarte, Jean-Paul. “An Explication of “The Stranger.” Camus. Ed. Germaine Brée. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1962.
Found within the storyline, Willy implements features of a tragic hero as he shows the reversal of events in his life due to his own actions. Willy, through the downfall with his son, Biff, shows that his actions have caused a bridge between him and his son in which his son chooses to grow apart from his family. As seen at the beginning of the play, Willy represents a tragic hero as he is distressed and troubled as he comes home from another failed sales trip. Although Willy represents a tragic hero in many cases, there are also others found within Death of a Salesman that help implement the role of a profound hero. Willy’s wife, Linda, implements the heroine as she presents herself with many wise and understanding words for Willy has he faces his hardships. Throughout the story, it is seen that Linda represents herself as a put together woman for her husband but is often found distraught by her husband’s actions in which readers and audiences can empathize with
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world.
Thody, Philip. Albert Camus 1913 – 1960. 2nd ed. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962.
theorists attempt to develop a mode of consciousness and cognition that breaks the identity of
In the 1920s a new kind of music rose in New Orleans. Different from the ballroom songs popular in that day, former slaves and their families created this new music called jazz, which spread like wildfire. Many artists influenced the growth of this great type of music including Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Louis Armstrong played as one of these great men. Growing up in a poor section of the “Birthplace of Jazz”, Armstrong taught himself to play the trumpet, also known as the cornet. Louis Armstrong was the most influential jazz trumpet player to walk this earth due to his own created style of jazz including many songs that are still used today.
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I will commence by defining what makes a mental state conscious. This will be done aiming to distinguish what type of state we are addressing when we speak of a mental phenomenon and how is it, that can have a plausible explanation. By taking this first approach, we are able to build a base for our main argument to be clear enough and so that we can remain committed to.
mythological names for the Parades for more of a rich tradition. Many of the Popular Parades are named after Greek Gods such as Bacchus, Orpheus, Endymion, and even the African parade, Zulu.
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Although many sports are not considered American-made like soccer, basketball is one of the few sports that began in America. In fact, it is the only major sport that can be considered American-made (Encyclopedia.com Basketball). The
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affect our memory. It is important to be aware of these factors and to question the accuracy of our own memories. commit due to inaccurate eyewitness testimony. Cognitive psychologists have conducted extensive research on the reliability of eyewitness testimony and have found that it can be influenced by a variety of factors, including stress, leading questions, and post-event information. In fact, studies have shown that eyewitnesses are often inaccurate in their descriptions and identifications, which can have serious consequences for the accused.
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