The Mysterious Stranger It was 1590 in Austria, still in its Age of Belief, and also still in the Middle Ages. The quiet town of Eseldorf lay in the middle of Austria, covertly hidden by luscious woods and many hills. The children were taught only to revere God and the saints; as for education, it was thought only to divert ones attention away from Him, making them discontented with their lot in life. In the town there were two priests. One of them, Father Adolf, was awed and respected; for he had no fear for Satan, and was said to have confronted him once, throwing his bottle at him. The other was Father Peter, they loved him best. Unfortunately he had enemies, one being the very powerful astrologer. Who had the ear and trust of the Bishop himself; he wore a flowing robe, also he carried a staff and book which were said to contain magic powers. Father Peter openly denounced him as a fraud and a charlatan with no valuable knowledge of any kind; or any power other than that of a normal human being. The astrologer was the one believed to have told this to the Bishop, who suspended him indefinitely. And as time went on it became harder and harder still to get bread and the bank owner, Solomon Isaacs had lent all the money he could to him. The three boys, Nikolaus, Seppi, and Theodor were always together from cradle up. They knew the hills and woods of that country as well as the birds. They were also friends with the oldest servingman in the castle Felix Brandt. He told them of all the old times and strange things. He showed them how to smoke and drink coffee. When it was stormy out he would tell them of great horrors. (Largely from his own experience) He encouraged them not to fear the supernatural things. But one morn... ... middle of paper ... ...estioning it seemed that the people believed his story; compared to that of the boys who were ridiculed and harassed until people were laughing to tears. Then Satan appeared near Wilhelm, Father Peter's lawyer and Margret's dear friend. He melted inside of him, just as the other lawyer was saying his last statement. Satan then began questioning him about when, and what time he found the money. He confirmed that he found it the year before and said he could prove it otherwise. He simply examined the coin to find the date was current, and not from any year before. This was found to be true and the case was dismissed. Satan disappeared to tell Father Peter the news. But what he actually did was tell him he was now convicted a thief, his reputation ruined. This shocked him so that within 10 minutes he had gone completely mad and thought himself Emperor, "Happy as a bird."
Lewiston, Idaho, once an important port for miners traveling in search of gold, is now a town of about 30,000 people. Few of the people who live in the Lewis-Clark Valley speak of its over one hundred year history. However, there are still parts of the community where one can explore and see the age of the town. Downtown Lewiston is one of a few areas where people can go exploring. They wander the streets, admiring the buildings that stand proudly above them. One building in particular ties a unique history into the downtown area. Morgan’s Alley stands at the corner of Main Street and D Street, overlooking the cars and people passing by. On the outside, it looks like an ordinary, older building. On the inside, it holds secrets of the past and possibly a ghost.
Albert Camus’ The Stranger featured a misunderstood man who saw through his gilded society who was condemned to death for not crying at his mother’s funeral. Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying found a man sentenced to death because of his race.The ignorance of society killed both of these men, but their strength in defying the oppressive system makes them immortal. The strength of defiance is not an escape attempt or freedom, but the ability to remain human even while condemned to death. The human spirit triumphs when faced with injustice by taking dignity from the strength provided by a community or finding strength internally to create dignity even in death.
An analysis if Lustig’s positive shadow, St. Peter as the poor shapeshifting beggar, is particularly useful in understanding the various challenges which the main character of the story will eventually have to face later on. In the folk tale, the beggar is portrayed as a cunning and intelligent trickster, who changes his appearance every time he “begged a gift [form Lustig]”(368). Every time the disguised beggar “placed himself in another shape” and asks for charity, Brother Lustig will always fall in his trap and give him “a quarter of the loaf of his bread and one kreuzer” (368), for he eventually have nothing left. By the end of the story, Brother Lustig becomes an intelligent trickster, capable of surviving alone thanks to his ability to smart and trick other people. In this context. It is evident that St.Peter as the shapeshifting beggar is a positive shadow since he embodies the qualities that the independent and grown up Lustig needs. By becoming more selfish and cunning, Lustig is finally capable of helping people by using his intelligence against “the nine devils”(376) by putting them in his knapsack”(376). By the end of the story, it becomes clear that his cunning and intelligence help him to become a more independent person capable of to survive without the help of others. He is no longer tricked by others and this shows clearly that he is on a further step towards individuation.
In the Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, our main character struggles to find his place in society. Throughout the novel, he finds himself in "power-struggles". At the beginning of the novel, we see the narrator as a student in an African-American college. He plays a large role in the school as an upstanding student. Later, we see the Invisible Man once again as an important member of an organization known as the Brotherhood. In both situations he is working, indirectly, to have a place in a changing world of homogony. In each circumstance he finds himself deceived in a "white man's world".
The Stranger is a novel by Albert Camus. Albert Camus, a French, Noble prize winning author, journalist and philosopher, was born on the seventh of November 1913. He died on the fourth of January 1960. He was instrumental in bringing the philosophical views of absurdism to public attention. The Stranger was published in 1942 and is an example of the outlook and themes of Camus’s philosophy of the absurd.
Has there ever existed a person that has not judged someone else over their lifetime? Judging by reality as well as literature it seems that no person like that has ever existed. It appears that it is human nature to want to pronounce others as either purely good or evil. But does everyone fit into the mold of good or evil? In Albert Camus's The Stranger, Meursault is a morally ambiguous character, and this ethical indistinctness plays a major part in the novel as a whole and the theme that Camus is trying to portray.
The perception of religion is different for everyone and for the grandmother in the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, being a lady with good Christian values was how she defined herself. The grandmother’s innocence of the evil existing in the world cost her and her family their lives. The story “Cathedral” however, has a more positive outlook on faith. The narrator, “Bub”guided by a blind man named Robert was able to visualize and draw a picture of a cathedral, without really knowing what one was. This essay will examine how the outcomes of both stories were affected by the beliefs of those involved.
“At this time in my life I lived in a very old town house, where I often heard unexplainable noises in the attic. One night, when I was about 11, my parents went out to a party, leaving me all alone. The night was stormy, with crashes of lightening and thunder outside. Having nothing to do, I fell asleep after eating too much ice cream. All of a sudden, my alarm clock goes off in the middle of the night, reading 3 o’clock. I’m wondering why ...
What if the past had no meaning and the only part of our lives that matters is that which is happening presently? To further exacerbate the matter, all hope for some form of salvation and ever-lasting life from a God are entirely futile; that when life is over, all forms of existence are over as well. Such a desolate point of view is illustrated in Albert Camus’ The Stranger. Camus used characters such as the protagonist, Meursault, to establish his belief that life is nothing more than physical existence and that one can only define their life’s value based off of the events happening at the time in question. Whether Camus himself agreed with this viewpoint is irrelevant as throughout his novel, the striking contrast between Meursault and the society he found himself in clearly epitomized Meursault as an anomalous sociopath. The events resulting from the protagonist’s detached and brutally honest personality, as well as a dearth of a moral conscience, exemplify the extent at which amorality can be commensurate to madness.
French author and playwright Albert Camus once said, “He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.” In the The Stranger and The Guest this philosophy is expanded on by demonstrating how those who do not conform to society are isolated, and portrayed as a threat to society because of their unique beliefs.
In many works of literature a character conquers great obstacles to achieve a worthy goal. Sometimes the obstacles are personal impediment, at other times it consists of the attitude and beliefs of others. In the book The Stranger by Albert Camus, shows the character Meursault who is an emotionless character that let’s other people show their opinions and emotions into him giving him a type of feeling even if Meursault doesn’t care. Meursault contains occasion of his emotional indifference between his friends and social indifference. This essay will be about the character’s struggle contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Imagination. The open mind in someone to allow them to see more then another person, a blessing. A blessing because imagination allows the person to see new things, different things and get in awe of those things they have seen. Traveling, equal to imagination, can also lead to see different things and learn new things and without traveling people would see and learn nothing new. The stories “The Mysterious Stranger” by Mark Twain, and “The Celestial Omnibus” by E.M Forster have different themes. “The Mysterious Stranger” has the theme, open mindedness and fear can lead to the escape of reality.“The Celestial Omnibus” has the theme imagination and travel lead to escaping reality. With those different themes, “The Mysterious Stranger” and “The
Existentialism is defined as "a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will”. In other words, existentialism it emphasizes individual freedom. Throughout The Stranger, the amount of existentialism views is abundant. The use of Mersault’s experiences covey the idea that human life has no meaning except for simple existence. The idea of existentialism in Albert Camus' The Stranger reflects through Mersault's life experiences with his relationship with Marie, the death of his mother Maman, the murdering of the Arab, and Mersault's trial and execution, all these events show that Mersault’s life of no meaning.
An Essay on. The Stranger; The Absurd One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all.