Monday, February 10, 2020
Due Tuesday, February 11th - Read "The Stranger" by Albert Camus, Chapters 1-3
Overview and Directions: Read The Stranger by Albert Camus, Chapters 1-3. Please apply the ideas of Existentialism to your reading of the text. Pair direct quotations from the novel with Sartre's essay on Existentialism. I look forward to your responses.
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The first three chapters of The Stranger overview the two main components of existentialism. In the first chapter, we see the main characters mother die, and the ritual he must perform before the ultimate burial. In order to do such, he must take a few days off work to travel the two hours to his mother’s nursing home. As he tells his boss such, he can’t help but mention that his mother’s death is “‘not his fault’” (3) as he feels the guilt rise at his bosses gaze, though his boss ultimately says nothing. This relates back to the idea in existentialism of human’s in anguish, where “ man who involves himself … cannot help escape the feeling of his total and deep responsibility” for the actions that involve himself. The man feels as though to everyone, to his boss, the warden and the caretaker of the nursing home, he needs to justify his actions in his moment of grieving.
ReplyDeleteThe book also examines the thought of human’s in forlornness, as the mother who “had never in her life given a thought to religion” (6) requests a religious burial. Although her whole life had been spent avoiding religious ceremonies and traditions, even in her final moments she can not resist giving into God and the thought if being with someone after life. The mother stands with the existentialist in this sense, finding it “distressing that God does not exist, because all possibility of finding values in a heaven of ideas disappears along with Him,” and so falls to the ideal of Him in the end. Though it doesn’t necessarily seem for the reason to rid herself of sin and escape the blame that existentialists emphasize, it is most likely as a final comfort that many existentialists distress over.
The Stranger is an interesting novel thus far. To say it is a French story, the writing style is more along the lines of something you would expect Ernest Hemmingway to produce, with its short and to the point sentences. The narrator thinks in a very unemotional way, defining himself through actions and decisions, rather than plans and thoughts. This is one of the major pillars of existentialism- Humans in Anguish. When he hears of his mother’s death, the narrator immediately starts making plans. He thinks “I’ll take the two o’clock bus and get there in the afternoon. That way I can be there for the vigil and come back tomorrow night,” rather than allowing his mind to go to grief. In a way, the narrator realizes his choices will have a greater effect than the potential to sit and be sad. While he may be doing all this out of obligation rather than emotion, the existentialist would argue that the actions mean more than the idea of actions (i.e. thinking about going to the vigil and funeral but being too overwhelmed by grief to do so). Another element of existentialism present is Humans in Forlornness. At the end of her life, the narrator’s mother apparently took up religion. The nursing home director said to the narrator “it seems your mother often expressed to her friends her desire for a religious burial,” but the narrator thinks in response, “while not an atheist, Maman has never in her life given a thought to religion.” This part is very reminiscent of the argument Tess has with her mother over the bible in Marjorie Prime. As both old women are reaching the ends of their lives, they each realize (though Marjorie to a lesser extent) all that they have to fear. Life with no God is not an issue. It is death with no God that will eventually cause some major issues. Both women realize this and consider if not embrace religion as a way of coping with this fear.
ReplyDeleteIn the first three chapters of The Stranger we see how the main character deals with the loss of his mother and how this loss affects his life. When Meursault finds out that his mother died, he realizes that he must take a day off work in order to go to the services. Meursault feels partly guilty for his mother’s death since he was no longer able to take care of her and had to send her to a home. At this point, Meursault is seen in the “anguish” stage of existentialism, in which people feel the “deep responsibility” they hold in life. The caretaker at the home explains to him that his mother was happier there than she would have been with him. However, this does not totally relieve the guilt that Meursault feels. According to the beliefs of existentialists, we are always in anguish over our actions and our decisions because we are setting an example for others. Meursault made the choice to send his mother away and not visit her, and now must live with the anguish that those choices bring. We also see Meursault in the stage of “forlornness.” After his mother’s services Meursault realizes that he must go on with his life as if nothing happened. Meursault has just experienced a difficult event and must go back to work and live his life normally. This is similar to how existentialists feel about the presence of a God. They do not believe in a God, and therefore must continue to live their lives without a set of morals. Seeing how Meursault has decided to live his life following his mother’s death was interesting and I am interested in how he will continue to act as the story progresses and he begins to feel despair.
ReplyDeleteIn the first three chapters of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus, we explore the days after Meursault’s maman passes away. However contrary to how we would expect someone to react after a loved one has passed away, he shows little to no emotion. Even three chapters into the novel, we have learned little about the main character and more about the people around him. We don’t really know about how he feels about the people around him either. It is very much a description of the weather and physical explanations of his world. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” This opening is very eye opening to exactly what kind of person Meursault is. The death of his mother had very little impact on him and he spends more time worrying about the practicalities of getting to the care home and getting proper clothes than grieving. In Satre’s essay on Existentialism he says “feeling is formed by the deeds that one does; therefore I cannot consult it as a guide to action.” He bases this on Gide who said “a sentiment which is play-acting and one which is vital are two things that are hardly distinguishable one from another.” Therefore, we cannot really tell the true intentions of Meursault through his feelings because he does not speak of them in the novel. However if feelings are based on actions, then we Meusault would truly be a kind and caring person who attended his mother’s funeral and helped his friends.
ReplyDeleteIn Albert Camus’s “The Stranger”, the ideas of existentialism can be seen throughout. The two major ideas that I noticed in these first three chapters are that of existence preceding essence, and human forlornness. To start with, Meursault is a unique character in terms of most literature I have read. He is very detached and cold, seeming indifferent to his own mother’s death. However, it is impossible to judge him as bad or good - he is simply indifferent. This relates to existentialism as his actions are not predetermined by anything, he is simply doing what he desires. This can be seen through how he goes from a funeral for his mother, to spending the night with a lover the next day. He does not see this as weird at all: he is simply having a good time. He does what he wants, there is no larger purpose to his actions. This relates to how Sartre says that “But the existentialist, when he portrays a coward, shows him as responsible for his cowardice”. He does not assign his actions to genetics or temperament, they are the result of his decisions and choices. Meursault is the same way, with Camus offering no explanation for his actions, they are just the result of his decisions. It is also quite interesting how the length of sentences reflects this notion. Instead of being long and eloquent such as those in “Mrs. Dalloway”, the sentences are short and choppy, devoid of much sentiment or emotion. This perfectly matches the amoral nature of Meursault, and how he simply makes choices in the moment without a prior purpose or “essence”. The other piece of existentialism demonstrated is Forlornness. When Mersault’s mother is being buried, the director says “it seems your mother often expressed to her friends her desire for a religious burial”, to which Meursault thinks “While not an atheist, Maman had never in her life given a thought to religion”. A common existentialist idea is that there is no God to find solace in, to blame for our actions and quality of life. This is something that it seems Meursault agrees with, choosing not to care about religion and never once attempting to put responsibility on God or anyone else for his own actions. As Sartre says, “Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either within or outside himself. He discovers forthwith, that he is without excuse”. Meursault is the perfect example of this through his apparent lack of feeling obligated to act in a certain way. He is aware of the social norms, that he should feel sad at the funeral, that he should be in mourning, but he does not feel the need to cry, or act sad, because that is not how he feels. His indifferent nature is key to his place as an existentialist character.
ReplyDeleteThe voice of this book reminds me of some TV show but I can't put my finger on which one. It's very blunt. His mother is dead for goodness sakes! Oh I know! It's not a TV show, it's a movie: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This movie always makes me cry, not because of any grand action or dramatic lines by Walter but because of what he doesn't say. He is extremely quiet, yet the situations he stumbles into elicit somewhat dramatic reactions, none of which he delivers. Walter is almost eaten by a shark and falls in love with his coworker but retains his bluntness. Similarly, it is Meursault’s adaptability that makes him remarkable. His mother dies, he sleeps with his former typist, and gets sucked into an abusive partner’s feud with his ex. All the while he stays complicit and calm. Often in literature, authors analyze the grieving process and talk of the tragedy that is death. However, Meursault makes the simple observation that, “Whenever one of the residents die, the others are a bit on edge for the next two or three days.” I find this comment funny, it is so obvious why they are on edge which is so morbid, this type of honestly is unexpected. Meursault has a practicality that I both admire and am frustrated by! It makes for a read that I never put down because I am always wanting more, more emotion, more explanation, more something. For example when he describes the condition of the dog: “Then he beats the dog and stares at it.” Ok so do something! How do you not have more sympathy for the dog! Cry! Other times I like his straight forward thinking. I like when he responds, “I don't have any reason not to talk to him” when Reymond asks him over for dinner. I think his subtle optimism is very nice! Although Reymond is clearly a perpetrator of domestic violence, his ferocious emotions and extreme plans are exaggerations of what many people I think feel after a breakup: “What bothered him what that he ‘still had sexual feelings for her’ But he wanted to punish her.” Many times when a relationship ends, you want the other person to feel your absence. Anger and longing often fight for control of your mind. It's ok to have both I think. Obviously Raymond's actions aren't justified but in their milder versions, they reveal the conflicting emotions held when something very good ends in a very bad way. Well, maybe anything very good is bound to be very bad when it ends. I can't wait to keep reading!
ReplyDeleteMersault’s life is dull and empty and he takes little pleasure in life. At his mother's funeral, he notices that his actions are being judged by his mother's friends. He has very little reaction to his mother dying in the first place and seems detached from daily activities, like going to the beach and going to the movies with his girlfriend. He depends on his understanding of other people to determine how he should act. He watches people from his balcony and does not express any sort of judgement, he just notices their main characteristics. He does not pass judgement on any of the characters in fact, even the ones that he interacts with and the ones who behave questionably by anyone else's standards (like the neighbor who beats his dog and his wife). Camus applies the theme of existentialism to his novel in the sense that there is no higher meaning to the universe or to existence at all. There is no purpose to human life and Meursault proves that to be true through his outlook on life and his actions and attitudes that stem from it. The reader sees Meursault’s reaction as heartless but he simply does not view his mother’s death as a part of the larger structure of human existence and therefore is able to move on quickly and not feel great emotions towards her passing.
ReplyDeletesara Boese
DeleteExamples of existentialism were evident throughout the novel in chapters 1-3. In my opinion one of the big picture ideas of existentialism is how things just happen with no significance or deeper meaning. This philosophy is exemplified very effectively through the way Mesault thinks and behaves after his mother's death. Initially, right after learning of his mother's death he simply questioned what day it was. One would expect a visceral reaction or a display of some sort of emotion. HOwever to Mesault this was just a regular occurrence with no significance - people die and that's how life is. I thought the reluctance of the boss to let him go visit his mother kind of intriguing. This is due to how, maybe it's just me, the death of one caregiver that has been with them since their birth is such a huge moment in one's life - and yet here both Mesault and his boss are bickering about getting two days off of work. In my opinion it almost degrades the death and importance of Mesaults mom due to how trivial and mundane the event is. It is interesting how the girl reacts once she finds out that Mesault had attended his mother's funeral the other day due to how perfectly normal he was acting. This made me think about social expectations and certain expectations regarding motions within society. For example, after someone passes the expected reaction is to be solemn and sad and if someone were say laughing at a funeral even if it was unrelated would be deemed cynical or inhumane. This kind of thinking in society is kind of irrational once I think about it. Like Mesault doesn't really have to feel sad about his mom passing but society and that girl he slept with kind of expect it from him. It was kinda cool to think about it like that.
ReplyDeleteMesault reminds me of a robot. He watches people actions and reactions and basically copies them, He is so one dimensional. Also, he just kinda does things step by step, kinda floating through life. But also, people have different reactions to things. I like what Anuraag said about what society expects him to react, and it made me think of his mothers friends being so judgmental at the funeral having little to no reaction. Everyone copes with things differently, and just because he isn't sobbing at his mothers wedding doesn't mean he isn't sad. Unfortunately, I have been to a handful of funerals for family members, and somehow, my family still makes it lighthearted. Yes we cry, but we also tell stories and we laugh and smile, and celebrate the life that was lost. Some people would frown upon this, and be bothered by this, but I see it as a different way to cope. Maybe his way of copping was to be completely numb, shutting himself off for a bit and focusing on healing.
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ReplyDeletePersonally, I like the character of Meursault. He truly is the inner thoughts we all have, some that we even never admit, unfiltered. They’re not evil or harmful thoughts, they never are. Instead, they are just the slight wishes, passing thoughts, and bored wonderings in everyday moments. Meursault might seem rude when annoyed by a grieving woman or not caring at all about things that would bother everyone else. But, I don’t see him that way. Camus has just taken an extreme approach to considering good and bad. He has taken on this responsibility as the indifferent response to all circumstances that life can bring (I have already read the book, I am rereading as the blog responses go). We are just so used to having so much emotion and meaning hanging on the end of every word and every action. Meursault sees it how it is, states facts, and doesn’t waver. He is not emotionless, he is just indifferent to all of his emotions, which is brilliant and not at all a bad thing. He is not miserable, he is just living. Going through the motions. Although it may seem sad and boring for him to live that kind of life, it could be a lot less stressful and emotional than the lives we all leave. I wouldn’t want to live like Meursault does, nor do I think anyone else in this class does, but it is an interesting thought.
ReplyDeleteI cannnot stand Meursault. He just seems so inhuman, the way he just talks like "After the funeral, though, the case will be closed, and
ReplyDeleteeverything will have a more official feel to it." It's like he has no connection, no feeling towards anyone. He only knows how others may react, he is aware of their feelings and how feelings are. But he just doesn't care. If I were to describe him in his existentialism, it would probably be in despair:"As for despair, the term has a very simple meaning. It means that we shall confine ourselves to reckoning only with what depends upon our will, or on the ensemble of probabilities which make our action possible....No God, no scheme, can adapt the world and its possibilities to my will." I mean, just total disconnect. I can't stand it. I live with emotion and everything feeling, and I like living like that. Maybe Meursault once did and he no longer feels that way. But it's just too sociopathic to me, the way everything seems a bit more measured out on someone's behalf. If he really has just given up, I just find it so sad. How can someone just give up on all meaning and feeling? How can one handle seeing things and not at least feeling?
I like this writing style, the atmosphere of this world is oddly comforting to me. I feel that the descriptions of the world and the life around it are very cut and dry. We don’t need to be told that he is upset with his mother’s death he just is and we feel this consciousness of what he sees and observes in the world around him. The imagery of nature and sounds around him illuminate an ethereal atmosphere. I especially get a vivid picture when they begin the march to the church, the main character is very observant noticing the little things that most people ignore, the heat and the bright colorful sky, the movement of the others. And when he is sitting on his balcony people watching and just observing the town the atmosphere is very relaxed, he is just observing life as it happens. As his mother just died he is in mourning and I think we expect people to be more emotional to the fact, but to some people, death affects them differently. To the main character, he understands that death is inevitable and that I think it was expected since his other was so old, so old he didn’t even know her true age, just an approximation. When comparing The Stranger to the idea of existentialism, one key thing I notice is that the main character is very much just observing life as it happens which plays into the ideas of existence versus essence. In the cast of ‘The Stranger,’ I do feel that it is focused on the idea of essence and the power of others around you.
ReplyDelete“The Stranger” by Albert Camus is unlike anything I have read. In the books I have read in the past, there is either always dialogue that dictates the plot or some type of narrator. But in “The Stranger”, I did not find these two elements. Instead, what moved the plot was the thoughts of Meursault. For example, from the start of the book, we get a glimpse of what is going inside his head, when Meursault says “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” (“The Stranger” by Albert Camus page 4). He does not say these thoughts out loud to anyone. Meursault just thinks about them. But when sharing such thoughts, the reader experiences two aspects that would likely not be there with dialogue or through a traditional narrator. For one, the reader learns more about the surroundings. Within these two sentences, the reader is able to understand what is around Meursault in great depth. Secondly, by having the ability to hear his thoughts, the reader learns the thoughts of Meursault that he would not share with others. This gives the reader a more comprehensive understanding of who Meursault is as a person.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first three chapters, I am really liking “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, and I am interested to see where Camus will take the book next.
I like "The Stranger" by Albert Camus so far because it has interested me in not only finding out the plot of the novel, but mostly discovering who Meursault, the main character, really is. To be quite honest, I don’t exactly know how I feel about him. At first, I liked him and I especially like the way Camus gave the reader insight to his mind and his thoughts. The first person point of view gave me a better understanding of what kind of person he really is rather than hearing “The Stranger” from second person and only giving dialogue with no inner thoughts. But, back to what I was thinking - I liked him at first, he seemed normal and I thought it was nice that he felt bad for leaving work and worried about how his boss would react to him asking if he could take a couple days off because his Maman died. It seemed he worried as to what other people thought and cared about, which I can relate to. However, as the book progressed, I realized he seems ignorant in a way. He doesn’t seem upset about his mother’s death, even though everyone has a different way of grieving, he doesn’t seem to feel any grief, especially to the reader because we know what he’s thinking. Just the day after her death, he was swimming with an old friend from work worrying more about what she was thinking than how he, himself, was feeling about everything. This may be normal as a stage of denial, but reading the second and third chapter didn’t exactly change my mind either. He didn’t know how old his mother was when it came to his mind, which shocked me a little, and didn’t seem very affected by anything anyone asked or said about the death. This entire situation reminds me of existentialism because Maman’s death for Meursault didn’t seem to have any significance on his life, as he even said in the book. He is proving this theory of existentialism by acting free and determining his own development through his thoughts, actions, and with the people around him. Although Meursault has confused me a little bit so far, I think I’ll have to keep reading to get used to his personality as well as the way he interacts with others. I like “The Stranger” and am very intrigued to find where and how Meursault finds himself.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that stands out to me the most is the way Meursault describes takes the reader through his life. He comments mainly on what he notices, whether it be what he sees or feels physically, and while it is implied that he reacts emotionally, he never says how he feels. He lives without acknowledging his feelings which causes him to be so awkward and depressed. Ironically, nothing is mentioned that implies Meursault has God or religion or anything to believe in other than his material world, which almost comes off as an example as to why we need religion and something greater to believe in, at least for now. It also shows Meursault as a pessimist, as all he can really notice is all the bad things like the way his boss was annoyed that he had to leave work and how his kiss with Marie was not very good. This originally led me to believe that he suffered from some sort of mental illness, but when he went on to describe the abusive lives of his two neighbors, it brought up the possibility that maybe he is surrounded by so much chaos that he cannot make sense of the world in any fashion.
ReplyDeleteNoticing little details is connected to existentialism in that we can only make sense of what we know, so why not observe everything we can. But, not being able to step back and see the bigger picture is something that many believe, including myself, to distract us from what is ultimately important to us and society. From another perspective, only allowing ourselves to pick and prod every little detail leads us to fundamentalism. One can look at the Bible and pick out every time it says homosexuality is wrong, but stepping back, one can look at the book as a creed for love and moral goodness, not worrying about every single word and phrase that was said in a world with yet the invention of chess.
The novel, “The Stranger” starts off with the primary character,Meursault, receiving a telegram telling him that his mother has just died. He seemed very unaffected by this sudden news and doesn’t mourn like any normal person does. Reading those three chapters I wouldn’t say he is inhumane. I mean yes obviously it is strange that he doesn’t feel any heartbreaking emotions over his dead mother, but as I continued to read it I started to think if “what if he is just denying those emotions?” Many people who have gone through a traumatic experience or death of a loved one deny their feeling sometimes just to make it easier on themselves. I don’t know I could definitely see it both ways because some of the things he says and does come off a bit ruthless. Like when he is sitting next to his mother’s coffin he is smoking which is most definitely a disrespectful thing to do.
ReplyDeleteMeursault displays little to no emotion to the world around him, being responsive only to the event that somehow annoy him. The main character repeatedly acts in opposition as to what is expected of him. When his mother dies he appears to show little to no emotion regarding her departure, being rather frustrated by the logistics of attending her funeral, and the days of work he would have missed. The main character is nonchalant about his mother’s vigil, so much so that the only event evoking a reaction in him was one of his mother’s friends crying, which he thought to be annoying. He imprinted his own feelings of lack of empathy into the friends of his deceased mother that came to the vigil “I even had the impression that the dead woman lying in front of them didn't mean anything to them. But I think now that that was a false impression.” perhaps as a way to make up for his own lack of feeling, or more likely, because Meusault himself is unable to experience such deep emotions for his mother, and thus thinks that those around him are equally unaware of their emotions. Her death seemed to cause no effect in how he was feeling in comparison to before.
ReplyDeleteHis lack of emotions is not only limited to his mother’s death, Maeusault’s calmness is present throughout the entirety of his life, ranging from the dismissive way in which he faces his neighbors abuse towards his dog, to the violent manner in which Raymond plans on treating his mistress, who he claims to love. These dismissive behaviour raises the questions of the ambiguity of Meursault, had he been happy about his mother’s death he could be deemed to be evil, equivalently, had he been sad, he could be taken to e a good person, but his total lack of reaction indicates neither, and at the same time both, making him and his motives hard to comprehend.
Thus far in the novel, it seems very sad. For Meursault, there doesn’t seem to be much that sparks emotion. One thing that stood out to me was how old Salamano abuses his dog so frequently. As an animal lover, this was really sad for me to read and I wanted something to be done about it. Someone could take the dog off his hands or he could even take it to a shelter. Even putting down the dog would be better than him having to live while being tortured. Meursault seemed to know that this was bad, yet was not feeling the extent of it. He knew what he should be feeling, and was feeling something when he asked old Salamano what the dog had done, but he was not empathetic about it. It was not hurting him to see that so much that he would do anything other than ask a question. Meursault appears to almost be living in his own world inside his head. While he interacts with others he conforms to society’s expectations of him, yet does his own thing. He allows himself a free mind, and does not fret over his lack of feeling. It is sad to read about someone who has been so mentally and emotionally drained that they don’t even notice anymore.
ReplyDeleteAt first, Meursault’s indifferent way of life seems really sad. He lacks any emotion or reaction to big life changes like the death of a parent. Then, thinking deeper, this numbness to life seems kind of appealing. To have no expectations would shield you from disappointment or sadness. But that comes at a cost of feeling anything good. To feel the good, you also need to feel the bad. I connect to this which allows me to feel sympathetic towards Meursault. Often, I find myself numb to things that I worry are important in others eyes. Unlike Meursault, I have understood that this is a coping mechanism connected to larger problems. I find that seeking meaning in life helps me avoid sinking into that hole which is contrary to Meursault’s entire philosophy of life. His very matter-of-fact approach to life defies all societal expectations. Though, there are glimpses that suggest that Meursault has some connection to society. For example, he worries about the reaction of his boss when he needs to ask for days of work to attend Maman’s funeral. His disconnect to society in other aspects is not necessarily bad. He embodies existentialism in that he is a free being that does not follow the guidelines that society provides. He does not react in despair and deep sadness at the information of his mother’s passing. That is perceived as immoral and disturbing in society’s expectations This makes me think of other things in life that we do just because we think we are supposed to. For example, my family is not very close with our extended family. For a long time, my parents felt very guilty about that and tried to force relationships. That guilt stemmed from a societal expectation that blood relation expects unconditional love. When in reality, there were larger blockades that prevented these relationships. Meursault may appear sad and his way of life wrong by societal norms, but he holds the key to examining life in different ways.
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