The idea of significance is shown within the character Gatsby, and also closely related to the character Meursault in the strangers, Gatsby and Meursault both feel as if they need a sense of belonging to a person or society, however Meursault is not as fortunate as Gatsby. Meursault is seen as different from society, Meursault feels insecure about himself and that he does not belong in any group of people, which makes feel Meursault depressed and that he has no purpose. In the text it says, “ As if that blind rage has washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time , I that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much life that was like myself- like a brother, really- I felt that I am happy and that I was happy again. For …show more content…
Meursault felt isolation from everyone and himself against himself against the world, the feeling that he was not belonging to the world was destroying him. Meursault is indifferent from people in society, his sense of significance to the community was lacking and made him feel betrayed and depressed. However, when he found others that were similar to him, Meursault found kinship in humanity and how there are others like him. The character, Meursault felt isolation within himself and the community which lead him into believing he had no significance to the community, this relates to the characters in Lord Of The Flies, when stranded on the island the boys felt abandoned and helpless which lead them into creating a bond that no one will ever understand. During their time on the island, not all boys created attachments to each other, certain individuals felt closer than others. The relationship Piggy and Ralph made was one of the examples of feeling significant to another. In the text it states, "If
He, however, seemed question his presence because the death of his mom or even from the absence of his father—the fairly dynamic that every child should have (both parents present). In chapter two Meursault found himself alone in his apartment as Marie had left for work earlier that morning. In this section he explains that, “After lunch I was a little bored and I wandered around the apartment” (21). In this quote, Meursault demonstrates just how meaningless is life is. To have nothing more to do with his time than walk around his apartment shows that Meursault is questioning his place in this world. He is a man with virtually only two friends—Raymond and Marie—and a neighbor that he associates with on occasion about his dog. As he wanders the apartment he explains that he lives, “in just one room now” (21), one that he literally put his dining table in so that he could eat in his room. This quote symbolizes his loneliness as a person. Not only is the apartment too big for him, the world is too, and his is basically alone in both. For some reason—maybe a tragedy or trauma that he faced in earlier years—Meursault has closed himself off from the world and does not express love for anyone or anything. In fact, Meursault made a statement about the death of his mother saying that, “at one time or another, all normal people have wished their loved ones were dead" (65). At this point in the story, I think that Meursault may not have had the best family dynamic. He does not speak of anyone else but Maman, and mentions a father that he does not know. So, he may not feel like he belongs or does not know how to. He also explains that, “it was one of Maman’s ideas, and she often repeated it, that after a while you could get used to anything” (77). This quote could explain the fact that Meursault is closed off—he has gotten so used to not having anyone around that truly cares for him (his
Meursault is a fairly average individual who is distinctive more in his apathy and passive pessimism than in anything else. He rarely talks because he generally has nothing to say, and he does what is requested of him because he feels that resisting commands is more of a bother than it is worth. Meursault never did anything notable or distinctive in his life: a fact which makes the events of the book all the more intriguing.
The lack of civilization and human goodness leads the young children to evils and a bad environment that they have never faced. Simon, a “skinny, vivid boy, (pg. 24)” is a member of Jack’s choir but soon leaves his tribe and joins Ralph because he is not able to deal with the cruel leadership. As all the other characters fail to maintain responsibilities and their commitments to the rules of the island, Simon is the only person who dedicates to them as things begin to fall apart. He is a character with a respectful, spiritual personality and has a human goodness with nature as he deals with the littluns and the older boys. For example, he helps the littluns pick fruit to eat, recovers Piggy’s glasses when they fly off his face, gives Piggy his own share of meat when he was refused a piece and gives ...
Meursault is a man who chooses to observe people, rather than interact with them. He often people watches from his balcony in the evening, than actually going down to communicate with them. While he was in exile, he was forced to converse and discuss his feeling to strangers like his lawyer, and the chaplain of the prison. Due to being a severe introvert, the idea of discussing his problem to another person was foreign for him. The experience of opening himself up to others for help was alienating, and contradicted his personality of being a stranger to everyone. Camus writes, “He didn’t understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me. I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else.” (Camus, 66) Meursault wanted to help his lawyer understand his point of view, but his nature is so closed off that he’s unable to put his feeling into words for others
The main character Meursault is literally a stranger, a stranger to the reader. He is a stranger in many ways. Meursault does not act as we would say a normal person would. Being as he did not shed a tear at his own mothers funeral. Meursault also shot and killed an Arab at the beach and showed no regrets. Throughout the novel Meursault kept himself isolated himself mentally,
Gatsby is a character that starts off very in the dark and we don’t know much about him, but as the book develops and the other characters develop Gatsby’s true character is revealed. When we first look at Gatsby we see him as a lonely introvert who uses his money as a cover up. We see his loneliness in this quote by Nick saying “… fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadows of my neighbour’s mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets …- he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling … I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light … at the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 25). This quote really shows our first look at the true Gatsby as a man who is blinded by his love for Daisy and as he develops with the theme we really get the same look as the man from the short story Araby. One of the themes in this book is Class, the old money, and new money, Gatsby is new money and as the book develops we really start to see how he will never be like the characters who are old money no matter how much he develops as a character. Gatsby becomes a more predominant character with all the parties he throws and reconnecting with his love Daisy we see how Gatsby covers himself and his whole life is really a façade. We know that his life is a façade when he figure out that Gatsby changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby because he wanted to get away from his old life. This ties in with the theme of the class, the American dream and also his character development because we are able to follow him as he starts to unravel his life to Nick. Gatsby’s character is blinded and he stays blinded through the whole book and as the book develops Gatsby stays blinded which gets him killed in the end. We see how he is blind through the quote saying “Gatsby bought that house so
The first point proving how Piggy represents the rational adult figure on the island is how his approach on surviving is that of what an adult would do. At the beginning of the book, Piggy maturely takes on the job of writing down the names of all the children. He also “moved among the crowd, asking names and frowning to remember them” (14). Through the eyes o...
...immediately gives an impression of a lack of emotion towards the demise of his mother. This lack of emotion highlights the existentialist ideal that we all die, so it doesn't matter what life we have while we are alive. We simply exist, as did Meursault. It becomes apparent, as the novella unfolds, that Meursault has acquired an animal like indifference towards society. His interactions with his neighbour Raymond are an example of his indifferences. It never dawns upon Meursault that society does not condone his interactions with the pimp, avoided by his community. Meursault simply acts to fill his time. Being a single man, he has a lot of time to fill, and finds the weekends passing particularly slowly.
Meursault lives an average life, but one important factor in the story is that he does not seem to express his emotions. Some of his character traits could label Meursault as an existentialist because he does not care about anything except physical things. When his mother died, many other people were crying, but all Meursault worried about was the heat. He is very honest as well, and he does not try to cover up the fact that he did not cry during his mother’s funeral.... ...
Meursault, an unemotional, a moral, sensory-orientated character at the beginning of the book, turns into an emotional, happy man who understands the "meaninglessness" and absurdity of life by the end of the book. Meursault realizes that the universe is indifferent to man's life and this realization makes him happy. He realizes that there is no God and that the old codes of religious authoritarianism are not enough to suffice man's spiritual needs. One has to create one's won meaning in an absurd, meaningless world.
...ists, Meursault has his own values which are incompatible to the values of the world. Values that would be very significant for most people, such as love for someone or suffering at a parent’s death, do not matter to him, at least not on a sentimental level. He simply does not care that his mother is dead, or that Marie loves him:
I said that people never change their lives and that one life was as good as another” (Sartre, 21). When given the opportunity of a lifetime Meursault swiftly declines, explaining he has no ambition in life. He is so isolated from the world around him he makes rash decisions, and neglects to attempt move up in society. The personal problems with the higher class are partially due to existential alienation which is caused by the common problems of their class. The common lower and middle class also experience problems with themselves but the difference is in the cause.
Both characters wanted to shy away from society. They disassociated themselves from everybody and interacted with others only when they needed something. Meursault was a peculiar man who kept to himself. He never sought people, they always came to him. They were there for his pleasure and amusement, only if it was suitable to him. How Meursault felt, and the way he treated people, is clearly illustrated in his relationship with Marie, who was his sexual object. When he did not have any more need for her services, "?There was nothing left to keep us together or to remind us of each other. Anyway, from that point on, Marie's memory would have meant nothing to me. I wasn't interested in her any more if she was dead. I found it quite normal? (pg. 110). Sometimes, being around people annoyed him, because he could not understand their way of thinking. He showed apathy towards his surroundings and the world around him. He wandered through life with no emotions.
It is often said that being different and not conforming to all of society's expectations can be beneficial. However, Meursault is seen as an outsider by defying the French and Christian values that he is supposed to embody. How does his non conformist attitude and irrational thoughts affect his ability to interact with other characters? Would his perspective on the meaningless of life be changed if he had decided to marry Marie? If so, how?
Camus writes in a simple, direct, and uncomplicated style. The choice of language serves well to convey the thoughts of Meursault. The story is told in the first person and traces the development of the narrator's attitude toward himself and the rest of the world. Through this sort of simple grammatical structure, Camus gives the reader the opportunity to become part of the awareness of Meursault. In Part I, what Meursault decides to mention are just concrete facts. He describes objects and people, but makes no attempt to analyze them. Since he makes no effort to analyze things around him, that job is given to the reader. The reader therefore creates his own meaning for Meursault's actions. When he is forced to confront his past and reflect on his experiences, he attempts to understand the reasons for existence. At first, Meursault makes references to his inability to understand what's happening around him, but often what he tells us seems the result of his own indifference or detachment. He is frequently inattentive to his surroundings. His mind wanders in the middle of conversations. Rarely does he make judgments or express opinions about what he or other characters are doing. Meursault walks through life largely unaware of the effect of his actions on others.