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Essays on death in literature
Essay on the stranger
Essays on the stranger
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Everyone will die. Meursault’s awareness of death contributes to his nonchalant attitude toward every death he witness or must endure in The Stranger. Death fails to upset Meursault. In The Stranger, Albert Camus emphasizes mortality in order to expose the ignorance humanity has towards the inevitable or unknown end.
Camus’s emphasis on time accentuates Meursault’s indifference. This indifference reveals that death occurs inevitably, regardless of time. The first thought that the audience reads, “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,” immediately exhibits that when Maman died does not affect the fact that she did die (Camus 3). This assertion foreshadows Meursault’s acceptance of his own death sentence, merely because everyone dies at some point. In another instance, Meursault values his time. He organizes his mother’s funeral arrangements in a schedule that minimizes his time absent from work. He figures, “That way I can be there for the vigil and come back tomorrow night. I asked my boss for two days off and there was no way he was going to refuse me with an excuse like that,” (Camus 3). Meursault focuses on the time that he takes off from his job instead of the recent death of his mother, exemplifying that one cannot gain back lost time, but can only spend the present wisely. Camus reinforces this allegation when Meursault recalls, “But according to him, the dog’s real sickness was old age, and there’s no cure for old age” (Camus 45). Again, lost time is never regained, no matter what one does to compensate. During this conversation between Meursault and Salamano, Meursault r...
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...greet me with cries of hate” (Camus 123). Meursault accepts his sentence with only the wish of a crowd at his execution, demonstrating that he would not relive his life to change it, that his life meets his idea of life, and that his life contains everything else that he desires. This hope mirrors that despite anything Meursault wishes, he will die and his life in the past cannot be changed. Meursault “escaped” the terror of death with his epiphany that no escape exists.
No alternative exists for death, nor does the time in which death occurs revoke that the death actually occurred. Death shocks mankind beyond reason. Man knows he will die eventually, but because the time that death wants man does not match when man wants death, death with surprise all.
Works Cited
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage International,
1988.
The schools provided environments for students that made them feel alone and helpless, by completely taking away the students culture, traditions, and native language. The students went into the school with little to no English skills and yet, were expected to speak English and were beaten for speaking anything but English. An article written by BBC stated, “The schools, which operated from the late 19th Century, were designed to assimilate the children into European-Canadian society by removing their language, religion, and culture. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native language.” (BBC News). This was an extremely unhealthy environment for the students because they were always scared and couldn’t really express themselves having no prior knowledge of the English language. In an interview with artist and former Residential School student Freddy Taylor stated, “When he couldn’t recite the Lord’s Prayer, he was beaten; when he couldn’t spell an English word, he was beaten; when he spoke in his native tongue of Ojibwa, he was beaten” (Eagle). These children were stripped of their identity and were beaten when they tried to recover what was left of it. Even when the children tried to adapt to the European-Canadian culture, if they would make a mistake when learning the English language, they
In the 1950s and 1960s, the government began abolishing the compulsory residential school education among Aboriginal people. The government believed that Aboriginal children could receive a better education if they were integrated into the public school system (Hanson). However, residential schools were later deemed inappropriate because not only were the children taken away from their culture, their families and their people, but the majority of students were abus...
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.
During the 19th century the Canadian government established residential schools under the claim that Aboriginal culture is hindering them from becoming functional members of society. It was stated that the children will have a better chance of success once they have been Christianised and assimilated into the mainstream Canadian culture. (CBC, 2014) In the film Education as We See It, some Aboriginals were interviewed about their own experiences in residential schools. When examining the general topic of the film, conflict theory is the best paradigm that will assist in understanding the social implications of residential schools. The film can also be illustrated by many sociological concepts such as agents of socialization, class inequality, and language as a cultural realm.
In The Stranger, Albert Camus describes the life of the protagonist, Meursault, through life changing events. The passage chosen illustrates Meursault’s view during his time in prison for killing the Arab. In prison, one can see the shifts in Meursault’s character and the acceptance of this new lifestyle. Camus manipulates diction to indicate the changes in Meursault caused by time thinking of memories in prison and realization of his pointless life. Because Camus published this book at the beginning of World War II, people at this time period also questions life and death similar to how Meursault does.
Residential schools were first established in the 1880's to solve Canada's “Indian Problem”. Settlers in Canada thought of the First Nations people as savages, and the goal of the residential schools was to civilize them and integrate them in to white Canadian society. The first operators of residential schools thought of their forced integration as a benefit to native peoples. One of the overseers of residential schools wrote to the Sisters in charge of St. Joseph's Mission at Williams Lake that “It now remains for ...
“To kill the Indian in the child,” was the prime objective of residential schools (“About the Commission”). With the establishment of residential schools in the 1880s, attending these educational facilities used to be an option (Miller, “Residential Schools”). However, it was not until the government’s time consuming attempts of annihilating the Aboriginal Canadians that, in 1920, residential schools became the new solution to the “Indian problem.” (PMC) From 1920 to 1996, around one hundred fifty thousand Aboriginal Canadians were forcibly removed from their homes to attend residential schools (CBC News). Aboriginal children were isolated from their parents and their communities to rid them of any cultural influence (Miller, “Residential Schools”). Parents who refrained from sending their children to these educational facilities faced the consequence of being arrested (Miller, “Residential Schools”). Upon the Aboriginal children’s arrival into the residential schools, they were stripped of their culture in the government’s attempt to assimilate these children into the predominately white religion, Christianity, and to transition them into the moderating society (Miller, “Residential Schools”). With the closing of residential schools in 1996, these educational facilities left Aboriginal Canadians with lasting negative intergenerational impacts (Miller, “Residential Schools”). The Aboriginals lost their identity, are affected economically, and suffer socially from their experiences.
The Canadian and American governments designed a residential school system to assimilate Indigenous children into Western society by stripping them of their language, cultural practices as well as their traditions. By breaking these children’s ties to their families and communities, as well as forcing them to assimilate into Western society; residential schools were a root cause of many social problems, which even persist within Aboriginal communities today.
Albert Camus’ The Stranger offers one man’s incite into the justice of society. Monsieur Meursault, the main protagonist in the novel, believes that morals and the concept of right and wrong possess no importance. This idea influences him to act distinctively in situations that require emotion and just decision, including feeling sadness over his mother’s death, the abuse of a woman, and his killing of an innocent man. In these situations Meursault apathetically devoids himself of all emotion and abstains from dealing with the reality in front of him. When confronted by the court over his murder, he reiterates his habitual motto on life that nothing matters anyways, so why care? His uncaring response inflames the people working within the
The end result, rather horrifying as these children were dumped back to their tribes, when they became too old, without a clue of how to survive. Furthermore, children whom returned were discouraged from completing further education due to the fact that they were barely educated in these schools. Most children returned home without semblance of how to raise their own children or show affection. The generational difference also further segregated these children from their parents because most of them failed to understand the culture that they were pruned to deny from childhood. According to the Manitoba Justice institute, the creation of Residential Schools was what created the high rise of abuse and violence among Aboriginal families because the time spent in these facilities isolated the children from nurturing families and taught them abuse. The trauma felt by the children of Residential schools would transcend their behavior to the next generation leading to a vicious
...al departments actually reaches first nations” (Assembly of First Nations 2007:1), with 11 percent of funding being spent on INAC departmental overhead (Assembly of First Nations 2007). In order to improve the conditions of Aboriginal life, and subsequently improve the parenting abilities of Aboriginals, we must first address and repair the underlying psychological, emotional, and social problems within Native communities. This process of repair should be facilitated through the development of a long-term strategy, designed to increase government spending towards beneficial social and medical programs, with a primary focus on addressing the traumas inflicted by the residential school system. In the words of Lloyd Robertson (2006: 21), “Concomitantly, community development work needs to be done to mitigate the disastrous effects of the residential school experiment.”
...everyone is surrounded by death. Camus explains that life isn’t about what is not envisioned, but it’s about what is evident. Meursault’s feeling of apathy is directly related to his conviction that life lacks necessary order and meaning, “As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope…I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world,” as he awaits his impending death, he finally recognizes that life is the most complex entity in the universe and one only has one life to live, so live it wisely (122). In the end, Meursault changed spiritually because he didn’t concentrate as much on the physical world because while he was in prison, he thought about life’s gifts and (although still atheist) realizes that faith in yourself and life is very important. There is also some irony here; he finally realizes the meaning of live just as he awaits his death.
Albert Camus states that “In our society any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s funeral is liable to be condemned to death” (Camus, 18). In the book The Outsider, Meursault defies local convention by not showing the sadness that is expected of him at his mother’s funeral. Ultimately, his life is dependant on this very decision of whether or not to show emotion. In the society that Meursault lives in, one is expected to conform to their standards and social norms. Anyone who deviates from these norms is considered an outcast and destined to die at the hands of society. Meursault was expected to show outwards signs of grief whether it was real or not. Even if the grief is artificial, most people will play to the audience and show signs of grief to minimize the risk of losing their life. Meursault’s was conflicted between following society’s rules and being true to himself. The nurse at his mother's funeral warned him that “if yougo slowly, you risk getting sun-stroke. But if you go too fast, you perspire and then in the church you catch a chill. She was right. There was no way out” (Camus, 22). The nurse’s admonition is consistent with his internal struggle. To Meursault, walking too fast is similar to conforming to society and walking too slow means following his own path. There is no middle ground to the situation, no happy median and no suitable compromise. Meursault faces the challenge of whether or not to conform on three main levels; physical, emotional and spiritual. He has the constant battle between following his physical self; his id, and doing what is right. Meursault also has to decide whether or not to be true to his emotions and decide if lying during his trial is a suitable course of action. Finally h...
In Albert Camus’ novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault is a character who has definite values and opinions concerning the society in which he lives. His self-inflicted alienation from society and all its habits and customs is clear throughout the book. The novel itself is an exercise in absurdity that challenges the reader to face the nagging questions concerning the meaning of human existence. Meursault is an existentialist character who views his life in an unemotional and noncommittal manner, which enhances his obvious opinion that in the end life is utterly meaningless.
Albert Camus wrote The Stranger during the Existentialist movement, which explains why the main character in the novel, Meursault, is characterized as detached and emotionless, two of the aspects of existentialism. In Meursault, Camus creates a character he intends his readers to relate to, because he creates characters placed in realistic situations. He wants the reader to form a changing, ambiguous opinion of Meursault. From what Meursault narrates to the reader in the novel, the reader can understand why he attempts to find order and understanding in a confused and mystifying world.