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Critical analysis of the judgement by franz kafka
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Kafka essay
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The Priest(Kafka vs Camus)
The Outsider, written by Albert Camus, and The Trial, written by Franz Kafka, are two books that have been critically acclaimed since the time that they were published. There are critics that claim that The Outsider is a dull book, and is not even a read-worthy book. Other people claim that it shows us how society actually acts upon people who do not want to be like the rest of society. The Trial falls under the same kind of criticism; but both books, although written by different writers in a different époque, fall under the same kind of genre: Imprisoned Lives. In both The Outsider and The Trial there are many people who influence the protagonists in a positive and in a negative way, but none of those characters are as important as the priest. The priest, being of the same profession in both books and trying to accomplish the same kind of tasks, have a totally different effect on the two protagonists. In The Outsider the priest changes the whole attitude that Meursault has to life, whereas in The Trial the priest tells Joseph K. how his life actually is.
"Why do you refuse to see me?" This question was asked by the priest and was meant for Meursault. Normally, if a person is convicted to death, he will see a priest before the sentence is executed. Meursault did not do that. He profusely refused to see the priest and why should he? He "did not believe in god." Meursault did not care, as he did not care if his mother died, or if someone proposed marriage to him. This of course went totally against the rules and ethics of society, which cannot permit such kind of behaviour. But why does Camús characterize Meursault like that? Why did he create such kind of an outsider to society? Camús created such an outsider because he wanted to show people how life actually is. Society does not accept people who do not bend the truth a little and lie. Society wants to make life as easy as can be, making up lies so that everything can run smoothly because truth can hurt sometimes, and Camús knows that. Camús implements the priest not just as another character in the novel, but as a person who wants to tell Meursault how society expects him to behave. Meursault did not want to know how he has to act to make the society happy, as a matter of fact, the priest was "beginning to annoy" him.
In the book he is perceived as a mystery, or someone unfamiliar to those who do not know him, but those close to him adore and respect him, because they took the time to get to know him. Those who are strangers to Meursault have a difficult time understanding him so either try to force their morals or customs on him, such as his lawyer, or they just try to find a label that best fits him, like they did during the court case, or how his lawyer labels him an antichrist. Those within that particular society do this because they fear what they do not know, so they feel they must somehow familiarize themselves with him in order to be content with themselves, but because he brings this frustrating situation to those in the society, they tend to label him negatively. On the contrary those who actually get to know meursault, see the pureness and honesty in him, and they respect that he refuses to be other than himself, and speak nothing but his truth. For example, when Marie asks Meursault if he loves her, he tells her that it did not mean anything but he did not think so. Despite his telling her this she still continues to surround herself with him. This is a display of the light that Meursault provides to the people around him. The only issue with Meursault's character is that he cannot successfully reach everyone in his society with his light, because they are too busy trying to
Throughout the novel, Camus presents the audience with one reason after another why Meursault should not, and in many cases cannot, be judged by "normal" standards. He also seems to say that no matter how mystifying or straightforward a person might be, there is no excuse for judging another human being. The question he finally presents to the reader is this: do we take his advice and abstain from judgment, or do we continue to judge others, often wrongly?
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.
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
...iod when Camus writes this novel. Camus obviously knew the time period and explored different ideas and philosophies about pointless of life in people which comes out in his character, Meursault. In prison Meursualt also realizes that he’s trapped, and there’s no way out as he remembers what the nurse once said to him. His growth in self reflection results in unimportance of emotional values of life and help focus what’s directly ahead of him. This significant change results him in understanding himself and his voice, and figuring out his capabilities and philosophies. Time spent in prison helps Meursault finally understands himself, the meaninglessness of life, and the unimportance of time which shows the shift in the character after sent to prison.
Firstly, Camus juxtaposes the stories of Meursault and the Czechoslovakian man to create a presage of the denouement of Meursault. The Czechoslovakian man undergoes major life changes, and this ultimately leads to his demise. He goes to make a better life for himself, and he returns to his village with riches in wealth and in family. Unrecognizable to them, the Czechoslovakian man returns to his mother and sister, and he decides to play a simple joke “of taking a room” and “he had shown off his money” (80). This trick ends when “during the night his mother and sister had beaten him to death…in order to rob him” (80). The Czechoslovakian man’s newfound courage results in obstinacy. Contrastingly, until Meursault commits his crime of murder, his life appears nearly painfully simple. ...
Meursault as Christ in The Stranger (The Outsider) In one of his later interviews, Camus made the somewhat irritated comment that Meursault is the “only Christ we deserve.” While this seems to be a pithy, witty comment, we need to figure out how Meursault is like Christ. Christ taught his disciples and had them go and teach others, yet Meursault has no disciples and chooses to say little. Meursault murders while Christ brings a man back from the dead.
Albert Camus has his own toolbox of literary devices when it comes to accentuating the theme of The Stranger, one of them being his unique sense and use of secondary characters. Whether major or minor, every character in the book serves a purpose, and corroborates the theme in some form of fashion. Camus describes his secondary characters as foiling Meursault in one aspect or another, and thus, shining light on Meursault’s characteristics. Whether through close connections like familial relationships (Maman) and friendships (Salamano, Raymond, and Marie), or through bonds as distant as people he briefly converses with (Chaplain), or even so much as complete strangers (Perez and unidentified lady at the restaurant), characters that Meursault encounters foil and therefore, emphasize many aspects of his nature. Furthermore, because Meursault aptly embodies Camus’s ideology of Absurdism, emphasizing Meursault through secondary characteristics simply highlights Camus’ doctrine and theme of the book.
...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.
The book that I read was called The Stranger written by Albert Camus. The book is globally famous and was translated to many different languages and texts. The original was called L’Étranger which was written in French in 1942. The plot of this story involved a man in his late twenties or early thirties. The man's name is Meursault. In the beginning of the novel, Meursault is notified that his mother had passed away in the nursing home that he occupied her to. Meursault’s income could not afford to take care of his mother any longer; therefore, he put her in a nursing home. Meursault took off of work and went to the nursing home where she passed away to pay his respects and attend the funeral ceremonies. When he arrived at the nursing home, the funeral director brought Meursault to his mother’s coffin. The director asked if he wanted to see her and he quickly replied to keep the coffin shut. Meursault sat in the room and nearly went through an entire pack of cigarettes while blankly watching his mother’s coffin. At the actual funeral, Meursault shows no signs of normal emotion which would normally be induced at such an event.
... mother, he does not react in a way most people do. He does not cry but instead accepts what has happened and realizes that he can not change it. He goes back and does physical things he would do on a normal day. When the caretaker offers him coffee, he accepts it, he smokes a cigarette and has sex with a woman he just met. Meursault also does not lie to escape death. He refuses to conform to society and lie. He would rather be seen as an outsider than do something that he does not believe in. Finally, Meursault, will not believe in G-d or Christianity just because it is the only thing to turn to before he is put to death. When Meursault decides not to cry at his mother’s funeral, he accepts himself as an outsider. When he is considered an outsider, it does not matter if he is guilty or innocent; at the end of the day he guilty just for being different.
The Trial is Kafka’s exploration of the most extreme consequences of denying one’s own guilt and thus one’s own humanity. In some senses, it serves as a warning, or a sort of parable of its own, and in others it is simply an expression of anguish. The story serves to warn against thinking so highly of oneself that we only interpret infractions of the outright law as guilt. If we are to be truly innocent and humble beings, we must recognize our own innate guilt as human and accept it. If we do not, we will constantly be obsessed by our “state of apparent acquittals."
Meursault was always indifferent. Meursault accepted death. Why? Meursault saw the purpose of life meaningless. That is “Absurdity”! Absurdity, how does that word sound? Pretty bad, eh? Absurdity when used like “that’s absurd!” gives the feeling of negative judgment and a sense of finality. The idea of the Absurd seems to attach itself with meaningless, pointless and other such words that express a destination but without the means to get there and vice versa means but no destination. So from there I inferred that Camus does not believe in God nor any high law or universal law that are associated with a divinity, which is a path in life (either the means or the destination). So what is Absurd? The Absurd is living, a quest to find the meaning of anything within a reality with no purpose. Reality has no purpose because there is no high law, a universal law nor a God. Therefore this reality must be randomness. I believe that Camus wants us to see this and begin questioning our existence. So he wants he wants us to see the Absurdity and to cope with the Absurdity.
The most prominent part of this discussion was the talk on religion and the bigger meaning behind Camus's input on religion and philosophy. I found this discussion quiet interesting and enlightening because I thought deeply about several ideas that never occurred to me such as why Meursault rejects religion and how does that reflect what Camus is vocalizing about religion? Meursault rejects religion because he doesn't want to use it as a way to hide from his behavior. He just accepts his fate and doesn't question it. Although his religious beliefs are not directly stated, I feel as though he's character is leaning toward the absurdist direction. What I thought Camus was trying to say about religion is that if you find religion fills a void
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.