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Sigmund freud biography essay
Brief biography of sigmund freud
Brief biography of sigmund freud
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While reading The Stranger I noticed that traits that Albert Camus character depicts in the book are closely related to the theories of Sigmund Freud on moral human behavior. Albert Camus portrays his character of Meursault as a numb, emotionless person that seems to mindlessly play out his role in society, acting in a manner that he sees as the way he’s supposed to act, always living in the moment with his instincts driving him, and if the right circumstance presents itself the primal deep seeded animal will come out. I believe that most of the character’s traits fall under Freud’s notion of the Id and Ego mental apparatus, and don’t believe that his idea of the super-ego is represented in this book.
In the beginning of The Stranger Meursault first showed himself as a numb, emotionless person, who goes through the motions of life simply driven by his instincts when he attended his mother’s funeral. When at the funeral he showed no emotion whatsoever, here his mother lies dead and he should be grieving, yet all he really notices is how hot the room was they were holding the funeral in. He didn’t even wish to see her body before she was buried to say his goodbyes. This shows me that he has no moral bind to anyone or anything, and the only feelings he has is those given to him from primal instinct, of which are just needed for survival like being hungry, tired, hot, and so on. Freud would say that’s depicts how all humans are. According to James Strachey, Freud believes that the way we as humans conduct ourselves throughout our lives is directly related to the Id, which is everything that is inherited from our ancestors and is fixed into us at berth, and it’s the force caused by the need of our Id that is our instincts (14...
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In “The Stranger”, the protagonist, Monsieur Meursault, is characterized as cold, uncaring, and emotionally detached. Throughout the novel, Meursault expresses no emotions toward the death of his very own mother, the proposed marriage between the woman, Marie Cardona, who became his lover, and to the actual murder of a man he didn’t know. While the jury at his trial sees him guilty because his uncommon and disassociated demeanor shows that he willfully intended to murder the Arab on the beach, a variety of psychologists would instead diagnose Meursault with Major Depressive Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Asperger’s Syndrome in order to characterize his indifferent thought patterns. If Meursault is suffering from Major Depressive Disorder, he is unable to function as a normal person would which ultimately leads the jury to believe that he is actually a cold blooded killer. Antisocial Personality disorder, like Major Depressive Disorder, causes Meursault to communicate a disregard for the lives of others and lacks remorse when he harms and even kills the Arab.
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In Albert Camus ' The Stranger, Meursault, a detached young man, floats through his life without any emotion. Meursault 's first name is never given in the novel. It does not matter; Meursault 's name, age, his physical characteristics - none of these things matter. Meursault lives in a hollow, empty world, with no set beginning and no defined end. Nothing for him exists in this life and he feels nothing. Meursault demonstrates traits of a sociopath; having a lack of conscience and containing a personality disorder manifesting itself in his extreme antisocial attitudes. By the same token, M.E Thomas, the author of Confessions of a Sociopath, is also a sociopath. The psychological book, Confessions of a Sociopath, contains quotes from anonymous
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
Nehemiah, Yitzhak. "Introduction to Sigmund Freud's Id, Ego, and Super-ego Concepts." Helium. Helium, Inc, 2003. Web. 16 Sep 2010.
Freud, S., & Strachey, J. (19621960). The Ego and the Super-ego. The ego and the id (pp. 19-20). New York: Norton.
Contemporary Psychology, 36, 575-577. Freud, S. (1961). The Species of the World. The Complete Works of Sigmund Freud. London: The Hogarths.
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Freud, S. (1957b). Some character types met with in psychoanalytic work. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 14, pp. 309–333). London: Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1916)
Albert Camus used The Stranger to develop the idea of a singular, solely physical life. This development was established through the protagonist, Meursault, and his thoughts. To some, Meursault’s philosophy may seem to some extent, a madness. Needless to say, Meursault is a sociopath, incapable of understanding the how and why of what he does. His mental defect contributed to the story’s plot as a whole and also encouraged the reader to reevaluate or reinforce their personal beliefs.
“But from the moment he knows, his tragedy begins.” Meursault is not unlike Sisyphus. In the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus, we watch this character change from a carefree man who loves being alive and free to a man who is imprisoned for a meaningless murder he commits but who eventually finds happiness in his fate.
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.