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Recommended: The stranger absurdism
If you could have done everything in a different way, what real difference would that make in the end? This novel shows a young man that gets caught up in a murder. Throughout, “The Stranger”, absurdism, modernism, and decisions helped with the development of this simple, yet profound novel.
The main character of this novel is a man that has become misunderstood till the end. He doesn’t see the little things behind everything. He just goes with whatever is said, not disagreeing, but leaving the decision making to you. Meursault sent his mother away because he couldn’t personally care for her needs. He later learned that everyone frowned down upon him, for that. Meursault doesn’t feel sad that his mother died because they had no relationship. They didn’t talk, he didn’t visit her, and they learned how to live without each other. They both had their own lives. The last line of chapter one is significant because Meursault implies that nothing has changed in his life due to his mother dying. He spent the weekend mourning and come tomorrow, he’ll be at work.
Meurs...
Has there ever existed a person that has not judged someone else over their lifetime? Judging by reality as well as literature it seems that no person like that has ever existed. It appears that it is human nature to want to pronounce others as either purely good or evil. But does everyone fit into the mold of good or evil? In Albert Camus's The Stranger, Meursault is a morally ambiguous character, and this ethical indistinctness plays a major part in the novel as a whole and the theme that Camus is trying to portray.
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 shows very little love or sorrow at the fact of his mother's death. A normal man would feel pain and regret for not being by her side while Meursault does not even care much about the date she passed away. Immediately on the first page in the novel, we confront the situation where Meursault's mother dies, and he does not care about it. "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" (3). Meursault does not bother to call back and find information about his mother. Meursault shows no emotion or care for his mother because he sends her away for someone else to take care of her. During the last years of an elder person's life, they are invited to stay with the family in order to become closer with one another. Meursault could care less as he shows no sign of pain, and goes off to do something else. He resembles a figure where an issue as important as death does come as a priority. "We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw" (Lines 1-4).
“The sun was beginning to bear down on the earth and it was getting hotter by the minute.” (pg 15) A few minutes after the funeral Meursault was getting irritated by sun more and more as time went by. Meursault is very detached when it comes to his feelings he never showed them. For example during his mother funeral Meursault didn’t show no emotion he stated “It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.” (pg 24) He was saying that although his mother had died nothing really would change and that this tragedy wouldn’t change his daily routine at all. That quote was very important because it shows you how distant and indifferent Meursault was. Furthermore the society that he was living in believed that one should mourn over death and because he didn’t mourn that only made him an outsider or a monster. You only have one mother so why would Meursault act so calm and okay when at his mother funeral. Also at the very beginning of the book Meursault didn’t even know the day that his mother had died on he said “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don’t know.” (pg 1) By reading this quote it is understood that he didn’t care how or when his mother died he just accepted that she was gone. This story was told from the perspective of Meursault which was told without any emot...
It is true that Meursault was different from the rest of society. However, he changes throughout the trial and eventually becomes an existentialist hero. This is because he finds meaning in life. It is ironic, though, that he learns to appreciate life after his is effectively over. His apathetic approach to life is made clear from the first page: “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” This foreshadows his approach to everything else in the book. His indifference to Maman’s death contrast’s significantly to Salamano’s distress at losing his dog. Many of the characters in this book also function to highlight his qualities through contrast.
French author and playwright Albert Camus once said, “He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.” In the The Stranger and The Guest this philosophy is expanded on by demonstrating how those who do not conform to society are isolated, and portrayed as a threat to society because of their unique beliefs.
... 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.
... social institution. When Meursault leaves the constraints of time he is much happier and has time to think about everything he needs to do. And sense he has time to think about what he needs he then leaves society all together. This is the final social institution that there is a commentary on. Without having to follow what is set upon him by society he can do and think what he wants, and because of that he even understands why Moman did what she did at the end of her life. With all of these social commentaries there are many points in the novel when existentialist ideas are shown and also show how import existentialism is in this novel.
Teachers gather information everyday form student’s through classroom activities to get a picture of where a student’s progress and abilities are. There are many different ways to collect a child’s artifacts such as using a checklist, anecdotal notes, teacher reflections, video and audio recordings, and work samples. Each student has their own folder where all their notes, videos, recordings, and artifacts are kept. As stated in the text (Enz, 2014, p. 207, “They must systematically collect, store, organize, and analyze the samples in order to understand the children’s growth and to plan their next teaching” (Ackerman & Coley, 2012). I learned that an on-demand assessment is more like an annual physical checkup. On demand assessments happen at specific times during the course of the year. One day children will be asked to do something specific such as circle the numbers the teacher says out loud, or having to take a test with a pencil and paper. Some label on -demand assessments as tests. This is because children are asked to perform the same action at the same time and in the same manner during an on-demand assessment. “Standardized tests are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all test takers” (Enz, 2014, p. 208). Some examples of an on-going assessment that could be used in a comprehensive approach to literacy
The Stranger, by Alfred Camus is an existentialist work set in Camus’s native city of Algiers during the 1940s. Divided into two parts, The Stranger forms a poignant argument for the absurdity of human life. Between parts one and two, Camus steers our perspective from that of society to that of Meursault, effectively steering the reader to identify with precisely the mentality they abhorred in part one. In The Stranger, Camus argues that humans irrationally seek to apply meaning based on arbitrary constructs to a universe where none exists. As we are all constituents in this meaningless universe, our notions of justice are rendered absurd and our relationships insignificant. By the end of the novel, Camus argues that we are all like Meursault;
Within the Stranger, Albert Camus brought up many questions and a few answers. He created an outsider to society and showed us how he lived, Meursault.
Care less and you’ll stress less. Albert Camus’ perplexing novel The Stranger, Camus introduces us to a character who seems heartless and indifferent from the society he lives in. Camus shows us that society considers the character, Meursault as an outsider. As Meursault is facing death for the crime he committed, he tries to seek justice by wanting himself dead and seen by many, so that the people can learn from his mistakes and cherish life.
It was 1590 in Austria, still in its Age of Belief, and also still in the Middle Ages.
While it may seem that he only brought up Satan for the sake of comparison, there are some definite connection between his thoughts here and his inclusion of Satan within The Mysterious Stranger. It is possible that Twain had these thoughts in mind as he wrote Satan’s insightful dialogues. This could have been his attempt to give Satan a chance to speak for himself for once. Surely his experiences and abilities would give him a unique perspective worth considering. Twain said it best in the essay: “We may not pay him reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents.” In other words, it was an opportunity for Twain to finally give the devil his due. However, the identity of Twain’s “devil” might be closer to home than expected.
Meursault is distant from set plans, ambitions, desires, love, and emotions in general. He has a difficult time with emotions such as regret and compassion. The reader sees the nature of his personality in the first few lines of the novel: "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." When he hears of the death of his mother through a telegram, he is unattached, and can be considered uncaring.