Camus demonstrates that the world of The Stranger is irrational by excluding from the text any logical explanation for the events of the novel. Meursault’s murder of the Arab is the most obvious example of an event that occurs for no apparent reason. Meursault has no reason to kill the Arab, nor does he construct one. His action is completely random and purposeless. Another occurrence that holds no rational meaning is Thomas Perez’s exhaustion at the funeral. Perez, possibly the only person who really cares about Madame Meursault’s death, ironically cannot move quickly enough to stay with her coffin. His inability to keep up with the funeral procession—to act in accordance with his feelings—frustrates him to the point of tears. A third inexplicable
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
Media such as movies, video games and television, in general, are all created to support some form of social context. This helps with generating popularity because people are able to relate to the form of media. In Greg Smith’s book What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss, he describes 6 different representational strategies that justifies people’s way of thinking. The trope that I will be amplifying is the white savior tactic. In addition, I will connect this strategy to the movie The Blind Side. There are clear examples throughout the film where racism and low-income cultures exist in which the white family is there to help. The Tuohy family from the movie “The Blind Side” serves as the white savior for the progression of Michael
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.
The Stranger written by Albert Camus is an absurdist novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault. A major motif in the novel is violence. There are various places where violence takes place and they lead to the major violent act, which relates directly to the theme of the book. The major violent act of killing an Arab committed by Meursault leads to the complete metamorphosis of his character and he realizes the absurdity of life.
In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the main character, Meursault, is an absurdist who lives in the moment and refuses to be distracted by societal norms. He views the world as random and is indifferent to it. But to many French people living in Algeria, religion, social order and character are intertwined and are imperative to human life. Camus uses the crucifix and the courtroom to convey the idea that religion is man’s desperate attempt to create meaning in life where there is none.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
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.
Albert Camus conveys the idea of Absurdism throughout the novel through the main characters. The Stranger is written from the perspective of Meursault, a young male with an absurdist mind-set. From the beginning of the novel his indifference to life and detachment to relationships are presented from the first page. The novel begins with the death of his mother. For any normal spawn of society, a significant event such as this would be tragic and have a grand impact on the individual. But this doesn’t exactly apply to Meursault. Because of his general indifference to life, no negative emotions are elicited directly from the death of his mother. Rather, Meursault remains content, not phased by his own mother’s death. In fact after his mother’s funeral he would “swim the next day – with a woman” (Camus, 14) and ends up bringing her home with him. The subsequent action of going to the beach with a woman display his lack of n...
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
The emotionless anti-hero, Monsieur Meursault, embarks on a distinct philosophical journey through The Stranger. Confident in his ideas about the world, Meursault is an unemotional protagonist who survives without expectations or even aspirations. Because of his constant indifference and lack of opinions about the world, it can be denoted that he undergoes a psychological detachment from the world and society. It is through these characteristics that exist in Meursault that Camus expresses the absurd. Starting from the very first sentence of the book, “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) The indifferent tone from these short sentences convey a rather apathetic attitude from Meursault’s part. Not only does he not feel any sorrow, he also “felt like having a smoke.” (Camus 4) Communicating perfectly Meursault’s disinterest, “[he] hesitate, [he] didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there. [He] thought it over; it really didn’t matter.” (Camus 4) The death of his mother prompts an absurdist philosophy in which he experiences a psychological awakening and begins to place no real emphasis on emotions, but rather on the physical aspect of life.
Throughout The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault rejects all conventional morals and believes life to be frivolous. The Stranger, published in 1942 serves as an allegory to express the absurdity of which humankind attempts to force rationality on an irrational world. The novel expresses that realizing life is absurd creates a new beginning rather then a final end, which is made evident by the metamorphosis of the main character, Meursault.
After only a few days of trial, the jury in The Stranger declares that the main character, Meursault, is to be executed by guillotine in the town square. The trial and its verdict are one of the important parts of the novel, as Albert Camus uses them as a metaphor to summarize the two main tenets of absurdism. Camus uses the trial and persecution of Meursault to express his belief that the justice system is flawed because of his absurdist ideals that truth does not exist, and human life is precious. In order to reform the justice system, Albert Camus believes that capital punishment needs to be abolished.
The Kite Runner goes hand in hand with the theme in Macbeth: not all things are as they seem. This novel is about an Afghanistan boy named Amir and his friend Hassan. Hassan is Amir’s servant’s son, they always play together, but when guests come over Amir completely forgets about Hassan. They have the annual kite competition and Amir wins; Hassan goes to catch the losing kite for Amir. After awhile Amir searches for Hassan and sees him in an alley, trapped by bullies. Amir runs away instead of helping his so called “friend.” I believe that the author’s message throughout the first few pages is to allude at the irony between Amir and his dad, and to turn your stomach with the heart-wrenching betrayal.
Camus' philosophy of absurdism is important to his fiction; his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" details the specifics. Understanding “MoS” helps put into context “The Stranger”. Camus starts from a perspective of nihilism: the universe is without any intrinsic meaning, and in return all of our actions are equally without intrinsic value. For Meursault, this means that things happen, his mother dies, he accepts marriage, he kills someone, nothing fazes Meursault, and he just is. Here's where Camus' Absurdist philosophy comes in: the universe may be meaningless, but it is foolish to leave it at that. Meursault's story takes us through the necessary steps for accepting the absurd; he shows us that in order to properly embrace the meaninglessness of the universe, you must first recognize that meaninglessness. We crave meaning, but Camus knows there is none to be found; meaning must be made. What this means for the novel is that Meursault is to be pitied, but not indefinitely, as his imprisonment forces him, and us, to re-address views.
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.