Alisha :D

Photostory: The StrangerThis is my photostory on The Stranger by Albert Camus. Enjoy!

“But everybody knows life isn’t worth living. Deep down I know perfectly well that it doesn’t much matter whether you die at thirty or at seventy, since in either case other men and women will naturally go on living–and for thousands of years. In fact, nothing could be clearer. Whether it was now or twenty years from now, I would still be the one dying” (Camus 114).

 Meursault thinks a lot about what is going on around him; what others will be doing. When he gets to jail he thinks a lot about why he is there and how the whole situation could have been different. One quote in particular struck me as interesting. It is so true and really shows Meursault’s unrest at his rash choice.

 ”And yet something had changed, since it was back to my cell that I went to wait for the next day . . . as if familiar paths traced in summer skies could lead as easily to prison as to the sleep of the innocent” (97).

 Again this shows Meursault’s feelings toward his action. You can feel his deep sense of regret and nervousness; he knows nothing can be done to save him.

Meursault seems to have a philosophy in which he believes that since death is imminent, nothing is really worth the effort. he doesn’t put any effort into his days. he sits around and smokes and the number of times he sleeps seem incalculable. he doesn’t put any effort into his relationships. he obviously had NO relationship with his mom. the day after her death he enjoys a swim, sees a comedy, and has sex. these actions are key in his being proven guilty. it does seem rather odd. most don’t cope with death by completely disregarding it…another relationship meursault puts next to no effort into, is his and marie’s. marie is so bubbly and fun. she wants badly to be married but meursault is too lazy and blah. most importantly, he doesn’t put any effort into erasing his sin. meursault committed MURDER. he doesn’t really care though. “it was hot.” that is his justification.  although i’m sure this had an effect on meursault’s judgement, however, he has lived in algeria his whole life…he really has no reason to be found innocent. i think meursault knows death is near.  

“Human rights and equality preoccupied Camus. His politics were decidedly “left-wing” and socialism appealed to Camus because it promised to equalize some social inequities. However, in life Camus was not able to treat Arabs as he did his French comrades. Even when trying to write sympathetically of the Arabs in Algeria and the poverty in which they were forced to live, Camus still leaves the impression that the Arabs need to be “civilized” by the French culture. It was not that Camus did not try to support and aid the Arab population, but like many liberals he failed to realize his support was accompanied by a form of condescension” (excerpt from a biography on albert camus). i found this explanation in a biography of albert camus. just as i suspected, camus sees arabs as “uncivilized”. this made me think of the tempest and what defines “civilization”. caliban for example, seemed gruff and savage. Yet when describing the island’s magic and beauty, he sounded almost eloquent. Throughout history europeans have always considered themselves “civilized”. just as meursault feels “that the Arabs need to be “civilized” by the French culture” (biography). So who defines civilized? Hindus consider us savages for eating cow. so does that mean we are? vegetarians consider meat-eaters to be savages to a degree–so are they? spanish conquistadors thought the aztecs were savages. were they? i believe it has a lot to do with where and how you were raised.the webster’s dictionary defines savage as: 

so i guess plants can be savage too….hm….i think when and where you grow up determines what or who you see as “savage”. the americans for example, considered the nazis as savages. yet the germans thought the same of us. I guess growing up in Algeria before WWII gave meursault prejudices against arabs. however that doesn’t necessarily mean they are “uncivilized”. 

 think what you will but i’m with cortes…those aztecs were pretty savage… yeah… 

i find it very interesting that “raymond’s man” is an arab. albert camus wrote the stranger right before WWII–maybe he just doesnt like them….why does raymond go back after getting hurt? how does he know exactlywhere to go? would meursault have shot the man if the sun wasn’t impairing his judgement? why did he go back in the first place?  as you can see i have many questions lol  

isolation is a lonely place
distraught with inner turmoil
attempting to figure out yourself
looking for something to be happy about
trying to remember what love isisolation can be a trap you set yourself
then you turn around and blunder into it
falling into patterns which are nonproductive
call it bad judgement or false steps
someone falling through society’s cracks

so we all know not to talk to strangers right? i found this picture and it seemed to fit meursault. he would follow around small children with candy. sicko. he’s so horny and detached. he probably does drugs. what a weirdo.

ok im sorry but this book is really stupid. so meursault hangs out with Marie again and he’s super turned on the whole time…then they have sex. who does that? yeah. then they hear Raymond beat his wife and psychopath meursault agrees to stick up for Raymond in court. woooow. this book is soo wholesome. *cough not*

Hellooooo everybody!!I’m soo tired!But I want to talk a little about Marie.Meursault runs into Marie at the beach. She is a former co-worker of his. He admires her body. They spend the afternoon swimming and flirting. They see a movie and she spends the night. When Meursault wakes up, Marie is gone.I found this encounter significant because it seems Meursault is happy. Even the next day, as he is sitting on his balcony he seems content. Love can bring out a good side in people–even if they normally seem heartless.