Thesis

Camus' focus on time changes from recent and distinct days in part one to large grupings with no indication of how long ago they were. He does this because time is a societal value, without a society time does not matter, and he uses it to show Meursault's gradual seperation from society.

Journal # 8

The first time, I disliked The Stranger, but the second time through, I really enjoyed it, and I got so much more out of it. The thing that I enjoyed the most was all of the irony. Maybe that is not the right word, because I don't mean irony in the literary sense of the word. I mean more of a semi-ironic juxtaposition sort of thing. First of all, there were some interesting paradoxes. For example "The whole time there was nothing but the sun and the silence, with the low gurgling from the spring and the three notes." (Camus, 55) and right after that "the double silence of the flute and the water." (Camus, 56). These are really intriguing to me. In the court, I missed this the first time I read it, the lawyers are ripping Meursault apart and he admires their logic. Same with the jailer and the magistrate. He always examines people objectively. Most people would hate the person simply for being against them, but Meursault does not allow emotions to get in the way of his logic and appreciation of a job well done. I love that about him.
I am glad that we read this book as a part of the curriculum. Especially right after Their Eyes Were Watching God. The two books are so different in style, in atmosphere, in figurative language. I think by reading the two back to back, my view of literature has been widened. Earlier in school, it is all about using big vocabulary and long sentences, but then The Stranger is a wonderful book, and it uses short sentences and not too much fancy vocab.
A great piece of literature is one that you can read and forget that it is a book and get caught up in the plot. Also it needs a universal theme. It needs complex characters and everything in the book has a purpose, it is not to be funny or because they couldn't think of a better word. And you can tell all these things. I used to think that there was no way the authors thought of all the stuff we analyzed, but after writing my pastiche, I know that they do. The Stranger definitely achieves these criteria. (On a random side note, my favorite three books I've read in high school, The Stranger, Fiela's Child, and Cry, The Beloved Country all take place in Africa. That's cool.)

Journal # 7

My topic is time. This includes time of day and day of the week/date.
"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." (Camus, 3)
"Night had fallen suddenly." (Camus, 8)
"Dawn was creeping up over the skylight." (Camus, 11)
"After that, everything seemed to happen so fast, so deliberately, so naturally that I don't remember any of it anymore." (Camus, 17)
"Today is Saturday." (Camus, 19)
"I remembered that it was Sunday, and that bothered me: I don't like Sundays." (Camus, 21)
"It was a beautiful afternoon." (Camus, 21)
"At five o'clock some streetcars pulled up, clanging away." (Camus, 23)
"I worked hard at the office today." (Camus, 25)
"I really like doing this [washing my hands] at lunchtime. I don't enjoy it so much in the evening, because the roller towel you use is soaked through: one towel has to last all day." (Camus, 25)
"Twice a day, at eleven and six, the old man takes the dog out foe a walk." (Camus, 27)
"The four o'clock sun wasn't to hot, but the water was warm, with slow, gently lapping waves." (Camus, 34)
"She left at one o'clock and I slept awhile. Around three o'clock there was a knock on my door and Raymond came in." (Camus, 37)
"That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her." (Camus, 41)
"I had a herd time waking up on Sunday, and Marie had to call me and shake me." (Camus, 47)
"He told me that he spent Saturdays and Sundays and all his days off there." (Camus, 50)
"'Do you know what time it is? It's only eleven-thirty!' We were all surprised, but Masson said that we'd eaten very early and that it was only natural because lunchtime was whenever you were hungry." (Camus, 52)
"Raymond came back with Masson around one-thirty." (Camus, 54)
"It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and this time his office was filled with sunlight barely softened by a flimsy curtain." (Camus, 66)
"It was only after Marie's first and last visit that it all started." (Camus, 72)
"The day of my arrest I was first put in a room where there were already several other prisoners, most of them Arabs." (Camus, 72)
"All night I felt bugs crawling over my face. A few days later I was put in a cell by myself, where I slept on wooden boards suspended from the wall." (Camus, 72)
"Afterwards [...] The first months were hard." (Camus, 77)
"Once again the main problem was killing time." (Camus, 78)
"So, with all the sleep [...] no one can imagine what nights in prison are like." (Camus, 80-81)
"But I can honestly say that the time from summer to summer went very quickly." (Camus, 82)
"Gentlemen of the jury, the day after his mother's death this man was out swimming, starting up a dubious liaision, and going to the movies, a comedy, for laughs." (Camus, 94)
"As I was leaving the courthouse on my way back to the van, I recognized for a brief moment the smell and color of the summer evening. [...] as easily to prison as to the sleep of the innocent." (Camus, 97)
"My mind was always on what was coming next, today or tomorrow." (Camus, 100)
"'Tommorrow, gentlemen, this same curt is to sit in judgement of the most monstrous of crimes: the murder of a father.'" (Camus, 101)
"That afternoon the big fans were still churning the thick air in the courtroom and the jurors' brightly colored fans were all moving in unison." (Camus, 103)
"I spend my days watching how the dwindling of color turns day into night." (Camus, 108)
"The fact that the sentence [...] seriousness of the decision." (Camus, 109)
"They always came at dawn, I knew that." (Camus, 113)
"That evening I thought about it and told myself that maybe she had gotten tired of being the girlfriend of a condemned man." (Camus, 115)
"It was at that exact moment [...] his usual time." (Camus, 115)
"'But if you don't die today, you'll die tomorrow, or the next day." (Camus, 117)
"For the first time in a long time [...] live it all again too." (Camus, 122)
I have no idea about a thesis statement. I will come back and add one to this post later.

Journal # 6

My five questions
1) Throughout the book, why does time get less and less important and less mentioned?
2) Why does Camus include so much ambiguous language and paradox when his character is so precise and straightforward?
3) Why are Arabs and women portrayed in an unflattering way?
4) How does the culture impact the book?
5)When the legal system is so absurd and conflicting with Meurault's own beliefs, why does Camus make Meursault accept and appreciate it?


Camus's book The Stranger has a lack of emotion and focuses instead on physical sensations and logical thought to characterize Meursault in order to demonstrate the philosophy of existentialism. Matt


Salamano's dog is significant because the fact that it replaced his wife, and the fact that Salamano hates it, but is still crushed when it runs away show the human need for companionship and fear of lonliness. Andy


 The victim of Meursault's crime as well as most of the inmates are Arab to show the ineffectiveness of the legal system and the hypocritical aspect of society as a whole. Isabella


Camus uses the symbols of coffee and cigarettes as the vices of society. They are habits that tie society together. When Meursault finally separates himself fully from those around him, he no longer participates in those habitual "needs". Megan


Camus only says the name of the day if it is a weekend to parallel Meursault's attitude. He does not enjoy his work, and on the weekends he experiences a freedom to choose his own activity. He can do whatever he feels like, and is not pressured into doing things he doesn't want to do. So Camus, like Meursault, ignores and disregards the week days and focuses on the weekends. Tate

Journal # 5

Camus presented the book in two parts to emphasize the differences between the two. Also, by making the differences so pronounced, he highlights the parallels. One parallel is the description of the setting. In both parts Camus goes into great detail explaining the surroundings. In part one, however, it is mostly the natural  environment that is described. "The sky was already filled with light. [...] and the crackling of grass." (Camus, 15-16) In part two, the descriptions are of inside places. One description is of the visiting room. "To get to the visiting room [...]brought on a kind of dizziness." (Camus, 73) Another parallel is the attention Meursault pays to very minor characters. Meursault watches the little robot woman and notices every detail about her. "I had dinner at Céleste's. [...] so I left too and followed her for a while." (Camus, 43) In part two, he describes all the prisoners in the visiting room. "The man on my left [...] staring intently at each other."(Camus, 75) A minor parallel is Meursault's mention of eyes. On page 64 and page 4, for example. Another is how people re described as looking like they are feeling an emotion instead of being described as feeling that emotion. On page 65 and 37 this happens. People feel comfortable talking to Meursault in both parts. Raymond and the prison guard do not know Meursault that well, but they both talk to him like a friend. The prison guard says "'Right. You see, you understand these things. The rest of them don't. '" (Camus, 79). On pages 28-33 Raymond tells very personal things to Meursault, and trusts him even though they don't usually talk.

Journal # 4

*Why is Marie portrayed with childish qualities?
*Why are the paradoxes included? (the silence of the Arab tooting his reed, Meursault was tired so he swam back strongly with even breath)
*What effect is produced by the choices on page 56 and 57? (shoot or not shoot, to stay or to go)
*Is the sun a motif or symbol? Why?
*Why are there parallels between the day at the beach and Maman's funeral? (Meursault wears a funeral face on page 47, the sun was the same as it was at the funeral)
*Why did Meursault shoot the man?
*What do the repetitions of the sky and sleep mean?

Journal # 3

"I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy..."-ism (from Mean Girls)


Well, my philosophy is a mish mash of a lot of different types. Mostly though, I am Lockean. I am kind of naturalistic, because I don't think things have a purpose or meaning. That doesn't mean nothing matters, it just means that things matter to individuals or societies, but not to history as a whole, and there is no purpose of existing, it simply happens. I am deterministic. If anything happens, you can definitely find a reason for that thing to happen. In that way, that everything has a cause, I guess I am nihilistic. You can't change "destiny" because if you try to, the fact that you try to is caused by something. I think also that everyone is born with a blank slate mind, like Locke said. Certain things are affected by genes, of course, but principles, morals, ideals, personality, and everything else that defines a person are all based on their environment. Because of this, I think that everyone has the potential to be good people, and in fact that everyone tries to. It is just a difference in morals, or an inability to act on your morals, or being brought up with out morals that creates all the turmoil and conflict.
My guiding principles are
1. Every living thing is of equal importance and should be treated with respect.
2. If you know there is a problem, then you are responsible for fixing it.
3. Personal happiness and that of others is the most important thing to strive for.
4. It is your character more than an event that influences how you react to the event.
5. Work to better the world or your society, not just yourself.
6. Instead of hating people, try to understand where they are coming from.
7. Don't make up a personality or hide your personality.
8. Don't do things that will hurt other people.

All of these ideas I got from my parents and other people who I grew up around. (Obviously, because that is what my whole philosophy is about.)

Journal # 2

Matthew Ward has the most literary value as a translator. The most important reason is that he kept closer to the real book than Gilbert did. For example the kilometers versus the miles and maman versus mother. He is also better because he creates more of a distance between the reader and Meursault, and between Meursault and his society. Both translators added their own voice to the novel, but I think Ward's voice is closer to what Camus wrote.
I think the best title is The Stranger because Meursault is not an outsider. He has many friends. He us not a foreigner, he is from Algeria just like everyone else in the story. He is a stranger though. He doesn't understand anybody and nobody can understand him. For example when he is talking to his boss, he says that it isn't his fault. He doesn't understand social customs of people. He tries to though