Choose a critical lens that interests you. You may choose the lens that you looked through in class, or you may choose any other from the critical theory packet.
Please respond to the following questions and agree or disagree with ONE other BLOGGER:
1. Identify the lens through which you are viewing this text.
2. Based on your reading of the text, WHY is Meursault the way he is? Use at least one key piece of evidence to support your interpretation.
3. Through your lens, why does this text matter in the world?
Due Thursday, Jan. 22, before class.
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19 comments:
Through a psychoanalytic critical lense, I believe Merasult is the way he is because he has a need for an affectinate mother figure. The prosecutor asked Mersult if it had been hard on him to put his mother in a home, and Merasult told him "Maman and I didnt expect anything from one another anymore, or from anyone else either, and that we both gotten use to our new lives" (88). I think if his love and affection would have started with his mother, them maybe he would have some type of emotion.
This matters in the world because the lack of motherly affection will lead to a life of detachment.
Tiffany Tsang
I agree with Alexandria, that it is a psychoanaltyic critical lens, but also a archetypal criticism. In a way, he was somewhat an outcast event though some may think of him as a friend, but others that did not know his situation see him as a bad guy and wants him dead and out of the society.
I believe that Meursault was the way he was, is because he does not have any parent figure. He rarely talks about his mother and when he does talk about her, it would be the time of her funeral. Also, he can barely remember anything about his own father.
The way i see it through the lens I see out of matters because it shows how without parental guidance leads to emptyness/ lack of identity.
According to Orland Patterson and my racial critical lenses, I believe that Meursault is racially discriminatory against other races. Meursault surrounds himself around other people of the same color as him. When Raymond's user girlfriend's brother is spotted by Meursault, he doesn't have a name or a certain identifiable characteristic. Meursault refers to him as "The Arab", which has negative connotations similarly refers to people of arabic descent in which is offensive. Often time's "the arab" stereotypes the group of people in one. With the racial critical lenses on, we are shown how Meursault portrays the "the arab", we see that they move in packets of each other, similarly to the way gangs roam the streets. Also, it made the portray of the beach scene, made it seem like Meursault was the victim, the way "the arab" was portrayed like the harsh criminal waiting for trouble.
This racial lenses bring upon the way a group of people in one race is portrayed negatively, and how the portray affects how people see that race.
Through an existentialism lense. It seems that Merasut is the way he is because in the world in which he is place has no meaning. There is no point to go on. One thing that shows this is when Marie asked him to marrie her, he shrugged and said whatever, you want. Also, he thinks he doesn't love her, there is no point in saying anything for sure.
This matters in the world because if there is no point in life than there is no reason to make disitions or believe anything is really needed or important.
From an existentialistic view, Meursault is predominantly apathetic about his mother's death, Marie's love for him, and so many other events in his life because he believes the world has no meaning or value. When the chaplain inquiries about Meursault's apathy, he explains to him [angrily] "I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn't done that. I hadn't done this thing but I had done another. And so? It was as if I had waited all this time for this moment for the first light of this down to be vindicated. Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why....What did other people's deaths or a mother's love matter to me; what did his God or the lives people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me when we're all elected by the same fate, me and billions of other privileged people like him who also called themselves brothers? Everybody was privileged" (121) He stresses the point that nothing matters in life because we're all the same in which we all meet the same end no matter which way we live our lives. This is significant because it shows us that we do not need to focus on individuality or pursue to be unique or different because we're all meeting the same fate.
On another note, I disagree with Tiffany following the archetype of an outcast because he isn't really outcasted in the first place. He has many "friends" like Marie, Celeste and Raymond who actually accept him and enjoys being in company with him. Same thing with his mother in which she tries to be establish some kind of relationship with him, but ultimately it dies like her. I don't think he was really outcasted in the first place.
1. Priest
2.Meursault is the way he is because he is under the control of the devil. He is bound by his powerful force and can't be loosen. His emotions are bound which caused his life to be bound literally which is another story. No Christ-believing saint will shoot anyone if not in defense. Meursault "fired four more shots at the motionless body." (Pg 59). The "Arab" cut his associate, and this being the next time he saw him, he was afraid. I understand. Furthermore, the "Arab" pulled out his knife, and in self-defense,he shot him.
3. This text helps me see and "understand" people. I wouldn't be able to read people without know situations. Meursault is a prime example of people who are not socially normal and end up killing someone. His emotions were blocked, and no one helped him break through it.
Hi there
Through a feminist lens, Meursault is the way he is because of his surroundings. He lives in the same apartment building and is befriended by Raymond, whom physically and emotionally abuses his mistress. (Which by the way is a sexist term.) When Raymond introduces his plan of getting his revenge on his mistress to Meursault, Meursault is indifferent of the serious situation and takes part in the beginnings of the horrible plan to lure the woman back into Raymond's apartment so he could beat her. Even when Meursault and Marie go to Raymond's to see what all the noise was about, Meursault doesn't intervine and save the woman when clearly she needed help. This environment leads to the situation with Meursault killing "the arab." This matters in the world because the mistreatment of women leads to man's downfall and imprisonment (physically, mentally, and emotionally). Also, I don't agree with Nina's comment about Meursault's mother trying to rebuild a relationship with him. I didn't find anything in the text that shows the audience this. And, how can Raymond truely be called Meursault's friend when Raymond got off scotch-free, while "his friend" got the entire wrap for the incident?
Through the critical lense of a Marxist, Meursault is is detached because he is not in control of his own life. In the world of Albert Camus, society has the power and control, and we are the one who are being controlled. "There were only privileged people. The others would all be condemned one day."(p.121) This quote reveals the author's view that it doesn't matter whether someone lives or dies, because when you don't have control over whether you live or not, you mine as well be dead. Through the characterization of the world Meursault lived in, the Camus revealed his personal view that we do not control our lives, and it is pointless to think so.
This text matters because it reveals how little control you have over your life, and that the people who control your life are the people in society who are "privileged" and have power.
Through a psychoanalytic lens, I conclude that while Mersault is a man with no capacity to love or to even trust someone long enough to love them he is a very sympathetic misunderstood protagonist. While Mersault is not an evil man by any means, even after shooting the Arab several times; he has always been truthful even to a certain extent blunt. He never just left his mother in a corner, he did what would have made her happiest. He even expressed his love for his mother, I believe that Mersault isn’t the type of man that needs to show or prove what he feels to people, but that he is in fact a human being who has until his demise hidden any emotion for so long that the capacity for something such of love is abstract and something his mind can really grasp the importance that people put into it. While he loved his mother, it may have not been out of something like love, but loyalty, understanding, and the responsibility he held as the son. “Then he said, very quickly and with an embarrassed look, that he realized that some people in the neighborhood thought badly of me….but he knew me and he knew I loved her every much…I hadn’t realized” (45). This shows how he didn’t really realize that even by having the best intentions for his mother he cared for; he realized that instead of being selfish and keeping her in his home that she would be better off and happy at the home where she was thought to have been “sent” out of his selfishness. Through this you can clearly evaluate that Mersault, was pretty much in his own niche that he never realized that it wouldn’t have been socially acceptable. This lack of awareness is what ultimately caused Mersault’s demise. I have to agree with Kyle Anthony to a certain extent with his Priest lens, seeing as even though Mersault isn’t someone you would exactly invite over to dinner. He was socially weird and very go with the flow it is this that helps me understand why Mersault has been unaccepted by society and or ejected out of it.
~~Erika M~~
Through the critical lens of the philosophy of existenialism, Monsieur Meursault is the way he is because believes that life is meaningless because "Everybody was privileged. There were only privilege people...would all be comdemned one day" (pg. 121). Mersault isolates himself from the rest of society because they people within in it are all the same, a seperation in status doesn't exist. There lies no moral truth or meaning behind anything, thus he chooses to not use emotions to convey how he feels...simply because he doesn't feel. Meursault in unperceptive to the world around him, and the only interaction with it is the way he reacts to the elements around him. This matters in the world because those of us who choose not to simply care cause a tension with the rest of society.
Lania West
This is Ted
1.) Priest Lens
2.) Monsieur Meursault is the way he is because he is one of God's lost sheep. He is an atheist (does not believe in God) and because of this, does not have any incentive to do good or at least...NOT do bad. Because he does not believe in God, he does not believe in sin and how it can lead to eternal damnation. Without fear of God, Meursault is more likely to do bad such as killing someone ("I fired four more times" - Pg.59) or writing a letter to lure a woman into a beating ("I wrote the letter." - Pg. 32). The reason he is more likely is because he doesn't see the consequences of eternal burning in hell. His apathy is a result of no high aspiration in life. As an atheist, he sees life as pointless. A believer of the faith would work in life for good so as to go to heaven or paradise in the next life. If Meursault was not an atheist, he would not do bad things, and he would not be completely apathetic to life.
3.) This text matters to the world because it shows us what can become of those who do not believe in God. We can see what God-lessness leads to.
I disagree with Psychobabble...hehe
No but seriously...I disagree with JoAnna. Monsieur Meursault is NOT being controlled by any upper class in society. Meursault is in control of his own life. We can see throughout the text how he visibly makes his own choices and decisions. No one forces him to be how he is and it is not the result of his environment. As a matter of fact, if anything, his environment should make him conform with everyone else. The thing that makes him how he is...is his atheism.
Father Ted:
Is this your reading as well, or solely what you think a priest would say?
Spencer Harstead:
1.Critical Lens:Archetypal Criticism.
2.Based on reading the text through this lens, Meursault is the way he is because of his subtle hero archetype. Throughout the story he is constantly saving others or doing what's best for them. We see this first when he puts his mother in a home because she needed someone to look after her(page 4). Later, he serves as a witness for Raymond to save him from jail (page 48). He agreed to marry Marie who wanted that even though he did not love her (page 42). In his final heroic act, he kills the "Arab" that threatened and hurt Raymond even though he knew it would make him unhappy. "I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I'd been happy" (page 59). The text reflects the hero archetype as one that puts the happiness of others before his own because, as Nina said, the world has no meaning or value to him.
Kyle A stated that "No Christ-believing saint will shoot anyone if not in defense." I disagree with him because in a sense, Meursault was defending himself from the Arab who "drew his knife..."(59).
3.This text matters to the world because it shows that being a hero does not exactly pay off. It reveals that no matter what we do, selfishly or unselfishly, we will die and nothing will really be all that much better.
Kathy Razniak
The Lense of Sophocles
Meurault is the way he is because his whole life is predertimined by an unexplained higher power which he has no controll over, and he understands this. I agree with Joanna that Meurault is not in control of his life because he, himself, states that "I never intended on killing the Arab" (pg. 102) This shows the lack of control he has over his actions since he did in fact kill him.
When asked why he commited the murder, Mersault responds "it was because of the sun" (pg. 103) This ofcourse makes no logical sense as a legitimate defense because in reality the sun stands for more than what it seems. In the book, the sun works as a driving force for the actions of the main character and the intensity of the sun plays an impact of the mood and actions of the protagonist as though the sun was controlling his life.
This text matters because it shows people that at times even when we think we have complete control over our actions, there may still be outside sources inhibiting them. This doesnt necessarly mean the sun dictates our lives, but rather it reminds us that there is a driving force whether it be the influence of society or media on our lives, that predetermins how we go about our lives.
Jamie Chan
Through a feminist lens stand point, I would have to agree with Laural the reason why Meursault is the way that he is. Women in "The stranger" is portrayed as very desperate beings. Such as Meursault's mother or Marie is in need of a man to fulfill their needs. Since everyone around him lack mutual respect for women he sees them as objects and have no need to love them. Therefore portraying men are carefree and woman were meant to follow them. Through out the entire book he is like a follower of Raymond being under the influence of horrible perspectives about women. This man in reality doesn't even have a mind of his own which makes women look bad. He testified for Raymond when he doesn't even know the entire story (pg 48) assuming what Raymond said was true.
This is Kyle Trentz
1.) I will be looking through the critical lens of a psychologist.
2.) Meursault is the way he is because he is mentally detached from the world. His brain does not react to major events the way that a normal persons would. For example, when his mother dies, he does not show any signs of grief, but rather just acts as if it was any other day. He also does not react to Marie's marriage proposal, but agrees to marry her because there is no reason why he shouldn't. Even the way he describes the events that are taking place around him seems to be from the point of view of someone who is detached.
3.) Through my lens, this text matters in the world because it shows us how a persons mind is one of the most dangerous weapons in the world.
I also agree with Alex Prudes idea that Meursault is the way he is because he is lacking the love and comfort of a mother figure.
Jimmy He
1.The Critical Lens: Haruki Murakami
2.Meursault is the way he is because of the way society shapes him as well as others. In the beginning of the story, Meursault receives a telegram about his mother’s death and immediately tries to think of an excuse for his boss. Meursault is a perfect example of the negative effects of society’s work-dominated mentality. The society is so work-dominated that human value decreases as well as a loss of connection between one another. I agree with JoAnna when she said that “Meursault has little control over his life.” It is because of this mentality and the over repetition of his day to day life, Meursault treats every day the same as any other. Meursault also does not show emotion whatsoever, in fact he makes decisions based on reason and judgment, much like that at work.
3.Through my lens, this text matters in this world because it shows that the mentality of society, as a whole, influences others and their decision making.
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