Stranger Journal 1

Cultural Connections : One connection I made was the perceived laziness of the French. After getting off work for 4 days Meursault goes to Celeste's for lunch with Emmanuel. He then takes a nap and then goes back to work for the afternoon. Going out for lunch then taking a nap seems somewhat unheard of when thought of in the United States. Also connecting to the industrialized nature of France and the fact that they took cabs to the Matinee's. In reference to the street cars, they had "slowly emptied out. The matinees had all started, I guess"(22)

Character :

Meursault acts very strangely in my opinion. Going through life he acts like nothing bugs him. This can be evidenced as far back as the first page when he nearly acted indifferently the news that his mother was dead. Then when he began talking again he spoke about how he would get there and what train he would take as opposed to revealing any emotion he thought about her death. "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know (3)". But then again later he acts like he cares when he talks with his boss about him having to take 2 days off. Later on he's describing events occurring outside his window such as the Matinee's and him just watching and being very introspective seems normal to him.

One image or phrase that I followed throughout the chapters was that of the conflict between light and dark. There are multiple references to light and dark and its synonyms from the very beginning. At the start he discusses his moms death, which could represent darkness or sleep. Furthermore, he discusses time frequently which all represent either light or dark depending on the time of the day. Then there was a "flash of light (8)". Then again he goes up in the mid afternoon and takes a lengthy nap in the middle of the day. On top of this, his entire demeanor and the very cover of the book itself which is white and black make him seem very gray.