Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Stranger Journal 5

In part 2 of Albert Camus's The Stranger, there are many changes in both style and whats being expressed. For one, which relates to all the minor characters it is interesting to note that they all are now "witnesses". The very idea of that seems interesting to me, the characters of Meursault's life are there and the only purpose is to reveal Meursault's life to us. I read about existentialism today and the relation of looking at oneself is the mirror and I instantly thought of this. Also I think this strangely (no pun intended) relates to "The Stranger". Here we have Meursault who has friends that know him about who he is. Also related to existentialism is the idea that the mirror image is still only a mirror, so what the witnesses tell the jury may not be him truly him but just his body. This could also relate to the reporter that simply stares at Meursault. And a reporter simply reports stale facts, just like Meursault's observations.

There is also this major shift of the entire book I found in what role Meursault plays. Before he constantly made these seemingly unimportant observations that really meant nothing. However, because of his peculiar behavior and view of the world he's suddenly thrust into the middle of the world. That seems incredibly ironic, because he's apparently introspective his entire life is looked at under a microscope.

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