In Camus' The Stranger, I find the protagonist Meursault very interesting. At first I thought he was some unemotional, robotic guy: completely annoying and uncaring. As I read the second part, however, I started to notice that Meursault was not as unemotional as he appeared to be. There were times where I saw that he really just was a lonely guy.
So upon reading the novel a second time, I noticed more occurrences where he just wanted to be a part of society. The problem he has is this: he wants to be included, to have friends- but he doesn't understand society, and at times is uncomfortable in it. Take the chapter, for instance, where all he does, on a Sunday (which has its own connotations on by itself), is look out through a window at the world passing him by. His whole life, I thought, was sort of nicely summed up by what he says his mother says one time: that he is encased in a tree and all he can see is the sky above him, and he is used to this. So light and dark can represent the two sides: light, where the sky is, where society goes on without him, and darkness, inside the tree, inside his home, where he is comfortable yet unhappy.
There is a myriad of examples of light and dark interacting and contrasting each other- but what I want to focus on are his reactions to both:
It is obvious that Meursault often dislikes the sun and brightness. Every time he steps outside his comfort zone (outside the house, really), he is stunned by its brightness and its audacity. He is uncomfortable out in the openness, where the world exists. He doesn't understand the way people act and think- and so he is blinded by its brightness. At his times of confusion, it is because of the sun, the heat, and the brightness. Right before he kills the Arab, he can't stop looking at the way the light glints off the blade. So the light is society, where he wants to be. What is even more interesting is that one time Meursault is feeling gloomy at the brightness of the day when Marie comments on "what a beautiful day it was", and automatically he feels better: once he is a part of the society, of friendship, even family, he is not feeling so out of place in the light.
The darkness, on the other hand, is him- something that society does not understand or see. When he is in the comfort of his house, in the darkness, alone, he is in control of himself. Ironically, people are usually afraid of the dark, and Meursault in a way represents this- and is prosecuted for his strangeness- his dark, mysterious, abstruse character. The most interesting thing I find about the darkness is that when he is in the prison, he almost enjoys himself. There are no blinding lights here- there is his own cell, a prison yet comforting. Actually, that relates to the Hunger Artist and how he chose his own prison- perhaps Meursault sort of chose his own prison- except for the fact that he at times wishes to step into the light. The prison is a good example of the darkness and light. Although he is more comfortable in the dark, in the prison he still wishes and stares at the light outside in the outside world, the "normal" world. This forces him to realize that he was a bit happy out there. His own "metamorphosis", you might say.
Anyway, this relation between light and dark, Meursault and others, individual and society- it is discussed quite well in the novel, and I think there is a lot to say about it. Hopefully, I can keep an eye out for more of it, and maybe even do something on it. Oh, and I should add this to the class wiki.
So upon reading the novel a second time, I noticed more occurrences where he just wanted to be a part of society. The problem he has is this: he wants to be included, to have friends- but he doesn't understand society, and at times is uncomfortable in it. Take the chapter, for instance, where all he does, on a Sunday (which has its own connotations on by itself), is look out through a window at the world passing him by. His whole life, I thought, was sort of nicely summed up by what he says his mother says one time: that he is encased in a tree and all he can see is the sky above him, and he is used to this. So light and dark can represent the two sides: light, where the sky is, where society goes on without him, and darkness, inside the tree, inside his home, where he is comfortable yet unhappy.
There is a myriad of examples of light and dark interacting and contrasting each other- but what I want to focus on are his reactions to both:
It is obvious that Meursault often dislikes the sun and brightness. Every time he steps outside his comfort zone (outside the house, really), he is stunned by its brightness and its audacity. He is uncomfortable out in the openness, where the world exists. He doesn't understand the way people act and think- and so he is blinded by its brightness. At his times of confusion, it is because of the sun, the heat, and the brightness. Right before he kills the Arab, he can't stop looking at the way the light glints off the blade. So the light is society, where he wants to be. What is even more interesting is that one time Meursault is feeling gloomy at the brightness of the day when Marie comments on "what a beautiful day it was", and automatically he feels better: once he is a part of the society, of friendship, even family, he is not feeling so out of place in the light.
The darkness, on the other hand, is him- something that society does not understand or see. When he is in the comfort of his house, in the darkness, alone, he is in control of himself. Ironically, people are usually afraid of the dark, and Meursault in a way represents this- and is prosecuted for his strangeness- his dark, mysterious, abstruse character. The most interesting thing I find about the darkness is that when he is in the prison, he almost enjoys himself. There are no blinding lights here- there is his own cell, a prison yet comforting. Actually, that relates to the Hunger Artist and how he chose his own prison- perhaps Meursault sort of chose his own prison- except for the fact that he at times wishes to step into the light. The prison is a good example of the darkness and light. Although he is more comfortable in the dark, in the prison he still wishes and stares at the light outside in the outside world, the "normal" world. This forces him to realize that he was a bit happy out there. His own "metamorphosis", you might say.
Anyway, this relation between light and dark, Meursault and others, individual and society- it is discussed quite well in the novel, and I think there is a lot to say about it. Hopefully, I can keep an eye out for more of it, and maybe even do something on it. Oh, and I should add this to the class wiki.
But you know what is really cool? I was staring at the cover of the novel, and there was this light behind me, glaring down at the front cover, and I had this sudden epiphany: the light vs. dark! The whiteness on the front cover sort of irked me and it was hard to look at it- and I felt myself drawing back from it and into the darkness, the black lines on the book. It's funky that I was thinking about it and then the cover just sort of popped out and supported the idea! I mean, woah, the cover really represents what I've been trying to say.
ReplyDelete