Literary Analysis: "The Stranger" and "The House of the Spirits"

The Stranger The Stranger exhibits a society that has confined itself with a specific set of social standards that dictate the manner in which people are supposed to act. This ideology determines the level of morality, and how much emphasis should placed on following this certain "ethical" structure. Albert Camus's main character, Meursault, is depicted as a nonconformist that is unwilling to play society's game. Through Meursault's failure to comply with society's values and conform to the norm, he is rejected and also condemned to death by society.

Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked upon by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that show true humanity which tends to have been ignored due to the fact of how typical it has become. Camus incorporates abominable personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate.

In the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus, Camus uses a variety of literary devices in order to create a moment of inward reflection from readers, in which we reflect on just how absurd our existence is. Camus expresses his critique through one major character, Meursault, and a few minor characters as well. Camus’s use of irony pushed readers to look beyond the surface, and come to the conclusion of where the irony was displayed. Camus also made use of ironic moments in order to contrast the expectations of society, to how Meursault differs from that, all to gradually expose the hypocrisy of mankind. Camus generally uses this literary device in order make us evaluate our own selves and more importantly to display the fact that we as people can be truly happy, only if we accept our fate, instead of fighting it. In a way, he’s suggesting we be more like Meursault. Examples of this would be the funeral caretaker insisting that Meursault view his mother's body, and Meursault continuously refusing. Camus does this to make people think: what exactly is wrong with Meursault not wanting to see his dead mother? Through this technique camus shows societal expectations of how people are supposed to mourn lost, and certain responses to lost are deemed abnormal. Thus Meursault’s lack of grief automatically made him an outsider. Other uses of irony can be shown through Meursault's interactions with the chaplain, and the authority involved in his criminal case played out later on in the

The Article “A Stranger in Strange Lands” written by Lucille P. McCarthy is an examination of the writing process. This article follows a college student through a twenty-one month study to determine how the students writing ability is affected as he transitions from one classroom to another. Focusing on specific writing processes in different types of classrooms,this article hopes to uncover the importance and effect of writing towards a specific audience within a particular genre and to offer a better understanding to how students continue to learn to write throughout college.

January 8, 1981, Allende begin writing a goodbye letter to her 99-year-old grandfather who was dying, she narrates in her biography, Paula, “I wanted to tell him not to worry, that nothing would be lost of the treasury of anecdotes he had told me through the years of our comradeship; I had forgotten nothing” (Levine). Once she started she could not stop, it quickly turned into her family story titled, The House of the Spirits. This book was a way to connect to her family she left behind so many years ago. Even though the country in which this book is written is never named, it is assumed this takes place in Allende’s native country, Chile. In this novel,

During the Communist regime in the former Soviet Union, life was very difficult. The people who lived within the countries controlled by the Soviet government experienced levels of oppression akin to slavery. They could not express themselves through any means and had to conform both body and soul to the views of the Communist Party. People could be arrested, imprisoned, shipped off to exile or executed often without trial. Some twenty million people died while Joseph Stalin led the USSR and for many years after his death it was still dangerous to dare criticize his regime, although some scholars put that number closer to forty million people who died. Now that the Soviet Union has broken up and Russia is its own country there is more freedom, but the people still live under the yoke of an oppressive leader who does not tolerate political or social challenges. The people do nothing to stand up to this government because they have all been scarred by the decades they lived under Stalin.

Flat characters play a significant role in all novels. For instance, the brother of Raymond’s mistress is a key flat character. The Arab never grows throughout the novel; rather, he remains a stalker, stalking his prey, tempting a fight. Without the role of the Arab, Meursault, would never have gone to prison, and never be tried for murder.

“For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a “fiance”, why she had played at beggining again” (122) Finding himself in a similar situation as her, he finds a way to comprehend her actions. This final understanding of her mother still implies his inability to relate to women, since his mother, the only woman he managed to relate to, was dead by the time he managed to relate to her, indicating he might not truly understand her since he no longer remembers her that well.

In Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the principal male character. During the course of the novel, Trueba increases his power in the world as he progresses in status from a conservative landowner to a powerful senator. He is tyrannical, treating his family members and the tenants on his family hacienda, Tres Marías, like subjects rather than intimate community. The basis for most of Trueba's actions is the desire for power, control, and wealth, and he pursues these things at any cost, disregarding his emotional decline and the effects of his actions upon the people in his life.

Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that are considered rude and unpleasant, but because it has become common, society accepts it as norms. Camus incorporates atrocious personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate through the creation of the characters.

The House of the Spirits written by Isabel Allende is an extraordinary novel that weaves together, history, politics, and current events to create a unique piece of literature. Throughout the novel on several occasions it is clear that there is inequality between the aristocrats and the peasants and this leads to struggle between the classes. The issue of class struggle takes the form of growing conflict by causing a division between the Conservatives and Socialists. At the head of the Conservatives is Esteban Trueba, a violent and materialistic figure. He believes people need to work their way up to the top and there is no reason that peasants share the upper classes wealth. On the other hand, Pedro Tercero Garcia represents the

While reading The Stranger I noticed that traits that Albert Camus character depicts in the book are closely related to the theories of Sigmund Freud on moral human behavior. Albert Camus portrays his character of Meursault as a numb, emotionless person that seems to mindlessly play out his role in society, acting in a manner that he sees as the way he’s supposed to act, always living in the moment with his instincts driving him, and if the right circumstance presents itself the primal deep seeded animal will come out. I believe that most of the character’s traits fall under Freud’s notion of the Id and Ego mental apparatus, and don’t believe that his idea of the super-ego is represented in this book.

However, Marie’s neediness also allows her to be extremely loyal. Loyalty is normally a strength, but Marie takes it to another level and makes her loyalty a weakness. Marie visited Meursault in prison and assures him”[he will] get out [of prison] and [they will] get married” (75). Even though Meursault murders someone, goes to jail and is sentenced to death, Marie stays with him almost all the way to the end of Meursault’s life. Most people would not be comfortable getting married to a murderer. However, Marie still wanted to get married to Meursault because

The passage on page 115, describes the series of events that have taken place as a result of Mersault’s imprisonment. In this passage, Mersault has denies his court appeal, and is probably aware of the fact that he will soon be executed. Memories of Marie slip into Mersault’s mind as he reflects on their relationship. He recalls the physical connection between them yet does not consider Marie’s existence as significant. Since there is no longer a physical connection between them, Mersault automatically assumes that she is dead or sick, because “the days had been long since she’s stopped to write” (Camus 115). “It occurred to me that maybe she was sick, or dead. These things happen” (115). Mersault is clearly indifferent regarding such a serious subject matter as death. The ironic part about this passage is that Mersaut states that “[he] wasn’t interested in her dead” (115). This is ironic, as Mersault did not seem very interested in Marie even when there was a physical connection between them either. When approached about marriage, Mersault appeared rather disinterested; he repeatedly stated that he did not care about the whole situation and that he would have accepted the offer from any other women with whom he was in a relationship. Furthermore, as Mersault is reflecting on his life, he realizes that once he is gone, “[people] wouldn’t have anything more to do with [him]” (115). This assumption is fairly accurate and ironic prior to the whole situation, no one

Furthermore, Camus uses family and personal relationships as a way to develop the protagonists’ isolation in the novel, working in providing context for the developing plot. In The Stranger, the author uses this methodology