In society there are people who lead with authority and those who follow. Parents, teachers, religious leaders, and government officials are just a few of the people in society that provide people with a sense of right and wrong, giving advice and guidance through hardship. Society is grateful for those who they believe are all-knowing individuals who will only do right by them. These teachers and government officials in society are the equivalent to “Old Ones” in Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. They are the ones the Martians trust to guide them, and rightfully so as their creditability is built upon the fact the use the idea of grok, or fully understand situation, before acting or passing judgement on it. These reputable figureheads lead the Martian society, teach religion, philosophy and all the other fundamentals of life. Valentine Michael Smith raised by these Old Ones, a human completely immersed into Maritain society. When brought to Earth it is seen quickly how different Mike thinks from humans, not being bound by their societal norms growing up. Those with authority in our society, whoever they may be, are supposed to protect their people’s freedom yet often they force their ideals onto society, confining people without them even knowing. By keeping Mike on Mars for the first twenty years of his life the Old Ones did free him from the constraints of the earthily society, however they also confined him to their way of life.
Growing up on Mars allowed for
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.
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.
“A Land So Strange” is a book any history enthusiast would enjoy. Beautifully written by Andres Resendez he is able to show the epic journey of Cabeza de Vaca through a book. Cabeza de Vaca a Spaniard scholar who shipwrecked in Florida in 1528 with a group of about 300 Spanish men, explorers, and slaves who accompanied him along the way. Having hopes to claim and settle in Florida but unexpectedly consistent events; like nature, natives, and loss of navigation turned their mission into an unexpected journey. Andres Resendez wonderfully words these unexpected events with a pleasant amount of detail that any reader could picture the journey of eight years of challenges leaving only four survivors Cabeza de Vaca, two other Spaniards, and an African slave who ended up wanting to just go back home. Regardless of these events he is considered one of the best explorers who survived the unimaginable and lead even with the lack of supplies and men to get their way back home. The journey was humbling by the fact he had to survive with what was around him and pushed through because of his curiosity to know more. This book is informative and practical because the author was able to illustrate his words that created a story based upon facts and understanding of the main characters experience that allowed one to see the passion Cabeza de Vaca in his expedition.
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.
In chapter 7 of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Chris rejects a plane ticket from his employer and partial friend, Wayne Westerberg. “McCandless wouldn’t even consider it.” (67) He said, “‘No, I want to hitch north. Flying would be cheating.
When the people from Earth attempt to inhabit Mars, they do not think of the citizens who already reside there, “after all, like the Pilgrims, these people came here to escape Earth. Maybe they won’t be too happy to see us. Maybe they’ll try to drive us out or kill us,” (Bradbury, Chapter 5). The people may be trying to escape their personal past, but it is not possible to escape the pasts of others. As they continue to infiltrate Mars, they meet many obstacles and have continuous conflicting actions with the Martians.
In his novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward, irony within the protagonist’s ( Meursault ) contrasting perception of the human condition is used to illustrate and invoke the reader to question the contradictory nature of societal expectations. His indifferent and unprecedented reactions to experiences - relative to the characters that Camus laid before him - aid in displaying the absurdity of a world constrained by the chains of conventional wisdom. The contrasting nature of Meursault's demeanor in defying conventional wisdom in experiences such as love and death not only reveals the underlying hypocrisy of the human condition but further illustrates the arbitrary essence of defining a human life.
“When, beneath the black mask, a human being begins to make himself felt one cannot escape a certain awful wonder as to what kind of human being it is.”(4). In his essay, “Stranger in the Village”, James Baldwin writes about the major differences that African Americans experience in Europe and America. Throughout the essay, Baldwin describes how the Europeans are naive about the black man. The outrage and amusement that Baldwin feels throughout his visit causes the overwhelming realization of the history of the African American.
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.
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.
The French philosopher Roland Barthes once said, “Literature is the question minus the answer” (Barthes 2). This statement hold true for most works of literature that explore a central question. According to Barthes, literature often raises a question, but leaves it up to the reader to determine the answer. The Stranger by Albert Camus is an excellent example of how a central question, “Is there value and meaning to human life?” is raised and left unanswered, resulting in different interpretations of the answer, depending on the viewpoint of the reader. Although the question is never explicitly answered, Camus offers perspectives on what French society regarded the answers to be, such as connections with others, elusion to freedom, and faith in religion and God.
Over the past month, we have been studying the concept of reading and writing in different communities. To assess this, we have read two different texts. Richard Rodriguez’s the achievement of desire”, from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”; and Lucille McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum” from “Research in the Teaching of English”. Both answer key questions regarding what it takes to become a great reader and writer, however, from the reading that I have done, each one only answers one part of the question. Rodriguez’s main focus is in the aspect of reading, whereas McCarthy mainly focuses on the writing portion. Both do a decent job of analyzing and putting forth a view of how they believe a person can best perform in these environments. This then allows us to use their concepts and create our own version, based on their points of view. But why should we care? Most people at this level of academia will have developed a system of writing that works for them, and will have a difficult time breaking from it if they’re process doesn’t meet the criteria that Rodriguez, and McCarthy put forth. The reason it’s so important is because of implications these ideas have. Both authors put forth concepts that are indirectly related to one another and that are highly beneficial to all who will apply them. They will force you to conform to new environments in order to succeed, this in turn will make you more
In the novel, The Stranger, author Albert Camus confronts some important issues of the time, and uses the singular viewpoint of the narrator Meursault to develop his philosophy and effectively weave together themes of absurdity, colonialism, and free will. Through the progressive disruption of Meursault’s life and his characterization, Camus presents the absurdity of the human condition along with the understanding that a person can actually be happy in the face of the absurd. Camus also intentionally sets the story in the colonized country of Algeria, and hints at the racial tensions that exist between French-Algerians and Arabs.
Art is the expression of human’s creative skill and imagination, art pass through society, and it reflects social life by shaping. Art, such as literature, dance, painting, calligraphy, and music. James Baldwin, a famous African- American author of “Stranger in the village.” He discussed the rank and relationship between the Blacks and Whites in the society. Also, Baldwin went to the village in Leukerbad, and lived with the White Europeans. This essay is about the the experience and history of him. Teju Cole was the one who had read the “Stranger in the village” and he wrote what he felt about James Baldwin’s essay. Their opinions were opposite, but I think there is no right or wrong.
Many people often base their opinions on a person by judging his whole life in general and his attitude towards life without caring about who the person really is deep down inside. This unfair reasoning can occur in the courtroom when people are put on trial and the judge and the jury must delve into the life of the accused and determine if he is a hazard to society. Occasionally, the judge and jury are too concerned with the accused’s past that they become too biased and give an unfair conviction and sentencing. In his novel, The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the courtroom as a symbol to represent society that judges the main character, Meursalt, unfairly to illustrate how society forms opinions based on one’s past.