The Stranger: Symbolism Through Structure
Symbolism is often used by authors to express important themes within their story. In the case of The Stranger by Albert Camus, this fact holds no exception. Camus, an Algerian philosopher, uses symbolism throughout his novel as Meursault, the main character’s, life is followed. Meursault experienced many encounters involving death throughout the novel, starting with the death of his mother --Maman, following with murder of an Arab man committed by Meursault, and ending with Meursault’s execution in jail for his crime. Through it all, Campus maintains the topic of Meursault continually noticing his surroundings, especially the light created by none other than the sun. The recognition by the reader
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Even surrounded by death, Meursault finds the beauty in the light surrounding him. He thinks to himself, “The room was filled with beautiful late-afternoon sunlight.” (Camus 7). In the presence of death, one would expect a man who just lost his mother to recognize the bad in his surroundings, to depict a gloomy scene. Such instances are part of a constant theme in the book, Meursault being comforted or finding content in the sun. The fact that Camus uses this quote here is to introduce this theme that will be present in the rest of the book. Camus’ ample descriptive style involving the sun in contrast to the short sentences surrounding the quote in this paragraph clearly display the importance of the sun and light in the story. By him even describing the light as beautiful and late-afternoon, the reader gets a feeling for Camus’ purpose here. The highly descriptive words used to depict the light created by the sun in the room create a warmth of sorts in the reader’s mind, a warmth that mirrors Meursault’s comfort, even in a situation where many would not be. The showing of the importance of light in the beginning of the book sets up the rest of the book to follow this theme as well as how important a symbol light will …show more content…
It is what brings a sort of higher interest to a piece. The moment a reader notices a symbol, it is as if everything makes sense. Reading The Stranger it is almost immediately that the reader has the chance to notice a symbol that will be evident through the rest of the book -- light. It is awe-inspiring that a small detail such the light in one’s environment can portray such meaning as it does in the case of Meursault -- the feeling of constancy that needs and has provided to him by the sun. It is a wonder how many readers of the book have had similar experiences and similar connections, where everything they have experiences is unstable other than the one stability with no escape from it -- the sun that rises and sets each and every
In “The Painted Door” by Sinclair Ross, it is evident that light is used to illustrate the degradation of Ann’s devotion to John as the night approaches and the time spent with Steven, due to John’s absence, lengthens. This is first demonstrated when the setting of a landscape with “bitter light” (1) is established. Despite the bitterness, caused by Ann and John’s non-communicative relationship, the light exemplifies that Ann retains a secure devotion towards John and is confident that he will return home no matter what circumstances. Moreover, this is demonstrated when Ann offers to “paint the kitchen wood-work… to make the room a lot lighter” (2). Although Ann is aware that painting the woodwork is an inconsequential task, as the paint will peel off, she is yearning to bring
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.
“The Little Stranger” is a 2009 gothic novel written by Sarah Waters. It is a ghost story set in a dilapidated mansion in Warwickshire, England in the 1940s. This novel features a male narrator, a country doctor who makes friends with a family with faded fortunes left simply with a very old estate that is crumbling around them. The stress of reconciling the state of their finances with the familial responsibility of keeping the estate coincides with perplexing events which may or may not be of supernatural origin, culminating in tragedy.
From page fifty-eight to fifty-seven of Albert Camus’s The Stranger he uses the relentless Algerian sun as a motif for the awareness of reality that pursues the main character, Meursault, throughout the passage. When each motif appears in the novel such as this passage, Meursault’s actions change. This exemplifies that the light, heat, and sun trigger him to become debilitated or furious. Albert Camus sets up this motif in the passage to indicate to the reader that this motif shows the major themes of this novel. This motif shows Meursault’s emotion, how the imagery of weaponry affects Meursault’s actions, how the sun is a representation of society, and how the sun weakens Meursault.
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.
Venezuela is a country located at the north of South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, Brazil and Colombia. Venezuela is a country full of beauties and contrasts where people can find beautiful beaches, plains, mountains, and even the majestic highest waterfall of the world (Angel Falls). During more than four decades, this country lived in full democracy until 1999 when a former military officer, who was involved in a military coup years ago, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias won the presidential elections, and who remained in the government until he died in 2013 from cancer.Hugo Chavez's political discourse based on the Marxist thoughts soon was creating "The Bolivarian Revolution", and since its beginning offered the XXI century socialism, which one was never described specifically to people.
In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the murder committed by Meursault is questionably done with no reason. Although the entirety of the second part is spent in society’s attempts to find a cause, Meursault has a durable existential mentality that proves that even he knows that there is no true reason for the crime. Through the use of light and heat imagery and diction in The Stranger, Albert Camus comments on the duality of society trying to find a cause for the murder and Meursault defying this because of his existential mentality. These elements heighten Meursault’s negative outlook on life by
1. List the title of the article , author (s) , and the name of the journal of the peer - reviewed journal
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 by Albert Camus follows the story of a man named Meursault, who received notice that his mother had passed away. Meursault was not emotionally connected to his mother, and his reaction is not what the reader would expect, as he did not seem to care at all. Therefore, the day after attending his mother’s funeral, Meursault goes to the beach and meets up with his girlfriend, Marie. After the beach, Meursault and Marie go to a movie and spend the night together. When he returns home from work the next day, Meursault runs into his neighbor, Raymond, who beats his mistress. Later in the story, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond go to a beach house, which is owned by Raymond’s friend, Masson. At the beach, Masson, Raymond, and Meursault
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.
One of the main elements that literature with merit must exemplify is symbolism. As soon as an author introduces a symbolic reference, a premade notion that the reader constructed could be affected. Not only would a symbol alter the meaning of a message, but it would also add an emotional element to the story. Throughout All the Light We Cannot See, a series of symbols were inaugurated. The first, and most predominant symbol that was recurrent throughout the book was vision. The two protagonists, Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig, both play a contrasting role when it comes to the symbolic meaning behind vision. On one hand, Marie-Laure is physically unable to see due to her blindness. Therefore, she does not experience the world in the same way as the other leading character, Werner Pfennig. Instead,
radiance” (Seifter, 82). The flowing lines, rhymes, and imagery of light and dark give the
Stakeholders-investors, customers, interest groups, employees, the legal system, and the community often determine whether a specific behavior is right or wrong, ethical or unethical. Judgments of these groups influence society’s acceptance or rejection of a business and it’s activities.
Widely recognized for philosophical writings as a French essayist and playwright, Albert Camus is a major contributor to exploring the absurd in modern Western literature. Characterized by highlighting the human condition, Camus’ writing style focuses on the everyday lives and inner psyche of individuals in both ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. Such a character-driven writing style is most notably displayed in his 1946 work, The Stranger, a tale of an emotionally-detached man known as Meursault, who lives in French-colonized Algiers during the intermission of the two World Wars. Consisting of two parts—The Stranger first explores his daily life as a free man, and in the second, delves more into the character’s own philosophy as Meursault contemplates during his remaining time in jail. At its core, the story explores the relationships and interactions of the odd Meursault through the character’s inner monologue and dialogue with those around him. The story itself is very ambiguous in its’ nature, and the idea of contemplating the meaning of life and purpose is prevalent throughout The Stranger. Evidently, Camus writes Meursault as a man who believes that life has no meaning, and therefore people are free to do as they please. To supplement the protagonist’s view, the author also presents Meursault alongside various personalities of key supporting characters, each with their own unique personality, and differing outlooks on life. Doing so thus enables Camus to get readers to contemplate about meaning through multiple perspectives. Stylistically, through many devices that emphasize diction, imagery, and story themes. Ultimately, The Stranger is a way for Camus to convey that there are multiple ways to perceive the meaning of life, using Meursault to directly project a different view than what readers are used to. Surely, with the intent of crafting a protagonist so strange, that Meursault becomes comparable to other characters; less so as a reflection of what the author personally believes the meaning of life is, but more of what such exploration of the idea could be.