Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Characters We Love to Hate. . .or Do We?
As she stated in class, Brittni hates Meursault. In her reflection, she writes that he "reminds (me) of the characters in movies that are trying to hard to be indie". But what I appreciate about her insight is that although she dislikes Meursault, Brittni sees relative merit in Camus' novel. Another interesting point that Brittni brings up in her reflection: did Meursault shoot the Arab "largely due to a build up of repressed emotion"? Kyle Ellison's group discussed that the murder was an assertion of Meursault's masculinity. And then again, Brittni sees a parallel between Salamano and his dog and Meursault and his mother. How do you connect these connections? Or do you?
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5 comments:
there is a lot of information here to respond to. the main point that stuck out to me was mersault's reaction to killing the arab. i completely agree with the statement that it was because of repressed emotion. why else would he continue to fire shots after the man was clearly dead? (im sure trisha agrees with me haha)
the idea of expressing masculinity is very interesting. this is a twist i had not thought of but one that could also serve to explain his sexual exploits. what better way to exert one's sexuality then to utilize the physical nature that separates men and women?
sal and his poor dog do represent a rather complex relationship that could very well relate to mersault and his mother, but can we really be sure? we know nothing about their relationship other than what we can speculate on. everything that we do know is pure assumption on our part. i do feel like the relationship between salami (salamador? salazar?) was brought into the story for a reason but that reason could be to show a relationship between mersault and his father, his mother, or between his father and mother.
and further more (yes, i actually have more to say) how do we know which character represents mersault in this relationship? was he the abusive yet emotionally connected one or was he the passive abused?
I definately think kyle's group makes a valid point about mersault's need for a vent for masculinity. Aren't guns a phallic symbol? Could it be repesenative of his desire to assert himself more as a man?
And ohh boo you made an awesome point...how do we know who was the abuser and who the abusee? We're discussing a man who just killed a random Arab in cold blood. Is it not possible that this same man was abusive in his relationship with his mother? This would explain his indifference to her death.
I still see mother as the abuser, possibly in the form of withholding affection. This analysis, is in part, based upon what I've read about Camus' actual mother. But I also see a sort of codependent relationship--one that Meursault has finally escaped from after his mother's death.
I think by reading this book I the feel that Meursault and his mom did not have a good relationship. I feel that because of this he did not feel to much when he sent his mom to the home. Also did not have any emotion when she died.
I wonder if perhaps Mersault's mother resented his father for his absence. If so, could she have carried that resentment to her relationship with her son as her only means to satisfy heranger at being abandoned?
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