And then again, is Meursault stuck in the Mirror Stage? Because of some dysfunction in his relationship with his mother, does he still attempt to control the world by perceiving it as merely a physical extenstion of himself?
the idea of being stuck in this "mirror stage" sort of baffles me. if he saw the world as a mere extension of his physical being, would he not treat it with more reverence? if he was indeed stuck in this stage, knowing his mother was dead would be like knowing part of him died. would this explain not wanting to see her body? i'm not so sure i'm buying this concept. i understand that mersault is a pretty messed up guy but he's still human and humans are programmed to feel emotion. being in the mirror stage would only heighten this sense ( in my opinion). the world would be a much more personal place. i'm sure confusion would ensue at times and mersault is much too calm about life. it seems to me that this condition suggested would bring about reactions and expressions that mersault has yet to convey in any form.
Does he not have emotions?--or does he choose not to express them with us through this narative perspective of a book? In the first section of Part 2, he goes into saying after his meeting with Maria, he has moments he does not wish to share. These are the moments i feel where he does in fact express his emotions, yet does not share with us, and deliberately leaves it out to give the book the feeling of emotional dryness that it has throughout the whole story.
if your intention was to challenge my previous post, i need to clarify: i do believe mersault has emotion that he is not expressing within the text either by choice or because of personal confusion.
question: how is his lack of emotion a choice to express emotion?
I think that Meursault chooses not to show emotion. I do think that he chooses not to because of his past maybe. His mom might of abuse him or he might of been a victim of some abuse and that has affect him. I don't understand why he could not use emotion. I felt like he had a huge wall build up around him.
Is it a possibility that his mother taught him to suppress emotion? After her husband left she may have felt a resentment toward him and discouraged him from showing emotion so that it would be easier for her to continue her resentment. Some murderers and rapists refer to their victims as objects so as not to feel sympathy or guilt. Could this have been true for the relationship between Mersault and his mother? Could she have broken that emotional connection to allow herself to resent him without guilt? If so, could this have stunted his emotional maturity and trapped him in the mirror stage?
5 comments:
the idea of being stuck in this "mirror stage" sort of baffles me. if he saw the world as a mere extension of his physical being, would he not treat it with more reverence? if he was indeed stuck in this stage, knowing his mother was dead would be like knowing part of him died. would this explain not wanting to see her body?
i'm not so sure i'm buying this concept. i understand that mersault is a pretty messed up guy but he's still human and humans are programmed to feel emotion. being in the mirror stage would only heighten this sense ( in my opinion). the world would be a much more personal place. i'm sure confusion would ensue at times and mersault is much too calm about life.
it seems to me that this condition suggested would bring about reactions and expressions that mersault has yet to convey in any form.
Does he not have emotions?--or does he choose not to express them with us through this narative perspective of a book? In the first section of Part 2, he goes into saying after his meeting with Maria, he has moments he does not wish to share. These are the moments i feel where he does in fact express his emotions, yet does not share with us, and deliberately leaves it out to give the book the feeling of emotional dryness that it has throughout the whole story.
if your intention was to challenge my previous post, i need to clarify: i do believe mersault has emotion that he is not expressing within the text either by choice or because of personal confusion.
question: how is his lack of emotion a choice to express emotion?
I think that Meursault chooses not to show emotion. I do think that he chooses not to because of his past maybe. His mom might of abuse him or he might of been a victim of some abuse and that has affect him. I don't understand why he could not use emotion. I felt like he had a huge wall build up around him.
Is it a possibility that his mother taught him to suppress emotion? After her husband left she may have felt a resentment toward him and discouraged him from showing emotion so that it would be easier for her to continue her resentment. Some murderers and rapists refer to their victims as objects so as not to feel sympathy or guilt. Could this have been true for the relationship between Mersault and his mother? Could she have broken that emotional connection to allow herself to resent him without guilt? If so, could this have stunted his emotional maturity and trapped him in the mirror stage?
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