this subject was already covered in class today, but i think i'll answer anyway :) meursault is a very straight-forward man. i think he centers himself by ignoring all emotional ties he may have to any subject. maybe his mother was that way in his youth or maybe something tragic happened to him that caused this behavior to begin. in either case, years of repressing those feelings could have put him into a sort of "emotional coma". once you get into a habit like that, it's hard to break.
without the ability to express emotion, what else is left but to describe surroundings and events with nothing but logic?
I agree with Brittni whole-heartedly. Meursault offers no emotional insight into the novel, and in doing so, makes it hard to relate to it because it is so impersonal. I feel like every sentence starts with "I did this. Then, I did that. I felt good." Instead of describing the feeling, he just says what he believes he felt, though i personally am not buying that he really knows what he is feeling.
I find him incredibly interesting. When I read, my mind suddenly fills to the brim with questions about everything he says, thinks, and does. To me it seems like the past is too painful to remember, and he has no hope for the future, so what is the point of the present? It's just there, so that is how he describes it. He can't see the point in going into more detail. He can't see the beauty in life. Does any of that make sense to anyone? I kind of started rambling and lost my original thought.
I don't know -- in many ways Mersault does seem damaged. No affect -- isn't that a warning sign for depression, etc.? ON the other hand, given Camus' status as an "existentialist", is Mersault someone who is existentially speaking in an "unawakened" state where he is simply unaware of his own absurdity? Or is he like Sisyphus (you guys read Camus' essay right?)whose victory (and punishment) is in his realization that his task is hopeless?
I never got the impression that he was damaged - or at least, that his apathetic view to everything around him was a result of some emotional trauma. He to me is just the pinnacle of existentialism (or nihilism more maybe) taken to the extreme, and how absurd it is when taken to that extreme. You can't live your life as a vaccuum - otherwise you're not really living at all.
At least, this is what I tell myself. I can't stand him otherwise.
Meursault's so emotionally detached from everything that it borders on, then crosses over into, then sprints across unreal. I would have to be extremely afraid if anyone in real life ever truly functioned like this. I never got the impression that it was some specific thing that made him like that, however.
There is some random sentence somewhere, I believe, that mentions how he was once more enthusiastic and looked for more out of his career when he was younger, but that's the only clue we really get that he was ever not the way he is. If anything, it was probably more of a gradual progression that even he didn't realize was taking place.
In response to booradley, i don't think that Meursault is self-centered or heartless, i just think that he'semotionless... He is very similar to Coloniel Aurlieno Buendia in 100 years of solitude, he "Cried in the womb" and was incapable of love... or something like that. OR he is just smothering his feelings because, not only did he grow up without a father figure, but he knew some stories of his father that he was disgusted by,so he might want tob grow up to be "stronger" than his father...
We see him as lacking. Could it be though that he desires nothing and has no ambition because he has found contentment.
Many of his actions just keep him in the same state that he has maintained and has never truly grown past it. He is happy because his emotional being stays in stasis, never experiencing the pain or worry that comes with the aspects of life that we relish.
Anyone notice how Meursault seems to be consistently in the present, mainly concerned with intaking and describing sensory data? Any comments?
9 comments:
this subject was already covered in class today, but i think i'll answer anyway :) meursault is a very straight-forward man. i think he centers himself by ignoring all emotional ties he may have to any subject. maybe his mother was that way in his youth or maybe something tragic happened to him that caused this behavior to begin. in either case, years of repressing those feelings could have put him into a sort of "emotional coma". once you get into a habit like that, it's hard to break.
without the ability to express emotion, what else is left but to describe surroundings and events with nothing but logic?
It really, really bothers me. He offeres insight and detail on seemingly random, minute things.
I find him ridiculously boring and hard to read because of his detatchment. He's like the walking dead.
I agree with Brittni whole-heartedly. Meursault offers no emotional insight into the novel, and in doing so, makes it hard to relate to it because it is so impersonal. I feel like every sentence starts with "I did this. Then, I did that. I felt good." Instead of describing the feeling, he just says what he believes he felt, though i personally am not buying that he really knows what he is feeling.
I find him incredibly interesting. When I read, my mind suddenly fills to the brim with questions about everything he says, thinks, and does. To me it seems like the past is too painful to remember, and he has no hope for the future, so what is the point of the present? It's just there, so that is how he describes it. He can't see the point in going into more detail. He can't see the beauty in life. Does any of that make sense to anyone? I kind of started rambling and lost my original thought.
I don't know -- in many ways Mersault does seem damaged. No affect -- isn't that a warning sign for depression, etc.? ON the other hand, given Camus' status as an "existentialist", is Mersault someone who is existentially speaking in an "unawakened" state where he is simply unaware of his own absurdity? Or is he like Sisyphus (you guys read Camus' essay right?)whose victory (and punishment) is in his realization that his task is hopeless?
I never got the impression that he was damaged - or at least, that his apathetic view to everything around him was a result of some emotional trauma. He to me is just the pinnacle of existentialism (or nihilism more maybe) taken to the extreme, and how absurd it is when taken to that extreme. You can't live your life as a vaccuum - otherwise you're not really living at all.
At least, this is what I tell myself. I can't stand him otherwise.
Meursault's so emotionally detached from everything that it borders on, then crosses over into, then sprints across unreal. I would have to be extremely afraid if anyone in real life ever truly functioned like this. I never got the impression that it was some specific thing that made him like that, however.
There is some random sentence somewhere, I believe, that mentions how he was once more enthusiastic and looked for more out of his career when he was younger, but that's the only clue we really get that he was ever not the way he is. If anything, it was probably more of a gradual progression that even he didn't realize was taking place.
In response to booradley, i don't think that Meursault is self-centered or heartless, i just think that he'semotionless... He is very similar to Coloniel Aurlieno Buendia in 100 years of solitude, he "Cried in the womb" and was incapable of love... or something like that. OR he is just smothering his feelings because, not only did he grow up without a father figure, but he knew some stories of his father that he was disgusted by,so he might want tob grow up to be "stronger" than his father...
We see him as lacking. Could it be though that he desires nothing and has no ambition because he has found contentment.
Many of his actions just keep him in the same state that he has maintained and has never truly grown past it. He is happy because his emotional being stays in stasis, never experiencing the pain or worry that comes with the aspects of life that we relish.
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