Quit Your Worrying: All the little things that happen to you combine to make up your life experience. If one or two things go wrong along the way, then you ultimately become a better person from learning from your mistakes. If you stress about everything right, then more things will end up going wrong. I came to this conclusion mainly through by experiences as a student. Working hard at the right time is key, and prioritizing can make or break one's sleep schedule. Bottom line: don't fret the small stuff.
Lower Your Expectations: If you expect too much, all you get are meltdowns that result in not getting an A or not getting first place in something. Keep your expectations realistic to yourself. Nobody's perfect, and neither are you!
Raise Your Expectations: Success is self-driven. You're not going to amount to much if you're being guided by the wants of your teachers and/or parents. It's much easier to find success and happiness if you work for yourself and not others. Set goals for yourself, go out, and acheive them!
It's not all about you: Contrary to what most teenagers believe, the world does not revolve around you. It revolves around the sun, so you should just get over yourself. When a person thinks of only themselves, they tend to do more harm to other people than they do good. Think of other people before you act or speak in a way that could harm another person. Do good for the world and help those that are less fortunate, because people in middle-class tigard have it pretty darn good compared to a lot of folks.
Don't close your mind to other points of view: I'm not trying to bash religion here. I myself believe that there is something out there that's bigger than myself and everyone else. It could be God, Buddah, or what have you. I don't know. I just feel like that if I accepted one religion, then I would be closing myself off to all the great stuff other beliefs have to offer. This part of my philosophy doesn't solely pertain to religion, either! Other people that you happen to be acquainted with are intelligent individuals with valuable opinions. It's important to be open to those opinions in order to learn the most you can about yourself and the world. I hate politics, I think it brings out the worst in people, so I think this part of my thinking stems from that.
Take Risks: It's that IB philosophy, right? We're all risk-takers! But seriously, I think living a wee bit dangerously is important because it helps people discover their boundaries, know what they're good at, and figure out what they need to improve on. Failure is the best way to learn, but you can't fail if you nail yourself up in a little box and don't take risks. I also feel like risk taking is a great, if not the only way, to get over your fears. I've taken risks in my life that helped me shed my fears of heights, spiders, and public speaking! I still haven't dealt with those bees, though. But having a fear of bees is valid, right?
Respect and learn from your elders: Parents, teachers, family friends, doctors, doesn't matter! Old people have had more life experience, and they probably know a lot more than you do! Their experiences have combined to make them who they are. Some of those experiences may have been negative, and I have no doubt that most level-headed adults have learned from those experiences. With that in mind, I feel like it's critical that young people take into account the wishes of their parents or whoever has been your mentor of sorts when making decisions. Sometimes, your elders tell you things they don't want to hear or prevent you from doing things that you want to do. That's because they don't want you to make the same mistakes they made, so you should deal with it.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Stranger #4
At the end of the novel, I think Mersault becomes a less self-centered person and starts realizing that other people, in addition to himself, control his fate. He does this by actually getting angry at someone, the chaplain, and expressing his emotions. He also opens himself up to the "gentle indifference of the world" and actually wants people to come to his execution. Earlier in the book, Mersault didn't look at other people in the same light as he did on those last few pages. He found others annoying, had other, rather crude, opinions, and didn't even care about getting married. I don't know if the marriage thing was ever resolved in part 2, partly because Camus himself frowned apon marriage and partly because Mersault was dead before he could get married. I think that Camus wants the reader to come to the same conclusion that Mersault did because, ultimately, Mersault developed largely as a character while he was in jail. He went from being a flat, almost boring person to being a complex character with strong opinions and emotions that were not expressed in part one of the book.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Stranger #3
I think Camus has divided the novel in to two parts to show that Mersault has changed as a character after the murder, but the situations surrounding him really haven't.
Mersault's thoughts expressed in the 1st person narration of the novel shift pretty dramatically between part one and part two. In part two, Camus uses more complex sentences and imagery to describe what is going on around Mersault as opposed to describing things in a list like, "this happened, and then this happened" way that we saw in part one. This could be partially because Mersault has a lot more time on his hands to think about and observe things in his life now that he is confined to jail. Mersault also spends more time pondering the past in part two. He thinks about Marie, Maman, and every detail of his room back home. Mersault admits later in the book (not sure where, I highlighted it though) that he was used to thinking about the future, either today or tomorrow. The shift in Mersault's thinking is an important part of his character development as we move in to part two.
I drew some parallels between the two parts. One of them was the old people in chapter one and the jury in part 2. Both of the groups of people blend together and are indistinguishable, and both groups either are or appear to be judging Mersault. The walk to Maman's funeral took 45 minutes, and the wait for the verdict of the trial was the same amount of time. The little robot woman appears again, but this time with a young man that reminds Mersault of himself. In part one, time is very definate and Mersault keeps track of what day it is, what time he needs to catch his bus, etc.. In part two, time blends together for Mersault. Days run together without ending.
Question: Why does part 1 have six chapters and part 2 have 5? Was Mersault's life cut short too soon? I want things to be parallel, and that bothers me.
Mersault's thoughts expressed in the 1st person narration of the novel shift pretty dramatically between part one and part two. In part two, Camus uses more complex sentences and imagery to describe what is going on around Mersault as opposed to describing things in a list like, "this happened, and then this happened" way that we saw in part one. This could be partially because Mersault has a lot more time on his hands to think about and observe things in his life now that he is confined to jail. Mersault also spends more time pondering the past in part two. He thinks about Marie, Maman, and every detail of his room back home. Mersault admits later in the book (not sure where, I highlighted it though) that he was used to thinking about the future, either today or tomorrow. The shift in Mersault's thinking is an important part of his character development as we move in to part two.
I drew some parallels between the two parts. One of them was the old people in chapter one and the jury in part 2. Both of the groups of people blend together and are indistinguishable, and both groups either are or appear to be judging Mersault. The walk to Maman's funeral took 45 minutes, and the wait for the verdict of the trial was the same amount of time. The little robot woman appears again, but this time with a young man that reminds Mersault of himself. In part one, time is very definate and Mersault keeps track of what day it is, what time he needs to catch his bus, etc.. In part two, time blends together for Mersault. Days run together without ending.
Question: Why does part 1 have six chapters and part 2 have 5? Was Mersault's life cut short too soon? I want things to be parallel, and that bothers me.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Stranger #2
When the sun or light is present, Mersault is often unhappy or in an unhappy situation. This idea is repeated from Maman's death, to the beach, and most recently to the room where Mersault was questioned in chapter 6. He also gets tired in the presence of sunlight, and calls daytime "a slap in the face". The sun also makes Mersault "drunk" on two occasions (the funeral and at the beach) so he is unable to think straight.
Come to think of it, the sun makes Mersault a lot of things. It's a blanket reason that he uses to justify his mental state. That would make sense because the sun is pretty much always there except for night time (during which Mersault sleeps, CONTRAST!). The sun makes him drowsy, makes him drunk, and makes him kill the Arab. The sun makes us do things, like going outside on a beautiful day like today, and it might give us emotions like happiness, but I don't think our lives are being as dictated by the sun as Mersault is. Perhaps the sun is representing some greater being, like God, that Camus believes has power over people because he makes is affect Mersault so heavily.
The sun could also embody the psychological idea of determinism, under which every action and every choice a person makes can be boiled down to some reason or past event that made he or she perform an action. Since it makes Mersault feel things like tired or angry and do things like kill people, the determinism argument would make sense here! The sun is described as oppressive, and may demonstrate Mersault's desire to have free will (which does not exist under determinism). Maybe Camus is saying determinism isn't really the way to go, but that we can't really go any other way because the sun is always there. Except for at night time. Maybe we have free will in our dreams.
Come to think of it, the sun makes Mersault a lot of things. It's a blanket reason that he uses to justify his mental state. That would make sense because the sun is pretty much always there except for night time (during which Mersault sleeps, CONTRAST!). The sun makes him drowsy, makes him drunk, and makes him kill the Arab. The sun makes us do things, like going outside on a beautiful day like today, and it might give us emotions like happiness, but I don't think our lives are being as dictated by the sun as Mersault is. Perhaps the sun is representing some greater being, like God, that Camus believes has power over people because he makes is affect Mersault so heavily.
The sun could also embody the psychological idea of determinism, under which every action and every choice a person makes can be boiled down to some reason or past event that made he or she perform an action. Since it makes Mersault feel things like tired or angry and do things like kill people, the determinism argument would make sense here! The sun is described as oppressive, and may demonstrate Mersault's desire to have free will (which does not exist under determinism). Maybe Camus is saying determinism isn't really the way to go, but that we can't really go any other way because the sun is always there. Except for at night time. Maybe we have free will in our dreams.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Stranger #1
Old Salamano is Mersault's grumpy old neighbor that likes to swear at his dog. Both he and the dog have gross skin conditions. Salamano beats and swears at his dog, but he still misses it when it runs away. He used the dog to fill the hole his wife left behind when she passed, and I think Camus is using Salamano and the dog to say something about relationships. Salamano hates and at the same time loves his dog, and the dog seems to forget that he gets beaten and yelled at so often. So... one's love for another can blind them to all the bad stuff that's in a relationship?
Raymond is also Mersault's neighbor and he also beats things inside his apartment. This time, instead of a dog, it's a woman. He lives in a one-room apartment that is crudely decorated with pictures of naked women. He also has an angel above his bed, which I find interesting. Raymond is a pimp (sorry, don't know what else to call it) who gets enjoyment out of going to whorehouses and beating his girlfriend. In his defense, she did cheat on him, but violence is never the answer, my friends. However, it might have been the norm in 1942 so maybe it was the answer to beat your ladies back then. Mersault and Raymond have a "manly" relationship. They connected on a level and became pals, and Raymond seems to think Mersault gets him and wants to talk to him because he's a man! Camus is using Raymond and his relationship with Mersault to say something about men, and also women. Seeing as Raymond's interactions with Mersault are quite different from those with his lady friends, I would think that Camus is contrasting men and women.
Marie used to work with Mersault and is his love interest throughout the novel. We see their romance in part one of the book, while in part two she doesn't appear save for Mersault's trial and when she visits him in jail. While he is in jail, Mersault continues to think about her even though their relationship has deteriorated. Her appearance isn't really described, except for that Mersault thinks she's beautiful. She is a cheerful person from what I gathered. She jumps up and down because of the weather and pokes fun at Mersault quite often. Camus uses Marie to bring out some of Mersault's slightly off-kilter views on things like love. Mersault narrates the story, and when thinking of Marie he often describes her body. Camus is using Mersault's thoughts about Marie's body to sort of objectify women.
Raymond is also Mersault's neighbor and he also beats things inside his apartment. This time, instead of a dog, it's a woman. He lives in a one-room apartment that is crudely decorated with pictures of naked women. He also has an angel above his bed, which I find interesting. Raymond is a pimp (sorry, don't know what else to call it) who gets enjoyment out of going to whorehouses and beating his girlfriend. In his defense, she did cheat on him, but violence is never the answer, my friends. However, it might have been the norm in 1942 so maybe it was the answer to beat your ladies back then. Mersault and Raymond have a "manly" relationship. They connected on a level and became pals, and Raymond seems to think Mersault gets him and wants to talk to him because he's a man! Camus is using Raymond and his relationship with Mersault to say something about men, and also women. Seeing as Raymond's interactions with Mersault are quite different from those with his lady friends, I would think that Camus is contrasting men and women.
Marie used to work with Mersault and is his love interest throughout the novel. We see their romance in part one of the book, while in part two she doesn't appear save for Mersault's trial and when she visits him in jail. While he is in jail, Mersault continues to think about her even though their relationship has deteriorated. Her appearance isn't really described, except for that Mersault thinks she's beautiful. She is a cheerful person from what I gathered. She jumps up and down because of the weather and pokes fun at Mersault quite often. Camus uses Marie to bring out some of Mersault's slightly off-kilter views on things like love. Mersault narrates the story, and when thinking of Marie he often describes her body. Camus is using Mersault's thoughts about Marie's body to sort of objectify women.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)