IDEAL REAL
The idea of the thing The experience of the thing
city of romance/lights PARIS pigeons, dirty, pale
stars galore! HOLLYWOOD stars on sidewalks
culmination of hs COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ???
LOSING A PARENT
LOVE
MARRIAGE
MURDER
RESPOND:
Respond to the following student reactions to The Stranger.
- Meursault is very difficult to pin down. I really wish M. Meursault would just reveal himself. I find his character so baffling that I’m having a hard time decoding the main themes of the book—he has no personal convictions of his own. FRUSTRATED READER!
- Meursault is frustratingly incoherent. The meaning of the book has to be that it’s as absurd to have a purpose in life as it is for purposelessness to be the purpose.
- Going on in life without a purpose seems to me pointless, but the others in my group think it’s okay!
- Meursault is a sponge who is open to his surroundings. He is acutely aware of his surroundings, yet is completely outside of them. Meursault finds peace of mind in this neutral state.
- Instinct and emotions are different, and Meursault has taught himself to live on instincts.
- Camus is encouraging us all to find our own distinct meaning in life, whatever that may be, because only that discovery and subsequent embrace can bring you consummation and happiness. I believe Camus intentionally made Meursault a strange and almost repugnant character so that the reader could uncover his own true self through the fundamental disagreement of character that the reader feels with Meursault.
Ch6 Questions (end of Part I)
Find how many ways the sun and light affect him in Ch. 6 at the beach?
How does he act as a moral superego to Raymond (page 64)?
Does he show his philosophy? To stay or go; shoot or not shoot (65) What is his philosophy?
Why does he hate explaining to the women? (63)
