The Stranger: Journal #5

Rachel Ramirez Philosophy:

1. Send the elevator back down: Each and every person must try his or her hardest to empower themselves, to live up to their full potential, to be the best, to educate themselves. Once a person has done this, once he or she has taken the elevator of success to the top, it is his or her job to send the elevator back down for someone below them. There are many many people in the world that are nowhere near as fortunate as we are in America, they strive to have an education, and it is important that we extend our hand and help.

2. Find what "God" or "religion" means to you: I personally do not believe in a "God" I was raised to be Jewish, and spent five years in a Jewish private school. Now, I do not reject religion, but it's not for me. Instead, I believe in love, music, perfect coincidences, and science. I don't practice any religion, but I do believe in things and I think that some people can choose God, and others will choose to have "religion" mean something different to them, and that's fine.

3. Do not regret yesterday, tomorrow: Everyone must live in the present, live their current situation to the fullest. I saw a quote once, and it was something like, it is important to do something you enjoy each day because you wasted a day of your life doing it. Now, this quote made me think, for one I read it on the internet after watching three hours of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, so it hit me, you only have one today, don't waste it. You should look ahead to the future and hope that there will be one, but don't take it for granted.

4. Today shapes tomorrow: Understand that the things you do and say will impact your future. I'm not saying every minute white lie, or that a persons future is predetermined, I just mean that it is important to remember that in 10 years, or five years you may be put into a situation where it may not be easy to deal with your past. For example, I think of your future spouse, or child, or how things impact your parents. People need to realize that their actions and words, have the full potential to change another person whether or not that person is present in their life at the time.

5. Hate is learned: I will fully agree with the the child development specialists that argue that personalities are predetermined. I believe that all individuals are born with some sort of special personality, in the same way that our DNA is different from one another. However, I do not think that hate is in the mix when personalities are predetermined. No child is born to hate, it is absolutely learned, and it shouldn't be. Babies are not born to be racist or sexist or discriminate another over their sexuality, religion, parents, socioeconomic stance. No child should learn how to hate.

6. In spite of fear, stand: It can be the most difficult thing in the world to stand in a room and realize that you are alone in your beliefs, that you do not have a friend who views the world in the same lens as you, but the only way to prove that you are not wrong for simply being different, is to stand up, hold your ground, hold your had high, and regardless of what they say, do not let anyone or fear stop you. Do not let fear suppress you.

7. Rely on yourself: It is unrealistic to expect others, or even a God to do things for you. It is unrealistic to wish upon stars and not follow up those wishes with hard work and determination. You may never fully achieve anything with the full faith that 'If God wants me to ____ then it will happen". You must go out and do things yourself. Yes, sure, have faith in your God, magic, stars, parents, connections, whatever it may be, but do not forget that when you do succeed or fail it is because of what you did or did not do.

I write these ideals from my own lief experiences, I am very passionate about helping others and loving each and every person. I think that the world is too often filled with hate and anger. I am a minority in many different ways and therefore it can be hard to stand alone, but it must be done or no one else will. I feel that we all must empower ourselves, and if in that power you find a a faith, run with it, but do not forget yourself. This is just what I believe in, and it is so much easier to write down guide lines for life, or to give advice than to follow it, but for the most part I do follow my own philosophies.

The Stranger: Journal #4

At the end of the novel The Stranger Meursault realizes that no matter what a persons past was like, each and every person dies and whether they are killed because they are guilty of a crime or whether they die because of old age, everyone dies in the end. I think that Meursault has known all along that death is inevitable and always had a sort of "What's the point?" type of attitude, but it really came through in the second part of the novel near the end when he's in his final moments and really accepts death as something he cannot control. I think that Meursault's absurd or existential qualities in the novel were used by Camus not to tell his readers to be absurd but rather to inform them. I had never encountered something with absurd philosophies until this book, so I think he's making readers aware of what this concept is, but not trying to force anyone in any specific direction.

The Stranger: Journal #3

Q: Why do you think Camus divided his novel into two parts? Use textual evidence to support your answer (consider how does Meursault changes, what are some parallel ideas and scenes, etc.).

I think that Camus divided the novel into two different parts to add emphasis to the change in character that Meursault undergoes. Because the novel is told in first person, the a lot of the book is composed of Meursaults thoughts. In part one Meursault thoughts were short and choppy, "I wished I didn't have to listen to her anymore. But I didn't dare say anything" (Camus, 10). The sentences are simple and short, which make Meursaults thoughts appear to either be simple and short, or that he does not include the reader into every thought, there is no clear flow from one thought to the next. In part two there is shift in Meursault's character that is shown through his thoughts, "I gazed at my reflection one more time. It was still serious - and what was surprising about that, since at that moment I was too?" (Camus, 81). Clearly, the sentences of his subconscious are much deeper and longer, being portrayed with more complex sentences. I think this shift is in part because he is in prison all by himself, and therefore he has more time to actually open up to himself and reflect on how he feels, so we see a different side of him.

As far as parallels go, the same colors are continued in the second half of the book. At the beginning of the trial, Camus describes the red robes, and the black a ties, the white fans. The Robotic woman, appears again, watching him. When she was described in part one she had bright eyes, and the man that was watching him that Meursault felt was himself had bright eyes. The people judging him are very similar to how part one started with the old people in the vigil. He was unable to distinguish individuals in both scenes. As far as his thoughts go, we see a change as earlier addressed, but there are also the same type of thoughts, the trial irritated him and "The utter pointlessness of whatever I was doing there [...] I wanted to get it over with and get back to my cell and sleep" (Camus 105).

The Stranger: Journal #2

Option 2: Evaluate the author's use of first person point of view. Why didn't Camus choose third person omniscient? How is his choice of point of view related to Camus' purpose/themes in the novel.

Personally, I feel that Camus chose to have the story told in first person as opposed to third person omniscient because when a story is told in first person there is a certain level of closeness that you have to the character because it is told by them. With third person omniscient the narrator can tell many characters thoughts, but with this story and Meursault being an outsider to the world, it makes sense to have the focus only be on him and only know his thoughts rather than everyone else's as well as his. I believe that because he is an "outsider" or "stranger" because the story is told by him the reader is more able to want to side with Meursault and see him as something other than a "stranger". Lastly, by telling the story from him point of view, the subtle changes that Meursault does go through in the book, are more obvious.

The Stranger: Journal #1

Three Characters:

Salamano: Old Salamano is Meursault's neighbor who is often depicted as being with his old dog. The two look alike, and do the same thing everyday. Salamano has a love hate relationship that often ends with him beating his dog over the same things every single day. At the end of chapter 4 when Salamano looses his dog, Meursault thinks of his mother. Salamano represents someone who lives in the present because when he looses his dog, he is very upset by this, and had he gotten the collar taken care of, or taken better care of his dog he would not have lost him. The same goes for Meursault, when he hears about he dog, he thinks of his mom because I think that Salamano, though he did not treat the dog respectfully, he loved the dog very much, just like Meursault loved his mom.

Meursault's Boss: The boss the man who Meursault works for. He is mentioned throughout the book, back to the very beginning. In chapter five the boss asks if Meursault would be interested in taking a job in Paris, but he of course is not. This lack of interest highlights Meursaults character as someone who lives in the present and does not care much about the future, as well as the point of even living very much and having ambition because we will all die. He is aware of the human condition, and says that he used to have ambition, but that stopped.

The Woman in Celeste's: She is portrayed as having very robotic movements. She is very quick and knows what she is doing, she plans out her whole meal, and does the numbers for the check, she clearly thinks a lot. I think she is sort of a foil to Meursault in the manner that she goes about the world in. Camus says that she walked along the curb fast and didn't falter, I think this parallels the manner in which she goes about life. She is a woman with purpose, and takes time to think about the future and living life nicely. Meursault forgot her because he does not think of these things, therefore other people really have little importance.