A deeper look into the absurd and why it is that way

The Stranger by Camus explores the absurd in that we are put into the mind of a character who seems to have minimal to no emotions. To accompany this lack of emotion he seems to have no ideas of his own, as is seen in his simple “yes” as an answer to many people’s questions. In class we have talked about the idea that nothing in life really matters and now that we have finished the book it is much more obvious how seriously Meursault took this idea to heart. All of these factors put together make Meursault a very, for lack of a better word, strange character and we the reader are not the only ones to think this, since the jury kills him much for these reasons.

The absurdity of Meursault is what drives this story as we search for any reasoning behind his actions. For my panel presentation we even did an article that argued that Meursault had some condition that caused him to not have emotions. This shows that we are all trying to find an explanation as to what Meursault is thinking and why he is doing things. We are always searching for concrete answers and we are scared by the idea that someone “just does something”. Just like the jury we look for a reason and when we find out that Meursault has no motive, we think of him in a bad light, some even calling him a monster.

So one big question is why would Camus create a character like this. We have already talked a little about how Camus might be basing his character of his philosophy that nothing in life really matters which would fit with how Meursault does not seem to think there are any repercussions for his actions. This is a good explanation, but what if there is really no reason for his characterization because just like Meursault believes, there is no meaning to anything we do. What if just like Meursault, Camus just said yes to someone who asked him to write a book and it really has no meaning to him. Although I'm quite sure that this is not true it is a good thing to think about when we look at this novel.

What are your thoughts on the absurd parts of this book as well as your ideas on what this might mean?

Gregor's Metamorphosis of the Mind

          The first sentence of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis simply tells the reader that one morning Gregor Samsa woke up as a bug. This implies an abrupt transformation where one day he is human and the next instantly a bug, but the story seems to take a different path than this. Since we have finished the book, we see the full transformation of Gregor during his time as a bug. His changes are mostly seen in his physical abilities (or lack there of) but more importantly how his mind changes.

           At the beginning of The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa is just learning how to use his body. He has difficulty turning over and tries to walk on two legs which ends up hurting him. At this point you can still see the thoughts of a human because he is thinking about his job and trying to do normally human activities. Although there is on main turning point in his physical metamorphosis, the change in how he thinks is a multi step process. He starts out mostly human as we see through his attempts to talk to his boss but he is also having trouble communicate with his family members. The first time that we see an obvious mental change is when he eats for the first time. We see here how much of a bug he is because he avoids the food that humans might eat and is drawn to the old cheese.

          From there the next step where his mentality seems to become less and less human is seen when his mother and sister start to take out his furniture. When they first start to move his things, he simply points out how nice it is of his sister to do this. Then when his mother says her reasoning why its a bad idea Gregor immediately changes his mind which seems to show that he has no identity. For a moment, he had the mindset of a bug in that he was going to be happy with them taking away his human possessions, but instantly snaps back into human mindset when his mother makes that comment. He has now made a change from having his own thoughts to being in between human and bug. This is just one step of his mental metamorphosis. 

          Gregor Samsa’s unfortunate death makes it so this intermediate stage is the most bug-like he gets, but I am certain that his metamorphosis would continue. The book tells the story of a son who wakes up with the body of a bug, but there is also the deeper, slower change of his mind turning into that of a bug.

A Change From Paris to a Fiesta and its Negative Effects

In class we have talked about the change in scenery and how it has affected the characters, and since we mainly talked about how the fishing trip made an impact, I will talk about how the fiesta changed the characters. When the five main characters meet up for the fiesta, everything goes downhill. It seems to start even before the fiesta as Jake’s mood changes with the telegram from his friends, interrupting his peaceful fishing experience. When Jake and Bill make their way back to Brett, Cohn and Mike it seems some issues have already arisen and these will grow throughout the fiesta.

The first issue is between Cohn and Mike. We learn that Cohn has been following Brett around and trying to be with her as much as possible, and this angers Mike (a seemingly reasonable thing to be annoyed about). At first this quarrel between the two is limited to a few harsh comments after a lot of drinking, but over time it becomes a fight between every member of the group. The fights range from telling Cohn to go away, to a full on beating of the bull fighter. These hostile tendencies are something rarely if at all scene during the time in Paris leading me to think that it has to do with the change in setting.

The first aspect of the change in setting that affected the relationships between the characters is how much time they spend together. The five “friends” are pretty much taking a vacation together and thus they have no obligations other than to party. When in Paris we saw a trend of Jake going to work during the day and then at night they would drink together and have fun. This meant that they were only together for a small portion of the day which is different while in Spain where they spend the majority of their time together. This is one of the reasons for the conflict because after spending so much time with Cohn, everyone got fed up.

The next reason as to why there was so much more conflict in Spain isn't really part of the change in scenery, but rather who was there. While at the fiesta, there were three different characters who were in love with Brett together at the same time, and this led to fighting over her. When they were in Paris at most two were in the same place with Brett and thus all three adds to the friction between these lively characters.

Finally, the fiesta in general added to this friction. As some people have eluded to, alcohol effects the characters and how they act especially Mike who is a “Bad drunk”, and although there was drinking in Paris, the fiesta reaches a whole new level. The fiesta is where all the locals party for many days in a row and everyone seems to be drinking so naturally, the five friends drink their fair share. Although this seems to be to loosen up, it ends up hurting the group dynamics and leading to the fights.

Overall, as the friends move from Paris to the fiesta and bull fights, their daily routines and alcohol consumption changes leading to many problems throughout their long vacation.