Journal #5: The Stranger

My Philosophy:  A life worth living 

Learn from the Past, Prepare for the Future, Adapt to the Present:
The past has already happened, and nothing can change it.  But it doesn't mean you can't find ways to improve yourself by being conscious of it.  Self reflection is important, which leads to preparing for the future.  Use what you have learned to plan for what you predict will come ahead.  Making goals and constantly challenging yourself is essential to living a full life.  Don't, however, hold onto goals that become unreasonable.  Instead, adapt.  Whatever situation you are in is never completely under your control.  Therefore, the unexpected can happen rather easily.  Being able to roll with the punches is one of the most important skils one can have in life.  Plus it makes life more fun.  Its not interesting when you always know what is going to happen.

Get Over It and Move On:

Although it is important to reflect on the past, people still get stuck on it for longer than they should.  Whether you are ready for it, lives goes on.  If you can't get over something, you will be losing time which could be spent having better experiences somewhere else.  Use what you learn and make something better out of it than just sitting around and moping.

Don't be afraid to Judge:

Saying that you should live or do live without judging things and people is naive and false.  Being able to make quick decisions on gut instinct or speedy logic is an important skill for being aware of your surroundings.  Some of the most successful people are the best judgers.  Beware, however, that judgements are not always right, and one shouldn't directly act upon them unless it is absolutely neccessary.

Be Openminded:

Although this contrasts the above principle, both principles need to be used at the right times in order to be successful.  Snap judgements are for the present moment, but open mindedness occurs during reflection.  One must always review things with an openmind, otherwise key things will be missed.  Humans are notorious for clinging on to our old beliefs and being unwilling to change our views when there is greater evidence for something else.  I think that beliefs should be based on evidence, and they should be able to shift if one finds more evidence in support of something else.

Live for Experiences:

I personally haven't been exposed to enough proof to accept a religion, therefore I don't presently believe in a higher power.  I accept that one could exist, but I don't have enough information to commit myself to that belief.  What I know to be true though, is that life is filled with experiences to be had.  I emphasize that I am not advocating pursuing illegal or dangerous experiences, but life would be boring without truly knowing what life has to offer.  Experiences don't always have to be and shouldn't always be comfortable, but should be aimed to give oneself a knew perspective that could only be truly appreciated by going through something unordinary.  This will make you question what ordinary really is, whether it exists at all, or whether "normal" is just a concept which we have complete control over.

Find your Limits:

Living without ever pushing yourself isn't living to your fullest.  Never knowing your true capability is a waste of time and life.  Searching for your limits is an experience in itself, and will lead you to discovering things about yourself that you couldn't have known otherwise.

Don't be Afraid to ask for Help:

Our species has spent thousands of years finding and recording solutions to problems and acquiring vast amounts of information.  It is more than one can ever hope to absorb.  Therefore, using our collective human intelligence effectively requires seeking out advice from other people.  Being timid and not asking for help will just hold you back.

Live to Benefit Society:

The only true impact people have on this world are what they leave behind in memories.  People can build and lead and create, but all things eventually fall apart.  How people remember you can last forever, and the only way to leave a good impact is to live with the purpose of benefitting society.  The historical figures we respect are the ones who spent their life with this goal in mind, and the notorious historical figures we remember were the ones who brought society down.  We live to promote our collective human race, and doing so successfully will get you inscribed in the memories of other people, making your life worth living.

Live Curious:

Live with a drive to improve your knowledge of the world around you.  This doesn't mean don't worry about grades, because grades are what get you into the higher class of learning; college.  Knowledge can be found in an unlimited amount of ways, and people should never stop seeking it.

Journal #4: The Stranger

Meursault comes to the conclusion that even though death is inevitable, life is still worth living.  He himself has no religious beliefs, and states that he thinks when people die, that is it.  One with a view on life like that might seem like they think that life is pointless, but Meursault comes to a different conclusion.  He reflects this when he thinks about Maman.  "For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman.  I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a "fiance," why she had played at the beginning again.  Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite.  So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again" (Camus 122).  Meursault understood why these old people enjoyed life so much even though they knew they were close to death.  He understood that although he didn't know the meaning of life, he did know that life was given to us.  You can make life living without knowing its purpose.

Camus wants the reader to reach the same conclusion as Meursault because his conclusion represented the philosophy of absurdism.  Absurdism states that humans are unable to figure out if there is a meaning of life, or know what it is.  Camus, through his writing, wants the reader to accept this philosphy, but also understand that although we don't know the meaning of life, it doesn't mean there is no point to living.

Journal #3: The Stranger

I think Camus divided The Stranger into two parts in order to show the change in Meursalt's attitude towards life.  Camus uses longer syntax as a textual way of changing how the reader perceives Meursalt's thoughts.  "But at the same time, and for the first time in months, I distinctly heard the sound of my own voice" (81).  This longer syntax creates the feel that Meursalt is thinking more in depth, which is true because he is reflecting back on things a lot more than earlier in the book. "And the more I thought about it, the more I dug out of my memory things I had overlooked and forgotten.  I realized then that a man who had lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison.  He would have enough memories to keep him from being bored" (79).  Meursalt is just now learning the value of reflecting back on his life.  He concludes that memories are what is really important to us, especially if our life is no longer under our control, such as his is because he is in prison.  This shift in mindset was purposely put in place by Camus in order to illustrate the philosophy of existentialism, where on tries to make their life have purpose through the things they do.  Meursalt, through recollection of his memory, is trying to figure out whether his former life had purpose because now, due to prison, he is no longer in control of his actions.

Journal #2: The Stranger

Option 2:  I think Camus chose to write The Stranger in first person because then the narration can reveal more about how Meursalt thinks.  Since his unique viewpoints and ways of reasoning are important in this novel, that was a wise choice.  Camus is able to use literary techniques to characterize Meursalt through the way he thinks.  For example, many of the sentences are choppy and to the point.  This reveals that Meursalt is very direct and logical in the way that he thinks, and doesn't devote time to the lengthy process of assessing emotions.  A problem of this analysis, however, is the fact that the book is a translation.  The lack of accuracy and necessary objectiveness when translating a piece of writing can really change our perception of Meursalt, especially in our view of how he thinks.  So in conclusion, Camus made a wise choice in writing in first person in order to reveal the thought processes of Meursalt, but this effect breaks down once it is translated due to inaccuracies in sentence structure that come with translation.

Journal #1: The Stranger

Salamano:  He is the old neighbor of Meursalt.  He owns a dog that has similar attributes as him, such as age, scabby skin, and personality.  Salamano got his dog after his wife passed away.  Even though he constantly complains and beats the dog, he still cares for it enormously.  He doesn't know what to do with himself when the dog has run off.  The dog may be Salamano's attempt to keep the relationship part of his life the same after his wife died.  This causes him distress similar to his wife's death when he runs away, because he now faces having to adjust to a new way of life.  Camus uses this character to show that we find stability in the lifestyle that we create for ourselves, and we will fall apart if that lifestyle is disrupted.

Boss/Raymond:  Both these characters have very similar actions during the novel.  They both are big planners, mapping out the future in an attempt to achieve pleasure or self advancement.  Although Meursalt is pretty much the exact opposite of this, they still both frequently rely on him for advice.  This may be because they recognize that he is not as affected as them to emotional disturbances, therefore he is more reliable to give a logical and reasonal answer to their questions.  Camus uses these characters to help the reader distinguish Meursalt's unique behavior in contrast to what we may think of as normal behavior.

Marie:  Marie is Meursalt's girlfriend/partner/fiancee.  She is a beautiful women who Meursalt likes to spend time with.  Their thoughts towards love and marriage are complete contrasts however.  Marie feels love and expresses it towards Meursalt by her desire to get married.  Meursalt, on the other hand, is unsure if he feels love and therefore doesn't associate marriage with it.  Camus uses this relationship to contrast Meursalt with society's normal viewpoint towards love, and also uses it to demonstrate that relationships can thrive between two completely different people.