5 Questions
1. What does Salamano's dog represent?
2. Why does Camus create a character that is irritated when other people show emotion?
3. Why does Camus describe some things or events as colorful and not others? When he uses figurative language or imagery, it almost always involves color. What do colors represent?
4. Is Camus using the motifs of coffee and cigarettes as symbols for something larger? Is it something to do with emotion?
5. Is the idea of Meursault's forehead burning and his "veins pulsing" used to signify a change in him? Do they represent something else?
5 Answers
Shannon's blog: Camus describes everyone but the Arabs in detail to emphasize the racism felt by the French at that time, and to portray the Arabs as inferior.
Tania's blog: Camus separates the novel into two parts to show that even though Meursault's life is so different in jail, it is really the same endless pattern of meaningless events.
Anthony Nguyen's blog: Marie does contribute to the "life is pointless" theory. Camus uses Marie as an example that work doesn't get one anywhere; even though she tries to get Meursault to marry her and love her, everything is futile and he doesn't care about her at all.
Isabel's blog: Camus uses so much ambiguous language to emphasize two things: Meursault's clarity and bluntness, and also to illustrate that, since he believes life has no meaning, details and specific events don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Tate's blog: The repetition in Meursault's life emphasizes the futility of things; no matter what Meursault does, his life is basically the same pattern of eating, sleeping, etc. It conveys the idea that life is pointless.
Response to Question 5:
ReplyDeleteCamus uses the imagery of Meursault's forehead burning and his "veins pulsing" to signify the impact of physical contditions on his decision-making process (such as to sleep, to eat, or to shoot a man). Meursault does not consider society's standards when he makes a choice; he simply does whatever makes sense to him at that present moment. This plays into the accomplishment of the existential philosophy that an individual must make their own choices.
#4 Is Camus using the motifs of coffee and cigarettes as symbols for something larger? Is it something to do with emotion?
ReplyDeleteThrough the motif of coffee and the symbol of cigarettes Camus portrays freedom from society, escaping the stressful lifestyle into one more relaxed.
#1 Just a heads up, I dont recall Raymond having a dog, Salamano has a dog. Salamano has this dog because his wife has passed away, and he got the dog in order to help him get over the loss of his wife. Camus uses this relationship between Salamano and his dog to give insight into human nature. Many people have animals, friends, family that they do not get along with. Often people treat their animals, friends, or family rudely or badly, and even though they do this they still love and care about them. Camus is trying to show that despite how the dog angers Salamano, Salamano still cares about the dog, he just becomes annoyed by it and reacts sometimes by beating and or cursing at the dog.
ReplyDelete2. Camus expresses that if one’s emotions are repressed they will display irritation when others show emotion due to one’s envies for the others ability to show emotion.
ReplyDeleteCamus uses the dog to represent the relationship between a human and something they love. This relationship contrasts with the relationships that Meursault has to make them seem superficial and to show that he is not capable of understanding a deeper relationship.
ReplyDeleteCamus uses the symbols of coffee and cigarettes as the vices of society. They are habits that tie society together. When Meursault finally separates himself fully from those around him, he no longer participates in those habitual "needs".
ReplyDelete2. Camus creates a character that is irritated when others show emotion in order to show his own inability to show emotion himself
ReplyDelete#5 Is the idea of Meursault's forehead burning and his "veins pulsing" used to signify a change in him? Do they represent something else?
ReplyDeleteCamus uses the idea of Meursault's forehead burning and his "veins pulsing" to display how instinct and feeling plays a large role in his decision making process. He does things because he wants to and not because they make sense.