Albert Camus The Stranger Essay Example for Free

Albert Camus The Stranger Essay In Camus The Stranger, the author exposes a tension between society and the protagonists perspective of society. The reader comes to understand the pointlessness of existence through the protagonists lens. Although society defines people by actions, Meursault rejects ideas of categorization and embraces a nihilistic view of life. This judgment passed on individuals is based on an individuals actions. Meursault realizes that everything that lives must die, therefore no matter what one does in life, one is still doomed to the same fate that everyone else is. Meursault makes all of his decisions based on his notion that his actions are unimportant because no matter how society classifies him, he will still die. It is Meursaults utter rejection of all things irrational that separate him from his fellow man and make him a stranger. The fact that Meursault doesnt cry at his own mothers funeral demonstrates how Meursault is disconnected from the normal human emotions of grief that usually accompany death. Meursault is not even sure when his mother died. Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I dont know(3). He seems to view the rest of humanity as the others, as if he is a mere observer rather than a part of humanity that he was born into. For example, the image of the elderly people gathered around the caretaker nodding their heads at Meursault conjures up the feeling of vultures surveying their prey. Even Meursault himself feels that they were there to judge(10). His behavior only reinforces this division as he finds himself unable to share in the emotional connection and experience of the vigil. For instance, when one of the women starts to cry, his only response to the tender display of love is, I wish I didnt have to listen to her anymore(10). He does not relate to nor understand the womans humanityas if he were a stranger to the essential elements of what it means to be human. Moreover, when the vigil ends and the elderly friends leave they shake his hand, a gesture to which he mockingly thinks as if that night had somehow brought us closer together (12). This sarcasm underscores how utterly detached he feels from the rest of the world. After returning from the funeral for his mother, Meursault really demonstrates the meaninglessness of his life. What could possibly be more  boring and meaningless than walking around your apartment for a while? This passage is interesting because it gives the reader a rare glimpse of reflection about his mother. Even here, though, it is ultimately selfish in nature. Now that his mother is gone, he feels that his apartment is too big for him. He still lacks remorse or grief, but hes realizing how his mothers death affects him: abstractly and physically. The fact that Meursault thinks the apartment is too big for only him symbolizes his aloneness. Just as the apartment is too big and he lives only in one little part, the world is too big, and he is fundamentally alone. By killing the Arab, Meursault proves that his actions define him, and even if society labels him as a murderer, it does not matter because he is going to die anyway. The murder of the Arab takes place at the climax of the story and it makes the reader wonder why Meursault has no remorse. He is aware of what he is doing and is aware that it is wrong, however he does it anyway. Most people would care if they shot another man, but since he has no cares, he does it with no worries or remorse. If the other one moves in, or if he draws his knife, Ill let him have it (56). This moment in particular is an example of his detached, passive, and psychotic nature. He offers to kill so nonchalantly that it shows no moral stance whatsoever. Hes so mentally detached that the thought of murder poses no great emotion or even feared remorse. Meursault starts to question why he should care about his life before he dies. He does not question what things would make his life worthwhile, but he questions why he should even question the things that would benefit his life. As far as I could see, it didnt have anything to do with me(69). This emphasizes the point that Meursault is strongly disjointed from society and his and other peoples happiness. All Meursault knows is that it is not worth his time to worry about classifying things as good or bad because he will die regardless of his classification. Meursault is asked about emotions and feelings he doesnt have or care to have. Meursault is annoyed because this is all a worthless examination into something that will seemingly bring no real conclusion to anything, because life is absurd. Meursault was sure about one thingdeath. He was sure he would die, just like everyone else.  But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me (120). In his death, Meursault finally becomes part of the mainstream society, along with everyone else. The only guarantee in life is death. Meursault would die regardless of whether he killed the Arab or not. Meursault has reached the understanding that his life is not affected by his actions; it is only affected by his inevitable death. Meursault justifies his actions with his indifference. Whatever he has done in his life could not save him from his death. Meursaults emotional detachment and disconnect from everyday emotions make him a stranger to humanity.

Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures Essay -- English Lite

Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures Introduction More than three-quarters of the people living in the world today have had their lives shaped by the experience of colonialism. It is easy to see how important this has been in the political and economic spheres, but its general influence on the perceptual frameworks of contemporary peoples is often less evident. Literature offers one of the most important ways in which these new perceptions are expressed and it is in their writing, and through other arts such as painting, sculpture, music, and dance that the day-to-day realities experienced by colonized peoples have been most powerfully encoded and so profoundly influential. What are post-colonial literatures? This book is concerned with writing by those peoples formerly colonized by Britain, though much of what it deals with is of interest and relevance to countries colonized by other European powers, such as France, Portugal, and Spain. The semantic basis of the term ?post-colonial? might seem to suggest a concern only with the national culture after the departure of the imperial power. It has occasionally been employed in some earlier work in the area to distinguish between the periods before and after independence (?colonial period? and ?post-colonial period?), for example, in constructing national literary histories, or in suggesting comparative studies between stages in those histories. Generally speaking, though, the term ?colonial? has been used for the period before independence and a term indicating a national writing, such as ?modern Canadian writing? or ?recent West Indian literature? has been employed to distinguish the period after independence. We use the term ?post-co... ...rad, Patrick White and Margaret Atwood?, World Literature Written in English 24, no. 2 (Autumn). Campbell Praed (1981). Policy and Passion. London: Richard Bentley & Sons. Howe, Joseph (1874). Poems and Essays. Montreal: Lovell. Ngugi wa Thiong?o (1972). Homecoming: Essays on African and Caribbean Literature, Culture, and Politics. London: Heinemann. Ngugi wa Thiong?o (1986). Writers in Politics. London: Heinemann. Phillips, Arthur (1958). ?The cultural cringe?. The Australian Tradition: Studies in a Colonial Culture. Melbourne: Cheshire. Said, Edward W. (1984). The World, the Text and the Critic. London: Faber. Tiffin, Chris, ed. (1978). South Pacific Images. St Lucia, Queensland: SPACLALS. Viswanathan, Gauri (1987). ?The beginnings of English literary study in British India?. Oxford Literary Review 9:1 & 2.

Hinduism Essay

Hinduism is the religion of the great majority of the people of India. The word comes from the Sanskrit sindhu, â€Å"river,† and originally referred to the Indus. Hinduism is actually a collection of many native Indian religions, past and present. It is responsible for the social structure of India, especially for the caste system (a hereditary class system). The oldest of the world’s great religions, Hinduism is the only one without a founder. It has never tried to win converts by force and has always tolerated other religions and absorbed ideas from them. Hinduism has about 20 sects, with beliefs that range from primitive forms of animism to the highest reaches of mysticism and philosophy. Many of the sects and cults seem to be separate religions. Yet all have a family relationship since they spring from common traditions and thrive on the conditions peculiar to India. Most have a mystic strain and all stress nonviolence. †¢ Describe the major tenets of the Hindu belief system. Hinduism has many sacred objects and places. The cow is the most sacred of animals and must be protected. Most sacred of all places is the Ganges River, to which millions go each year to bathe and to become purified. Hindus believe in rebirth, or reincarnation, and in what they call the law of karma. Under this law the conditions of each new lifetime are determined by the actions of the preceding life. To the Hindu, salvation consists of liberating the soul from attachment to worldly desires in order to gain union with Brahman. If a Hindu dies liberated he must be born again into this world and again endure its suffering.

Extracting Natural Gas From Shale And Other Rock Formation

Resulting of recent technological innovations improving the ability of extracting natural gas from shale and other rock formation. The popularity of hydraulic fracturing remains leading in the direction of new venture opportunities and increasing growth for the natural gas and oil production industry. With the development, comes risk and scrutiny. According to Robert W. Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea natural gas extracted from shale comes at too great a cost to the environment, and must be illegal. Natural gas from shale remains vastly proposed as clean, comparable with oil and coal that can decrease the outpouring while still satisfying rich fossil fuel over coming decades until a switch to renewable energy sources exists. However shale gas being clean remains false, and it used as bridge fuel stays a terrible idea. Shale rock formation can hold large quantities of natural gas, however that gas remains mostly made up of methane. (Natural Gas:Should fracking stop?) For a long period o f time a majority of this gas was not economically reachable. However over the past decade, two new technological advancements recently combined allowing extracting of the gas. This process is known as hydraulic fracturing, in which extremely high pressured water with additional chemicals forced two to three kilometers in the ground is extracting the gas. The manufacturing sources claim that fracking has produced over one million natural gas wells since the 1940 s. Only 2% of these wellsShow MoreRelatedA Brief Note On Shale Gas And Natural Gas1745 Words   |  7 PagesShale gas is a natural gas that can be extracted from the fabric of shale rocks by means of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. There is controversy surrounding this extraction process, as in the process of building facilities in which gases are extracted, people are made aware of the hazards that are involved both with building the site of extraction and with extracting the gas itself. 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