In the first third of the novel there are a few things I noticed. The Motif of the word pneumatic appears throughout the first part of the book. Pneumatic means of or pertaining to air according to dictionary.com. When Huxley uses the word pneumatic, he uses it to explain Lenina or her chair. More generally it is explaining women and saying that they are as important as furniture. This emphasizes the idea of having sex with anyone and everyone. Sex could also be a motif. It is mentioned throughout the book and very casual here in the beginning. It is frowned upon if people don't want to have sex with others.
The Setting in the beginning is in the London Hatchery and Control Center. This sets the society and explains it very well by starting the book with a tour. It explains the setup and organization of society along with the main goals and rules in the society. We understand from the beginning that having sex is encouraged and not looked down on by the society.
The language used in the book is also interesting. Huxley uses casual words to explain the children who "play with each other." The casual word choice highlights the views of the characters in the book. They are all taught the normalcy of playing with each other in sexual ways and it is not strange.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Journal #5: The Stranger
Johnstonism
1: Follow your own path, but let others pave it: Learn from others' mistakes. Don't do things because other people tell you to but do it because you want to. That being said, it is important that you don't decide to do something stupid when you have seen someone else do it and ended badly. Learn from what others do and then make your own decisions based on what is best for you, not what other people think you should do.
2: Faith: It is important to believe in some higher power. I believe in God because if you don't have anyone to look to in times of trouble, you will give up. God is there to offer comfort in hard times. When something happens that I cannot control myself, I look to God to help it turn out well.
3: You are not better than anyone: This is very important to live by. Why should people respect you if you don't respect them. Just because you are well dressed and have a good education does not mean you can look down on them. If you do look at them differently, it should be with admiration that, even though they have had a hard life, they are sticking through it and will keep on going.
4: Look to the Future: It is important that you live in the moment and appreciate life as it happens but what is perhaps even more important than that is to look to the future. If you are only living in the moment and not towards the future, you may get stuck in a hard part of life and think there is nothing left to do but end it. Looking to the future will help show that there is always a way around problems if you want to move on.
5: Respect your life and do something great: God has given you the gift of life and it is important not to waste it. Do something that will leave a footprint in the world. Be someone they talk about in 200 years. Be the person who cured cancer or stopped world hunger, not a person who wrote a mediocre paper on some book in high school. Leave a foot print that will help the world prosper.
6: Do things for others, not yourself: Be charitable, help the old lady cross the street, tutor the girl in the back of math class for free. It will pay off for you later on in life and it will help them now. It only takes 2 minutes to explain a concept to someone after class, it only takes 50 cents to make someones day. Or be an anonymous donor, whether you buy a meal for the car behind you in the drive thru or you donate $400 to a local music program. Help others because it is right, not because you are forced.
7: Let others learn from your mistakes: This is the flipside of principle 1. Pave someone else's path and tell them things you have done wrong. Admit your wrong-doings and let them know what you did and how you felt. Help others create an even stronger and happier life than you had.
8: Don't blame others: If something bad happens, assume it is for the best. When your grandmother dies, maybe you will meet the love of your life at her funeral. Don't blame God for punishing you. If you fail a group project, think about what you can do better next time whether it is you should work harder or encourage your partners to help you. It is not always someone else's fault.
1: Follow your own path, but let others pave it: Learn from others' mistakes. Don't do things because other people tell you to but do it because you want to. That being said, it is important that you don't decide to do something stupid when you have seen someone else do it and ended badly. Learn from what others do and then make your own decisions based on what is best for you, not what other people think you should do.
2: Faith: It is important to believe in some higher power. I believe in God because if you don't have anyone to look to in times of trouble, you will give up. God is there to offer comfort in hard times. When something happens that I cannot control myself, I look to God to help it turn out well.
3: You are not better than anyone: This is very important to live by. Why should people respect you if you don't respect them. Just because you are well dressed and have a good education does not mean you can look down on them. If you do look at them differently, it should be with admiration that, even though they have had a hard life, they are sticking through it and will keep on going.
4: Look to the Future: It is important that you live in the moment and appreciate life as it happens but what is perhaps even more important than that is to look to the future. If you are only living in the moment and not towards the future, you may get stuck in a hard part of life and think there is nothing left to do but end it. Looking to the future will help show that there is always a way around problems if you want to move on.
5: Respect your life and do something great: God has given you the gift of life and it is important not to waste it. Do something that will leave a footprint in the world. Be someone they talk about in 200 years. Be the person who cured cancer or stopped world hunger, not a person who wrote a mediocre paper on some book in high school. Leave a foot print that will help the world prosper.
6: Do things for others, not yourself: Be charitable, help the old lady cross the street, tutor the girl in the back of math class for free. It will pay off for you later on in life and it will help them now. It only takes 2 minutes to explain a concept to someone after class, it only takes 50 cents to make someones day. Or be an anonymous donor, whether you buy a meal for the car behind you in the drive thru or you donate $400 to a local music program. Help others because it is right, not because you are forced.
7: Let others learn from your mistakes: This is the flipside of principle 1. Pave someone else's path and tell them things you have done wrong. Admit your wrong-doings and let them know what you did and how you felt. Help others create an even stronger and happier life than you had.
8: Don't blame others: If something bad happens, assume it is for the best. When your grandmother dies, maybe you will meet the love of your life at her funeral. Don't blame God for punishing you. If you fail a group project, think about what you can do better next time whether it is you should work harder or encourage your partners to help you. It is not always someone else's fault.
Journal #4: The Stranger
At the end of the novel, Mersault understands the world. He realizes that the world is indifferent and that the world and himself are actually very similar. Up till now, Mersault felt very disconnected to the world and he thought there was no point in living. At the end of the novel though, he realizes that he is happy. When he looks back on his life, he is glad about everything he has done and realizes that there is a meaning to it.
I don't think Camus is trying to make us agree with Mersault. I think he is just trying to show one way to look at life. His word choice at the end of the novel did not seem persuasive but more informational. I think he wanted to merely show readers what Mersault believes and make them understand instead of jumping to conclusions that he has no feelings and does not care about anything.
I don't think Camus is trying to make us agree with Mersault. I think he is just trying to show one way to look at life. His word choice at the end of the novel did not seem persuasive but more informational. I think he wanted to merely show readers what Mersault believes and make them understand instead of jumping to conclusions that he has no feelings and does not care about anything.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Journal #3: The Stranger
I think there are many reasons Camus split the book into two parts. The most obvious reason to the reader is to split Mersault's normal life with his life in jail being accused. Camus uses part two to go farther into Mersault's thoughts and to create more of a sense of him. In part one, he seems very passive and does not think much of his life but when he is in jail, he goes deep into his life and really thinks about everything in his life. Camus does keep sleep as a motif in both parts. "Then there was sleep (...) the last few months I've been sleeping sixteen to eighteen hours a day" (79). However, The diffferences between the motif of sleep in the two parts is, in part one, Mersault is always sleepy or drowsy and wanting to sleep and in part two he is sleeping 16 to 18 hours a day.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Journal #2: The Stranger
In The Stranger, Camus uses the sun throughout the novel. The sun is mentioned at happy times in the novel like when the day was beautiful. "I was absorbed by the feeling that the sun was doing me a lot of good" (50). It makes Mersault comfortable and cheers him up. But the sun also creates problems and indicates trouble. Mersault explains the pressure he felt when about to confront the Arab on the beach, his "forehead swelling under the sun" (57). The sun creates a pressure and makes Mersault uncomfortable.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Journal #1: The Stranger
Marie: Marie is used by Camus to highlight Mersault's "strange" behavior. He does feel attracted to her and he thinks that she is attracted to him too, but when she asks if he wants to get married, he says it doesn't matter. He does not feel love for her or pity for the girl that Raymond beats up but she cares quite a lot about these things. This highlights the stoicistic beliefs of Mersault and shows the great difference between Marie's feelings and Mersault's lack of feelings.
The Boss: The boss shows the existentialist part of Mersault. When The boss offers to give Mersault a job in Paris where he can also travel for part of the year. Most people would jump on this oppurtunity to change their life but Mersault says that it doesn't matter because he does not have any reason to change his life. He also stated that every life is worth the same and that there was no point in changing because he also had a good life. These beliefs almost exactly translate to what we learned in class about existentialism and how they belief that life is only how you shape it to be.
Salamano: Salamano is, in some ways, another person like Mersault. However, as Mersault does not really ever show emotions, Salamano only show anger towards his dog. We see that when the dog runs away though, that Salamano really cares about him and even starts crying. Mersault realizes that he misses his mother also slightly and connects the mother to the dog at the bottom of page 39 and on page 45.
The Boss: The boss shows the existentialist part of Mersault. When The boss offers to give Mersault a job in Paris where he can also travel for part of the year. Most people would jump on this oppurtunity to change their life but Mersault says that it doesn't matter because he does not have any reason to change his life. He also stated that every life is worth the same and that there was no point in changing because he also had a good life. These beliefs almost exactly translate to what we learned in class about existentialism and how they belief that life is only how you shape it to be.
Salamano: Salamano is, in some ways, another person like Mersault. However, as Mersault does not really ever show emotions, Salamano only show anger towards his dog. We see that when the dog runs away though, that Salamano really cares about him and even starts crying. Mersault realizes that he misses his mother also slightly and connects the mother to the dog at the bottom of page 39 and on page 45.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)