Journal #5- The Stranger

Name- Vive ut Vivas

1. Nothing is impossible- As a little girl my parents and family always told me that nothing is impossible and I can do whatever I want to. From joining the circus to finding the cure to cancer. I realized that they were right and that all it takes is self motivation and setting your mind to the task 110%. As long as you have those tools nothing is impossible and nothing can stand in your way. 

2. Faith-Whether it is faith in yourself or in God, one must have faith in order to be happy. You must h ave faith in yourself to do whatever you want to achieve and never give up on that faith. Faith in God has always been important in my whole family, and they have thankfully given me these gifts. I believe that once you put your life in God's hands you must have faith that everything would be perfect. 

3.Always do things right- My mother has always told me that whenever you do something do it right. I adopted this idea and it has turned out that everything you do is being judged. Therefore you must always do everything right even the smallest of things so everything can turn out well. This turns in to a habit and you will become successful. 

4. We are all human- Every single person on this earth does not have any more rights or less rights than we do; we all have equal rights. Therefore we must treat each other with respect and we are all equal even though all of us are different. Everyone has the right to life and happiness and must be protected. No one should be treated with more kindness and respect, all should be treated the same.

5. Have courage- You must have courage to go out and accomplish the things you want to accomplish. Have courage to take on the tasks that no one else has done. It is part of life to experience new things and one needs courage to do things that has never been done before and take it one level farther than before. Have courage to challenge yourself and do something that you know you might not succeed. It is part of learning and become a stronger person.

6. Fail and learn- Failing is learning and only useful if you take away from the experience. If you don't fail you can't learn and learn from your mistakes; therefore you are a weaker person without failing. From experiences that I have learned from made me a smarter and stronger person. Failing and learning from failure is important to becoming a better person.

7. Hope- Hope is the only way we can actually have meaning to our life. What makes life worth living is hoping in something better and that way there is something worth living. Hope brings us joy and something will come out of it. If there is no hope then life has no meaning. I learned that if you are in a tough situation that the only thing you can do is hope that things will get better and work towards having a better life. I believe that hope makes us kinder and stronger people. From hope comes happiness. 

Journal #4- The Stranger

In the end Meursault realizes his whole life was pointless and that nothing has meaning to it. Since everyone is going to die nothing is worth living for. He would rather die than live in the moment. He comes to the realization that life has no meaning to it since we all come to die at one point in our lives. He accepts the fact that his fate was death and the same with everyone else and therefore there is no point in living if in the end it is death. I think Camus doesn't have a strong belief in this conclusion but I think he does accept what Meursault comes to realize in the end that we all die so life is pointless.

Journal#3- The Stranger

I think Camus separates his novel into two parts because it shows Meursault in two different situations and how  he reacts in both of them. It also shows how Meursault changes as a character from the first part to the second part.
In the first part the syntax is short and choppy characterizing Meursault because it is simple like him. "I caught the two o'clock bus. It was very hot. I ate at the restaurant, at Celeste's, as usual". The choppy and simple syntax in part 1 creates the character of Meursault in part 1 as a boring and simple person.
In part 2 the syntax is different. It is lengthier and more complex creating the Meursault in the second part as a more thought provoking character. " Because at the thought that one fine morning I would find myself a free man standing a cordon of police- o the outside, as it were-at the thought of being the spectator who comes to watch and then can go and throw up afterwards, a wave of poisoned joy rose in my throat". In this second part the complex syntax is used to create a more complex thinker that is Meursault. He is more hopeful in the second part and thinking about getting out of jail. Instead in part 1 he had nothing to hope for until the second part when his freedom was taken away.
A similarity I saw between the two parts was the contrast between lights and darks that remains as a motif. Also the sky and nature still remain a motif. The sense of loneliness in the book remains the same as well.

Journal #2- The Stranger

Option2-
The first person point of view allows the reader to follow along with every single thought of the main character Meursault. I noticed that the narrator, Meursault goes off on a lot of tangents while thinking and notices the slightest detail of things. I think Camus didn't use third person omniscient because he wanted to show Meursault's thought and feelings and by using first person he is able to do that. I think Camus's purpose with this choice is that it gives a sense of loneliness because every single narration is his thoughts and the things he does. Also we get to know Meursault better throught this point of view because it is in first person. It helps develop the theme of being a stranger in society.

Journal #1- The Stranger

 Salamano
Salamano is Meursault's neighbor who is known to have his dog around with at all times. The narrator describes him as having reddish scabs on his face and wispy yellow hair. I think that Camus is trying to demonstrate that you must live in the future and not the present Salamano. Through the chapters where Salamano is with his dog it is shown that he is always screaming at his dog and abusing him physically and verbally. Later Salamano is left alone because his dog probably died, he misses his companionship and saying how much he missed his dog. Salamano lived in the present because he would abuse his dog because of the temporary problems he had with him and wasn't thinking that someday his dog would someday die, he wasn't thinking of the future. And now that he is feeling hurt because of his loss he is trying to remember the all the memories they had together. He didn't appreciate what he had until it was gone.
Strange Little Woman
This strange little woman came to the cafe Celeste's and randomly sat down with Meursault. She is described as having jerky gestures and bright eyes and a little face. Through this woman I think Camus is trying to point out something in Meursault which is how he focuses his attention to the small details of the woman and doesn't really look at the big picture. I also thought it was interesting how Meurault says that she is peculiar if by the name of the book he is the stranger.
Marie
Marie is a lady that Meursault has a thing for and he thinks she does too. They eventually become boyfriend and girlfriend. Marie is described by Meursault a lot of the time when he notices her breasts. Marie wants to get married but Meursault repeatedly says that it doesn't matter. I think Camus uses Marie to show characteristics of Meursault. One of the characteristics is that he doesn't seem to make meaning of marriage showing that he is an existentialist.