Monday, November 9, 2015

Me, My self, and Mersault

Mersault has shown us that he believes human life has no meaning. We catch a glimpse of this when he says, "A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn't mean anything but that I didn't think so." This emotional indifference impacts Marie's feelings, but Mersault is blind to the situation. We know that his central idea focuses on the meaninglessness of life, but I think this all seems to changes after the Incident with the Arabs. When Mersault goes to prison, all he's focused about is killing time. In this time he begins to recollect all of his memories due to his irrefutable boredom and he also repetitively reads a small newspaper article that's been posted on his cell wall. He also catches himself talking in the mirror, which I think shows his improvement in self-awareness. He begins to grow and understand himself as well as his beliefs, but he keeps hearing the voice of the nurse during the funeral procession. She tells him if he walks too slowly he might get a sunstroke, but if he walks too quickly he might work up a sweat and catch a cold in the church. At this moment he realizes that, "There was no way out" and he applies this to being in prison. He now understands that there is no way out of prison and that there is no way out of a life that inevitably ends in death.

2 comments:

  1. I think you are right in saying that Mersault gained a type of essence by his self-recognition near the end of the book. Before, Mersault was just going through the motions of life with no analyzation of himself or his beliefs. It is not until the end of the book that he starts to, as you said, reflect on his beliefs. Ultimately he concludes with the idea that life is purposeless so nothing really matters, as stated, "Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter" (114). This is the closest Mersault comes to finding his essence and I one hundred percent agree with you and your passage. I like how you mentioned the quote from the nurse and how Mersault realizes "there is no way out", you nailed it! Great Job!

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