Throughout the entire novel, heat has been reoccurring motif. Meursault stresses the heat on the day of his mother's funeral and on the day he killed the Arab. It seems that Meursault associates heat and the sun with living. In each moment that Meursault notices the heat, any other person would be feeling incredibly strong emotions. Perhaps Meursault expresses his emotions to the reader through temperature.
Meursault only mentions the cold at one point in the story. He states, "It was a mistake to let myself get carried away with such imaginings, because the next moment I would get so cold that I would curl up into a ball under my blanket and my teeth would be chattering and I couldn't make them stop (110)." The "imaginings" that Meursault mentions refers to his dream of a successful appeal and a life of freedom, which he knows is incredibly unrealistic. Once he returns to reality, he immediately feels cold. I believe this coolness reflects Meursault's understanding that his life is over.
Your post was super interesting! I never thought about comparing heat to the one time he was cold in the prison. Maybe heat is Meursault's physical response to represent the extreme emotions most people would be feeling at that time, and cold represents Meursault embracing existentialism and his lack of emotion in prison.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting observation and analysis. I did recognize the recurring theme of heat, but you provided a very nice possibility of what it could mean. After reading this, temperature does seem to go along with his emotions and portray them when Meursault is unable to do so consciously. Good job!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting observation and analysis. I did recognize the recurring theme of heat, but you provided a very nice possibility of what it could mean. After reading this, temperature does seem to go along with his emotions and portray them when Meursault is unable to do so consciously. Good job!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting observation and analysis. I did recognize the recurring theme of heat, but you provided a very nice possibility of what it could mean. After reading this, temperature does seem to go along with his emotions and portray them when Meursault is unable to do so consciously. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting. It was something I had not realized! Now it makes me want to re-read parts of the book to find this theme of weather.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, I couldn't agree more. I thought about this too as I continued reading. Throughout the story, the physical world is much more significant than his mental state or his emotions. This reveals he is mentally and physically removed from the rest of the society. He thinks about the physical nature of society more than his relationships with others which is different. Thanks for sharing!
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