In my opinion the novel starts off a bit slow. We get to know a little bit about the main character, Meursault, but he seems pretty disconnected from society. He goes to the same restaurant, smokes a lot, and works. That's what his life seems to consist of and he doesn't seem to care about anything because he is always saying things don't matter to him. We can see lots of things don't matter to him especially in his relationship with Marie. Meursault describes, "A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn't mean anything"(35). Marie asks Meursault if he loves her a few times and he always replies the same way that it doesn't matter, doesn't mean anything. It also doesn't matter to Meursault that Salamano beats and harasses his dog or Raymond's life style doesn't matter. Why does nothing matter? Does it not matter because he does not believe he can control the things that happen in his life?
Furthermore, tt's not until characters like his girlfriend, Salamano, and Raymond come in that the story starts to pick up in my opinion and get more interesting. Merusault's interactions with these characters add a whole new level of understanding into his life and makes it seem much less predictable, disconnected and boring.
My DQ is that Meursault describes, "people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another"(41). What is he trying to say? Do you believe this is true? Do you agree with this statement?
I would have to agree with you about how the book does move a little slow. Like how you mentioned how he does the same daily routine everyday; I also mentioned that as well. I think your right about how the story doesnt pick up until Salamano and Raymond come in because it does add details about his life that we didnt know about at first.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The book is a bit slow at the beginning to me. It mostly consists of descriptions of certain people at his mom's funeral and complaints of the sun and heat. It almost seems like a diary or log book. But, I liked when new characters were introduced and could read the interactions between Meursault and others. I do not agree with Meursault's statement. People change their lives all the time. Whether that may be a lifestyle change after a loved one dies, or just changing their outlook life on day. I think everyone's life is different. Also, one life can be way more satisfying if they lived each day to the fullest than someone who just went through life day by day. I think Meursault said this because he is basically a robot, and just goes through life day by day. Interesting quote.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the other characters in the story make it a lot more interesting to me. The interactions they have with Meursault are interesting, while Meursault on his own is very flat.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the story starts off very slow. It wasn't till the beginning of Part 1 that anything substantial happened(in my opinion). I also agree with your point about the other characters, and in fact would argue that hearing about their lives through Meursault is much more interesting than living Meursault's life (due to POV). I also really like your question and it really drives home the theme of existentialism in this book.
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