The Stranger- Part two (Chap. 4-5)

Even though I read “The Stranger” before, it is unbelievable how this novel still grabs my attention. According to me, the last two chapters were the chapters where we get to know the real protagonist of the novel. Behind that face or that person with stoic attitude, we see a man who faces fear, delight and love by trying to explore or trying to know every single person around him.  In addition, we know that in the first part of the novel we could not determine Monsieur’s look. Sometimes even if we see people, we will not be able to tell anything about them; we will not able to know what is inside of their hearts but we can notice it from their faces. Many times I asked myself how does Monsieur look to me but till I read the last part of the novel I had an unclear image about his personality. 
At his trial, there will be many facts such as his inability to show sadness for his mother’s death and also his inability by not feeling guilty for the murder of the Arab.

The Stranger- Part two (Chap. 1-3)

In the second part we get to know the conscious one. His personality is presented as a conscious man who wants to know about his existence/surroundings, specifically to know more about the world outside and people around him. It seems like in the second part of the novel he does not care for physical world anymore rather than looking for a change in his life. Thus, he starts to have feelings about the people he knows, wants to explore the world around him and for the first time he wants to know everything about the life he leads. But what made him to change his mind when he was so indifferent to physical world in the first part? I think the Arab man is what makes the Monsieur thinks twice before he acts. Prison changes people’s life, so this happened to Monsieur. In part two, I found Monsieur as a man who wanted to explore the world outside, even for most of the people he was known as an indifferent person who cares only for the physical world. It is interesting how his personality started to change during the prison. He said that at the beginning he was alright, he was not used with the idea of being isolated from the real world. Later on he got used to it. On the other hand, in the first day when he was arrested, Monsieur was questioned by many people. It seemed strange to the Monsieur how the policy asked many times for its identity, its name and its surname. In addition, one of the policies who were in charge of caring for Monsieur told him that he needs a layer. Again here we notice Monsieur distanced from the real world. He still does not care for himself. He still is being indifferent. But I wonder till when? Now here it comes the most powerful part. While Monsieur was in prison he thought too much of Marie. Now I guess he wants Marie more than everything else in the world. In addition, Marie visited him just once in prison because she was not allowed to visit him, as she was not his wife. Also he received a letter from Marie where she wrote that she cannot visit him anymore. I guess now he understood that the new home for him was prison and he has to deal with it. On the other hand, in chapter two from part two we are introduced to the prison life and how the protagonist behaved in such situation. He killed a man unintentionally because of “no reason”. The pistol shouted five times. When the layer asked him why he killed the Arab, Monsieur answered “I do not know. Maybe, because of the Sun.” I could never get why the author used sun twice in this novel. The first time where he used it was in the Monsieur’s mother’s funeral and the second time where he killed the Arab. In addition, in chapter 2 also we notice that Marie visited Monsieur in the prison. Now we as readers understood that Monsieur really loves Marie because while he was in prison he thought many times of her. He remembered good times together. On the other hand, in chapter three we know that Monsieur stayed in prison for five months till the day when he arrived at courthouse to start his trial. But somehow we notice here Monsieur a little bit confused. He get to know that there are many witness people that he knows such as the director of the Home, Masson, Raymond, Marie,  Raymond, Thomas Perez, Salamano and even Celeste.

The Stranger (Chap. 4-6)

UNKNOWN WORDS (Chap. 4-6)

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

The chapter four begins with Monsieur saying that he had a busy day at the office. From this we understand that he really needs to relax so he called Marie to go to a beach. Marie was wearing a pretty red dress and Monsieur was totally shocked when he saw her. She looked very sex. Indeed, the red color is mention because here we have a passionate love between two persons. Maybe for Monsieur it was just an obsession but for Marie I think it was true love. On the other hand, sometimes red color indicates the danger but in case of Monsieur the red color is associated to his love feelings. By wearing the dress with red stripes maybe Marie wanted to seduce Monsieur and made him attached to her. As a result of this, later Monsieur kissed her. We notice here that the red color waked Monsieur‘s feelings related to Marie. On the other hand, Marie’s eyes were full of happiness. When they got home they slept together; and because of the open window, the air outside cooled their bodies. The very next day Monsieur asked Marie to come for dinner and she accepted. While they were preparing the dinner, they heard Salamano shouting at his dog and a woman’s voice from Raymond’s house. During the dinner, Marie asked Monsieur if he loves her. But Monsieur still did not know if he loves Marie or she was just an obsession to him. Even he said to her “I don’t love you”, it does not mean that he does not like her. He likes her very much and every time when they are together they have a great time. On the other hand, the dinner they were having was interrupted by Raymond’s girlfriend. All people of the building went out to see what was happening. I think Raymond and his girlfriend were arguing and as a result, Raymond has beaten her. When Marie saw his girlfriend weeping she said to Monsieur to call the policeman but he was not feeling like he should call the police. He felt like that because Monsieur somehow knew that the girl came into Raymond’s home because of the letter that she wrote for her otherwise she will not come. Later, Marie and Monsieur came back to the home and continue they dinner. After those terrible scenes, Marie could not eat anymore. She lost her appetite. Around one o’clock she went home. Suddenly, somewhere around three o’clock when Monsieur was getting ready to sleep, someone was knocking in his door. It was Raymond. They went out together for walking. When they were coming back home they met Salamano and he very nervous because his dog has lost. The loss of Salamano’s dog affects Monsieur a lot. Suddenly, he started to think about his mother. For the first time we as readers notice that something affects or better to say makes him thinks about his mother. When he saw Salamano crying and caring about his dog, Monsieur became emotionally attached to his mother. He states that, “For some reasons, I don’t know what, I began thinking of mother”.   

Chapter five begins with a call from Raymond to Monsieur at his office. He said to him that his friend called both of them to spend the next Sunday at a beach outside of Algeris. He can bring Marie there too. While he was talking to Raymond we notice that Monsieur is a little bit scared of his boss. He is afraid of upsetting him because of using the office phone for private calls. We see that Monsieur obeys his boss and never judges him. The indifferent one Monsieur is caring what his boss says when he finds out that he is using the office phone. On the other hand, when his mother died, he did not show affection to her. This time I guess he does not want his boss to have a bad impression about him, so he cares about the rules of the office. He is willing to listen and to obey him. In the next part of chapter five we are introduced to the “change of the life” that his boss offer to Monsieur. He wants to offer him a job in Paris because he is young and believes that no one can do better than him. In addition, when Marie came home he told her about the work in Paris and Marie asked him “what Paris was like”. Marie seems to be very excited about Paris but Monsieur tells him how dirty it is and how indifferent people are. Simply, he cannot imagine himself living in Paris. The Paris will not offer what Algeria offers to him. On the other hand, when Marie came home, she asked Monsieur to marry her. He agreed to marry her even he did not love her. Moreover, he said to her that he would marry to any women in the same situation. I guess he is happy with her but still in the part one we cannot see Monsieur fully attached to Marie or attracted by her. Thus, there is no emotional connection between them. He just likes her and he will do whatever she wants. Later, Marie and Monsieur decided to go for a walk. In the streets they see many beautiful women. After that, Monsieur decided to go to Celeste’s restaurant for dinner. There he met a woman whom he follows. When Monsieur went home, he saw Salamano. He was still thinking about his dog. He cannot live without him.

In the chapter 6 we have Monsieur and Marie going to the beach. Even though he has difficulties waking up, finally he manages to wake up with the insistence of Marie. I wonder why he did not want to wake up. I guess Monsieur felt that something bad will happen therefore he just wanted to sleep. It is interesting but sometimes people can feel when something bad will happen. On the other hand, Monsieur and Marie go to beach. With them also go Raymond’s friend Masson and his wife. We see that in this chapter the narrator introduces to readers another character Masson who appear to be Raymond’s friend. It is unbelievable how the author uses sun as a symbol or metaphor to force the protagonist to make the murder by bringing him in confrontation with the Arabs that consequently he the Monsieur ends up in prison.

The Stranger- Albert Camus

UNKNOWN WORDS (CHAP. 1-3)

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

Monsieur Meursault: The main protagonist of the novel who lives in a mystified world and cares only for physical world. His character in the novel is characterized by indifference and uncaring by not showing no affection to his Mother’s death. Moreover, he does not remember his Mother’s age and is not sure whether his Mother died today or maybe yesterday. 

Mother: A character who is shown as a dead person in the novel. It is the mother of the main protagonist Monsieur Meursault. Through reading the novel we find out that the Mother and Monsieur were not so close since she lived at Home and Monsieur rarely visited her. Also, she had good friends at Home and one of them was Thomas Perez.

Marie Cardona: Monsieur’s girlfriend who used to be a typist at his office and Monsieur was attracted by her. While Monsieur was wondering how to spend the morning right after his Mother’s funeral he finally decides that a swim would do him good. There he meets Marie Cardona and invites her to go to the movies together. Later in the story she asks Monsieur to marry her and he agrees even he does not love her. Moreover, he says to her that he would marry to any women in the same situation. He is happy with her but there is no emotional connection between them.

Thomas Perez: Monsieur’s Mother’s special friend. People of the Home believe that he was in love with Mother. 
Emmanuel: Co-worker and Monsieur’s friend.

Salamano: Monsieur’s neighbor who has a dog almost eight years old. He always yells at him dog. It seems like they hate each other. 

Raymond Sintes: Another neighbor of Monsieur who sometimes invites for dinner Monsieur and of course he goes therefore he does not need to cook. Raymond likes Monsieur because he is always there willing to listen him.

 

INTRODUCTION

“The Stranger” is a novel written by the French-Algerian author Albert Camus who presents the meaningless/absurd world of the main protagonist of narrative Monsieur Meursault. The novel is divided in two parts; in the first part we get to know Monsieur as emotionless, indifferent and unperceptive about the world outside while in the second part the personality of the character is presented as a conscious man who wants to know about his existence/surroundings, specifically to know more about the world outside and people around him. It seems like in the second part of the novel he does not care for physical world anymore rather than looking for a change in his life. Thus, he starts to have feelings about the people he knows, wants to explore the world around him and for the first time he wants to know everything about the life he leads. But what made him to change his mind when he was so indifferent to physical world in the first part? I think the Arab man is what makes the Monsieur thinks twice before he acts. Prison changes people’s life, so this happened to Monsieur. Yet, in part one we as readers are not introduce with the “murder” that he does, but later on we find out the reason of the “unintentionally” murder. It is unbelievable how the author uses sun as a symbol or metaphor to force the protagonist to make the murder by bringing him in confrontation with the Arabs that consequently he the Monsieur ends up in prison. I

CHAPTER 1-3:

“MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I cannot be sure.” That is how the first chapter begins. These words were written in a telegram from the HOME (the place where Monsieur’s mother used to live) and obviously there was nothing else written on it. The Home was in Marengo, two hours away from the place where Monsieur lives. So, to get there he needs to travel by bus, losing his “Sunday”, spending two hours of journey and also asking his boss for two days off because of the funeral. Here we notice that the narrator seems to be unattached by the news of his mom’s death and moreover he does not even know the age of his mother. The word MOTHER is not as powerful as it should be to Monsieur. By this the Camus wants to tell readers that Monsieur did not have a good relationship with his mother therefore he “seldom went to see her”.  In addition, when he gets the telegram, he is like ok I have to go and be at the funeral. But we notice here that Monsieur cares more about the way how to get there than for his mother. On the other hand, when he arrives in Marengo he meets the warden-the person who was in charge of the funeral. He explains the procedure of funeral to Monsieur and says to him that he made all the arrangements for it. But when Monsieur was asked to see his mother, he said no. This made me think that he is such emotionless, irresponsible and indifferent to her. Moreover, while he was coming to Marengo he falls asleep. That is not the first case when he falls asleep. Instead of waiting his mother’s friends to keep the vigil together, he smokes. On the other hand, usually when a loved one dies people feel an overwhelmed pain in their soul but that was not the case of Monsieur.  It is noticeable that in the vigil the only who cries are Thomas Perez, his mother’s best friend who I assume was in love with his mother and also a woman.  

Right after his mother funeral in chapter two we notice the Monsieur looks for entreating himself, so he goes on swimming pool. There he meets Marie Cardona- a girl who was in love with him and used to work in his office as a typist. Monsieur invites her to go to the cinema together and watch a comedy movie. Instead of staying home and crying for his mother’s death, he decides to go out with his Marie to whom he was attracted. Here also it is noticeable that the main character does not care for his mother death-still he is uncaring to it. Nothing explains his attitude toward his mother’s death even they were not so close. When he tells the Marie that his mom had died, she was very surprised. Monsieur did not comment at all about his mother’s funeral- not even a single detail was told to Marie.  On the other hand, there is no information about Marie’s personality. We just know that she loves Monsieur and nothing else. On the other hand, after they sleep together she immediately leaves without even writing him a note to thank for the beautiful night they had together. Here we notice Monsieur as a caring person, who is affected by Marie even he never says to her 143 “I love you”. On the other hand, we know about Monsieur’s personality. In this chapter there are too many details about Monsieur’s life such as weekend days. Moreover, the chapter two ends with a statement of Monsieur saying, “Really, nothing in my life had changed”.

Chapter three begins with Monsieur going back to the place where he works. His boss asks him about his mother’s age. But Monsieur does not know the exact age of his mother, so at the beginning he thinks and then tells to his boss “round about sixty”. It seems like Monsieur is not sure at all about his mother’s age because of the lack communication with her. Maybe the reason why Monsieur was not so close to his mother is because they had a bad family history. That is, that makes him be so self-absorbed. On the other hand, in this chapter there are three other characters of the narrative presented. The fist one is Emmanuel who works together with Monsieur in the office. The second is his neighbor Salamano who has a dog eight months old. To Monsieur Salamano seems to be an abusive man because he treats his dog cruelly and violently. On the other hand, the dog seems to have the same character as Salamano. In addition, the second character is Raymond Sintes who tells a story with his girlfriend. He says to Monsier that his girlfriend is cheating on him and that he sometimes beats her. Moreover, in this chapter we find two types of violence the first one toward the dog and the second one toward a girlfriend.

Trans-Siberian Prose and Little Jeanne from France by Blaise Cendrars

                                                                           

The portrait of the author made by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani

Cover of the poem

In the poem "Trans-Siberian Prose and Little Jeanne from France" written by Swiss novelist Blaise Cendrars, the life of an imaginary/unreal protagonist who takes the readers in its fictional/imaginary world by traveling around Russia, particularly during the Russian revolution is presented. The author tells readers that when he started his “epic journey” he was in his teenage years and everything seems to be so unclear to him such as not remembering his childhood memories. He also tells that during his world journey from Russia to Mongolia there were scenes of war and Russian revolution (1917; creation of Soviet Union). It is interesting how the writer lives in a world full of dreams and fantasies and not in reality. Moreover, he considers himself as “a bad poet”. Thus, the phrase “I am already a bad poet” is mentioned many times in the poem. This made me think that the author somehow judges himself or he used that phrase to grab the reader’s attention in order to make them think about it. Another thing that I noticed as I went through the poem is the order of sentences and lack of punctuation marks between sentences. What was interesting for me is that the poem made me do research. For instance, I have never heard before for Port Arthur. I found out that it is located in Hobart (the most populous city and Australia's second oldest city) in Tasmania. On the other hand, the author also mentions the Trans-Siberian and based on my research I found out that the Trans-Siberian is referred to railways that connect Moscow and Russia with Mongolia, China and the Sea of Japan.  Overall, I can say that I liked the poem as I found it very interesting, very well written and informative.

Port Arthur, Tasmania