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The Significance Of A Single Day In Prison

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"I realized that a man who lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison." (Camus 79) The significance of a single day in life without constraint compared to a hundred years in prison is the result of memories, ideas, and thoughts inspired by that single day. Meursault realizes that life is not meant to be meaningful, but memories and experiences give life value and helps get people through the day. For someone who believes life is meaningless, this quote by Meursault shows how the view on life while prison can change. Perhaps even if life was meaningless, memories are what make them special and worth living. While in prison, Meursault realizes that memories keep someone sane by replaying them again and again. In conclusion, a single day filled with memories can provide enough to maintain sanity while in prison as shown through Meursault's realization. …show more content…
Due to this, Meursault reaches the conclusion that a man who has lived a day can easily live a hundred years in prison because of the details in a day. For example, for his first few days in prison, Meursault remembered his room and every single detail about it as stated on page 78 as he's speaking of the main problem being how to kill time. Here it shows that even the simplest of things can provide enough elements to remember and recognize to entertain himself while locked away for days on end. For this reason Meursault stated the line about how life can be perceived, to show even a single day in an unbound life can be enough for a man to live a hundred years in prison. To conclude, as a result of undergoing days of imprisonment, Meursault realizes that memories carry the true answer to

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