Guillotine

the universe’. In the face of death, all things come to an equal footing and everything besides the reality of death becomes unreal or absurd. Meursault deals with it mechanically when he gives up thinking that the guards will soon lead him to the guillotine or maybe his plea to be pardoned will be granted. In the effort of distracting his mind, Meursault studies the sky, the beating of his heart, dusk changing to dawn. He begins to value every minute, every moment before death. Meursault finds…

Considered to be among the greatest military commanders in history, Napoleon Bonaparte played a key role in the French Revolution of 1788. The purpose of this paper is to find out how Napoleon Bonaparte came to control much of Europe during his reign as Emperor. Following years of social and political turbulence the French Monarchy was abolished and overthrown. Much of Europe at this time was leaded by Czars and kings who were absolute monarchs and had full control of their administrations. The…

On March 4, 1933, at his inaugural, president Roosevelt addressed himself to the American people with this statement: “This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” These words helped inspire the American people. From the hard times they had endured and through their helplessness they were ready for someone to take leadership. In Roosevelt’s inaugural address he…

If there is one thing I have learned over the past few years of hosting a political radio show, it's that Republicans love conspiracy theories. And I am not just talking run of the mill, fun to think about conspiracies, like Aliens built the Pyramids or that Elvis is alive and well and playing shuffleboard with the ghost of Colonel Sanders in some Florida retirement community. No, I'm talking over the top nonsensical bullsh*t straight out of the annals of Alex Jones' sock drawer. You can…

I screamed. I felt trapped and scared the pain wasn’t escaping. I screamed so loud that woke up everyone else in the tent and set off at least 3 gunshots. They bandaged my legs and I saw the machine that amputated my leg. It looked like a French guillotine. All went black. Back to reality. I look down to meet the eyes of my granddaughter who is laying on my lap. We approach a fire. A large fire. I feel the heat and look into its flames. A fire, just as deadly as those bullets that covered the…

ould World War II have been avoided? “WWII” was massive, it’s estimated that around 48,231,700 people were killed during the conflict. The whole world was affected by the catastrophe known as “WWII”, which could have been avoided if the following things didn’t happen: If the treaty of Versailles wasn’t signed, the League of Nations didn’t fail and the Nazi party never came to power. “WWII” could have been avoided if the treaty of Versailles was not signed. This could’ve happened if the British…

‘L’Étranger’ is a novel written by Albert Camus in 1942. The title of this work has an ambiguous meaning which leaves space to open interpretation; it has been translated to English as ‘The Outsider’ or ‘The Stranger’, as the French term ‘étranger’ comprises both these shades of meaning. Meursault, the multifaceted character that Camus chose as the protagonist, can be in fact regarded as an outsider, for he is completely alien to the society he lives in and to a series of social norms which at…

The Underlying Theme in Crime and Punishment and The Stranger Both The Stranger by Albert Camus and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky explore the criminal mind and its psyche. Each novel addresses the spectrum of emotions an individual deals with within their mind after committing a murder. Both books are centered on one criminal act that allows the reader to delve into the thought process of a convicted murderer, each varying from one another. In The Stranger, Meursault is seen as a…

The French Revolution was a period of social and political upheaval that occurred in France from 1789-1799. The revolution itself drew inspiration from liberal and radical ideas of the era and was inspired by other uprisings like the American Revolution that occurred in 1776. The revolution had a dramatic impact on the country of France and an even bigger impact on the continent of Europe as a whole, ending the monarchy in France and establishing a secular government in its place. The…

Process Versus Human Problem Is it possible to achieve ultimate perfection? How can humans become the best versions of themselves? For Enlightenment philosophers like Descartes, empirical thinking was the source of human improvement. For a Romantic poet like Charles Baudelaire, awareness of the nature of humanity was of most importance. In Descartes Discourse on Method and Charles Baudelaire’s collection of poetry, it is clear that both men had differing views on the understanding of self.…