The Stranger

It is often hard to define someone as a great human being. Greatness can be defined itself as having the power to be brave, and never give up. Most people judge on the events that made that person great. Bethany Hamilton was one of those people who is defined as great. Bethany Hamilton is both brave, and dedicated. Bethany has never given up her dreams even after a shocking yet horrifying incident occurring only at the age of fifteen. Bethany’s story of courage can easily be categorized the same…

When reading the “The Guest” by Albert Camus we find ourselves in the middle of the struggles that a man named Daru. Daru who is a school master lives alone in a schoolhouse. He spends his days teaching children but due to the snow his students “who lived in the villages scattered over the plateau had stopped coming” (Camus 1) One cold morning he see two men making their way to his house and that is when his troubles begin. The choices made by Daru in “The Guest” are a perfect example of what an…

Meursault, the storyteller, is a young fellow living in Algiers. In the wake of getting a telegram educating him of his mom's demise, he takes a transport to Marengo, where his mom had been living in an old persons' home. He dozes for very nearly the whole trek. When he arrives, he identifies with the home's chief. The executive permits Meursault to see his mom, however Meursault finds that her body has as of now been fixed in the pine box. He decreases the overseer's offer to open the pine box.…

Albert Camus wrote The Plague using several literary devices to further the novel. It is often said that an author inserts their own character traits and beliefs into the characters of their novels. Camus is no different in this aspect, especially when it comes to his protagonist Dr. Rieux. The event of the plague which is the main focus of the novel is a catalyst that shapes and changes the characters, some for the better and others for the worse. With the rest of this essay Dr. Rieux, Cottard,…

Happiness and hindsight are two pieces of the same puzzle, that is true for just about anyone as it was mentioned time and time again in Stumbling on Happiness, a book that was really great at pointing out the obvious. When reading a book that takes its title from an accident and then proceeds to remind me that everything I perceive can be one giant lie because of falsified memory and a twisted sense of protection, “[one] does not discover the absurd without being tempted to write a manual of…

"Texas Forever" is a mantra Tim Riggins, the main character in the television series, Friday Night Lights, lives by. The premise of the show is how an entire town base their dreams on the game of football and we learn those dreams do not come without compromise. It is easy to identify with the characters in Friday Night Lights because their lives and their situations are believable. When we base our life upon a dream or the person we believe we deserve to be, it can be a tragedy or it can be…

There are different types of traveling. We travel for vacationing and sight seeing, we travel because we want to get away from our daily routine, we travel to see our loved ones, to escape cold weather, to escape war and tyrant rulers, to look for a better life. Bedouin in the desert travel looking for water to sustain themselves and their livestock. In the two essays I’ve read “Summerland” written by Peter Jon Lindberg, and “A Prison, A Paradise” by John Jeremiah Sullivan. The writers narrate…

As Svidrigailov reveals more of his personality and perspective about the world around him, Svidrigailov most dangerous aspect to his character is his ignorance and resistance to believe in religion as well as not having a conscientious belief. In Svidrigailov’s conversation with Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov introduces the foundations of his belief of the world by stating that heaven is not vast and wonderful but “there will be one little room there, something like a village bathhouse, covered with…

In the excerpt from the passage “Down the River,” Edward Abbey ventures through Aravaipa Canyon in New Mexico, while writing of his adventure. Observing his surroundings and by comparing the nature to life, Abbey establishes an attitude of wonder while also being judgmental towards nature. The author had many attitudes towards the Canyon. One of his many attitudes included wonder. Edward always showed a sense of wondering while going through the Canyon, always finding things. The passage…

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Through the Existentialist Lens Tom Stoppard decided to pick up where Shakespeare left off. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is the untold tale of two minor characters from the play Hamlet. A theme not covered much in Hamlet is existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, choices, possibilities, the unknown, and the vastness of the universe. It is the view that humans define their own meaning in life, despite…