The Stranger

In Albert Camus’ novel, entitled The Plague, he uses assorted rhetorical strategies like plot, commentary, and tone to discuss the meaning of community in the struggle against the inevitability of death. As an existentialist, Camus accepts the inevitability of death, and outlines his idea of life’s meaning by proposing that one can only achieve meaningfulness by fighting death (whether it be through finding true love, chasing happiness, or fighting sickness), realizing its’ inevitability, and…

In the existentialist novel, The Stranger, Camus uses the heat as a motif and symbol to focus on the day of his mother’s funeral, the day he committed the crime, and Mersault’s feelings that he cannot deal with. The novel was about a man whose mother had died and he didn’t believe that he cared until he got flashbacks and killed a man. Soon after his mother died Meursault is making friends and going out. He gets into some trouble and ends up in jail. He goes through trial and doesn’t make it.…

Nagel belief is that everything is absurd in life. He believes that life has no tangible meaning and there is no reason why we should think we could make life meaningful at all. But, we continue to live with defiance, despair, or with an ironic smile. Life is not as important as we had once thought, but that is not a reason to hate life or to feel sadness. Nagel does not believe that life is absurd is about life meaning nothing because it will mean nothing in the distant future. He says “In…

“The life of man is a struggle on earth. But without a cross, without a struggle, we get nowhere. The victory will be ours if we continue our efforts courageously, even when at times they appear futile.” This quote by Boniface Wimmer, a German monk, perfectly sums up the capabilities of the human soul and what is necessary to happen in one’s life to ensure happiness of any kind, which is to surpass struggle. For that reason, the human soul is, by its very nature, designed to fight on despite any…

The human brain has been conditioned into two different and immediate reactions to fear: fight and flight. The responses to long term adversity of submission and rebellion are derived from the flight and flight reactions. Submission occurs following the loss of hope in the face of adversity. Rebellion instigates further rebellion and enables one to accept one’s fate. Submission is a common response to adversity that stems from the loss of the delusion of reprieve; it often results in the…

Stephen Crane questions man's fate in this world through naturalism. In "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets," Crane shows the helplessness of one's state in relation to poverty, and in "The Open Boat," Crane shows the helplessness of one's state in relation to nature. Crane emphasizes the essence that forces, such as poverty and nature, are not adversaries to man, but rather that they are simply forces that are apathetic towards man. "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" can be a downer, but it is…

The universal challenge of maintaining individuality is explored in both J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye and Stephen Chbosky’s film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, yet is approached differently due to contrasting contexts. Both protagonists struggle to withstand the values of their society which conflicts with their own and to succeed despite the expectations placed upon them. As a result of their respective time periods, Holden Caulfield approaches these obstacles with pessimism…

Emily Whelan 10/1/16 In The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus argues what the meaning of life really is. In this paper, I will explain the story of Sisyphus, and how it symbolizes the meaning of life. First, I will explain how Sisyphus was punished by doing meaningless labor for the rest of eternity. Then, I will break down how Camus describes Sisyphus as an absurd hero.…

Saleem Sinai – a native alien and a hopeless and hapless victim of history, leads a life of anguish and isolation. Since he cannot undo the historical injustices and establish his “rootedness”, he takes recourse to fantasy and myth to discover his “imaginary roots” which lies here and everywhere, dispersed and scattered. Saleem seeks to resolve his agonizing problems of identity by withdrawing himself into the realm of fantasy: Saleem sees the isolated facts of history only as they relate to him…

Break Free “…Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere, we’re all going to die.” – Ryan Ridley, Actor The above statement was by Ryan Ridle (Morty), from the animated TV show Rick and Morty. In this series Morty travels through different dimensions therefore knows that his existence isn’t real when he’s in a different dimension other than his own. This thought fits perfectly with Michael Popper’s confusion, in Watanabe’s Kid’s Story (2013). This connects with the film in the sense that…