The Stranger

2) a,b : This passage is taken from "What is Enlightenment", by Immanuel Kant, from the first page of the essay. Kant is criticizing the over dependence of a grown up individual for nurturing and caretaking and possibly resisting the responsibilities brought to him. He says these deficiencies are caused by laziness and cowardice. Kant states that enlightenment is a man freeing himself from self-imposed nonage. He moves on explaining the reasons why this nonage takes place, and then moves on…

The philosopher Albert Camus paints and bleak picture of the human existence, saying that our lives have no meaning and are, as a consequence absurd, because all our efforts are futile and hopeless. However, if we can accept that choice is intrinsic to a thinking being, then we can admit to ourselves that everything we do, no matter how insignificant, possesses some meaning and it gives our existence purpose. There are two certainties in life deduced by the thinking of Rene Descartes; one is…

Anyone who reads In the Penal Colony by Kafka cannot fail but noticing what is called the apparatus. This huge machine, described by the Officer as perfect and wonderful, and arguably perceived by most readers as horrible and disgusting. The machine is basically an instrument of death; executions are carried out using the machine to carve into the condemned man's flesh a sentence that represents the lesson he needs to learn. The machine appears very complex and well constructed for its purpose.…

I can hear the voice of the sergeant behind me telling me “go faster, take longer strides!”, as I am trying to catch up to my platoon. As I slowly start to fall behind from my platoon. I feel like an outsider, and I began to question why am I even here? I try going faster, and taking longer strides, but they seem more far away with each step. Now I feel like I don’t belong there anymore, and I fade away recalling the first time I stepped a foot in Virginia Military Institute. Going to VMI for…

• In the ancient Greek myth, Sisyphus was condemned to roll a rock up a mountain over and over again, forever. Camus wanted to think of Sisyphus as being conscious. • He wrote about the routines in life such as riding the street care, going to work at a factory or an office, eating and riding home. This happens over and over again. He wrote that at the end of the acts of a mechanical life, weariness comes. The is a conscious awakening and the outcome is suicide or recovery. Camus wrote, “For…

state. Small events can impact larger events just as historical and cultural events can impact larger events such as the writing of a book. In the book The Stranger, historical and cultural events impacted the writing of the book. The Stranger is a book about the main character, Meursault, and the psychology of his character. In The Stranger he shows no remorse for his mother and a while later kills an Arab or Native Algerian. The book is set in Algeria in the 1940’s while it was called…

through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook” (All About Philosophy). In The Stranger by Albert Camus, existentialism is reflected through Meursault’s relationship with his mother, his actions, the death of the Arab and his trial. Existentialism can be defined by ten main concepts. The first concept…

“Waiting for Godot” uses stage direction, parallels, uncertainty, and a tragicomedy approach in order to show that Estragon and Vladimir’s lives are meaningless. This also extends to eventually convey Samuel Beckett’s larger commentary on the purpose of human existence. Beckett wants to show how every individual’s life has no purpose or meaning. Before any thorough analysis can be made, it is important to understand the larger, extended metaphor that is this play—a metaphor for humankind. This…

Heart of Darkness is a modern novel written by Joseph Conrad. It is one of the finest works of Conrad which shows his power as a writer of great luminosity, passion and complexity. The story Conrad depicts in ‘Heart of Darkness’ is based on the real backdrop that happened during the time of ‘Leopold II of Belgium’. The second king, Leopold II set an eye on Congo and colonized Africa. He brings out the sufferance of the people of Congo under the rule of Leopold II. People were enslaved, exploited…

In the words of Gabriel Garcia Márquez, one of the most renowned Latin American authors, “The interpretation of our reality through patterns not our own, only serves to make us ever more unknown, ever less free, ever more solitary.” These words echo throughout one of Márquez’s most brilliant works, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, published in 1981. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is infused with magical elements, which contradict the journalistic nature of the novel. The result is a suspended…