Paul

Extension questions
== **The narration is sharp, concise and to the point. Mainly simple action verbs are used, in the past tense, for example, “I caught the two o’clock bus. It was very hot. I ate at Celeste’s restaurant, as usual.” There is very little dialogue. This allows the reader to learn about Mersault through his actions/reactions, rather than his thoughts or feelings. What tone is Camus establishing? ** == ==With this style of writing it is very difficult for the reader to establish an emotional connection with Meursault. In a way, this style of writing resembles the way Meursault is perceiving his surroundings. We can observe him reacting with very few or strange seeming emotions, as he does not show them in his actions (e.g. not weeping at his mother's funeral), which are the focus of Camus's writing style. This absurdism of Meursault's character is reflected in the sharp, but somehow impersonal writing style of Camus. The concise description of his actions makes us feel, that these actions are very honest, meaning that they do not try to fulfill anyone's expectations On the other hand this sharp and precise style of writing makes us able to find ourselves having similarities with him, as his actions are not described with much detail, which makes it easier for us to find his actions resembling what we do in our everyday life. == == **Note how often Mersault falls asleep/dozes with reference to his description of the environment in which he falls asleep (pg 10 – “I had to run for the bus. It was probably all this dashing about and then the jolting and the smell of petrol and the glare of the sky reflecting off the road that made me doze off.”). Once again, he is heavily influenced by elements of the situation. Describe a time when you fell asleep uncontrollably. How does this help you to connect with Mersault? ** == ==I often fall asleep without wanting to do so in my bus to school. Usually I am trying to read, learn, or listen to music, when my eyes are slowly starting to get heavy. It seems to me as if the possibility of falling asleep alone makes me doze off. Even if I am not tired and try to stay awake on my way back from school, I often fall asleep. Finding commonalities with Meursault helps me as the reader connect with him as those “shared experiences” make me feel sympathy for him. == == **In contrast, the final sentence of the chapter is unusually long. Interestingly, we finally get a glimpse into the “joy” that Mersault is feeling now that he can “go to bed and sleep for a whole twelve hours.” What do we learn about Mersault through this? ** == ==In this context, Mersault’s joy is just another example of his absurdist characterics. The joy is a strong contrast to what most people feel after their mother has died. Usually, we would expect someone to mourn the death and to reflect on the times one had with the person that has passed away. Mersault just blanks out the memory of his mother and behaves as if nothing had happened. Him enjoying twelve hours of sleep is also indicating that he does not really enjoys life as he is enjoying not taking part in it by sleeping.== ==Besides, this joy Meursault feels is one of the first emotions we can observe him feeling. The way the final sentence is written, long with many commas, shows how excited and passionate he is about sleeping, which is a contrast to the emotionless way Meursault is described as in the rest of the chapter.== ==**Chapter 2 ** == 4. Page 28: “I realised that I’d managed to get through another Sunday, that mother was now buried, that I was going to go back to work and that, after all, nothing had changed.” Imagine a tragedy that has just struck a friend. The next day, your friend comes to school as if nothing has happened. What would you say to your friend? How would you react to their lack of acknowledgement?


 * I would be very surprised by his behaviour. It is not what reaction one expects after a tragedy has struck someone. I would have problems approaching him, would not know what to say to him. As my friend I would not want to offend him with what I say as the way he is dealing with a personal tragedy is only his choice. Even if I was curious, I would not too much question his behaviour because I think one's personal feelings are strictly personal and should not be questioned by others that do not concern them. I think Marie also displays this cautious attitude, as we cannot observe her reacting to Meursault’s lack of emotional response to his mother’s death in any way. **

5. Despite chapters 1 and 2 being poles apart in terms of content (chapter 1 focuses on the funeral, whereas 2 is about a day at the beach with a girl), an indifferent tone is prevalent in both. Explain how Camus uses language to achieve this.


 * Just as in the first chapter, Camus uses short and precise sentences in order to show Meursault’s lack of emotion in his actions (for example: p23. “In the water I met Marie Cordona. I’d fancied her at that time.”). Sentences such as “I kissed her, but badly.” (p.25) show us how Meursault is unable to feel emotions even after he has kissed a girl which he fancied. Even as Marie follows Meursault home, he does not show any emotional response to it (any emotional response being what one would expect).This shows the reader that nothing seems very important to Meursault. **

6. Give some examples of Camus’ use of imagery. Note how this is used in place of Meursault’s emotions.


 * In the second chapter the dominant use of imagery are descriptions of the weather condition. When Meursault is spending his Sunday standing in the street and watching people, we cannot observe him reacting emotionally to the people he watches. However, he gives several descriptions of how the sky looks like (“The sky was clear but dull”…”The sky clouded over and I thought we were going to have a summer storm. It gradually cleared again, but the passing clouds had left a sort of threat of rain hanging over the streets, which made it more gloomy”…”The sky began to redden”). These descriptions replace his emotional response. This could tell us that his feelings are dictated by the weather, that the weather influences his emotions to such an extent, that it replaces them. This would be another example of his absurdist behavioiur. **

7. See the //characters// page and add detail on Meursault’s interaction with Marie. **Extension Question (complete Qs 4 - 7 as well) **

1. Because absurdists believe that life is meaningless, the death of Meursault’s mother doesn’t affect him because that is what is expected. Give further detail of how the novel (so far) is an example of an absurdist text.

=Chapter 3=
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Meursault is not only not affected by his mother's death, Meursault is not significantly affected by anything, that is happening around him. In chapter two he gets together with Marie, a "girl he fancied". They kiss each other and she follows him home, but still Meursault does not show any emotional response to it. Instead of joy or happiness, feelings one would expect, Meursault continues to perceive his surroundings in a cold and neutral way ("I kissed her, bugt badly"). The style of writing is short and precise, mostly objective descriptions of Meursault's surroundings. This also is a characteristic of an absurdist text, as the descriptions are not connected with (expected) feelings, although the descriptions are given by a person. **

<span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">It's Meursault's first day back at work and his boss, following the socially expected rules of human behaviour, asks Meursault about his mother. When asked how old his mother was, Meursault answers with "about sixty". Do you know how old your mother is? Explain how Meursault would rather be true to himself and approximate his mother's age, rather than follow social protocol.

How does this reflect his outlook in the text thus far? Keep this quote in mind - it will appear later in the book...

I do know that my mother is 47. Meursault staying true to himself rather than just saying a certain age and thereby following the social protocol reflects the absurdist outlook in the text so far. Meursault just speaks out his mind and does not care how his statements or his behaviour affects his environment (meaning other people). He is unable to respond emotionally to their behaviour and therefore does not have to worry about how his behaviour could affect theirs towards him.

<span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Meursault displays a moment of spontaneity when he jumps on the truck following Emmanuel's suggestion. How might this add to his characterisation?

I think that this, as well as him having a "friendly" conversation with Raymond, shows us that Meursault is very affible. He does not really care about the way his actions affect others and therefore often agrees to propositions made by others. Agreeing with others saves him the "difficulty" of making decisions and judgements by himself, which does not reflect his absurdist attitude.

<span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Many characters comment negatively on Salamano and his dog, however, Meursault never judges. What does this tell you about him?

As Meursault does not respond emotionally to others, he will not have morals and ethics. Other people comment negatively on Salamano because morals tell them that one should not treat his dog badly, insulting and beating it. Meursault does not do these moral judgements and therefore there is no reason for him to comment negatively about Salamano and his dog.

<span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Imagine Raymond walks in the door and shares his story with **you.** Write a single diary entry, logging **your** reaction to his grotesque story.

When I came back from work today, I met Raymond, a neighbour of mine, to whom i had never spoken before. He invited me to his flat, to have dinner with him and I accepted the offer to get to know him. While we were having dinner, he told me a story about how he got into a fight the other day. How he was challenged, and how he fought the man as he “is no coward”, as he said. He then asked me what I thought about this matter and continued to tell his story. He told me about a girl, a mistress of his, who he had provided with a daily income of 20 francs and whose rent he paid. She did not work and kept on demanding for more money. Raymond asked her to get a part-time job, but she refused. He told me that he considered that to be unfair, as she was enjoying one free day after another, all expenses covered by Raymond alone. She still refused to work. One day, Raymond found two pawn-tickets for bracelets in her room. He got angry and hit her until she bled. I was shocked when he told me he thought he had not punished her enough yet. He even asked me if I had any idea of how to punish her. I became angry at how a man could behave so evil towards a girl for such a minor offense and how beating her until she bled could not be enough of a punishment. I tried to convince him to let her go, not to devote any more time on planning to punish her. He told me of an idea of his and I realised what a sick mind he must have to even think of such an abusive, humiliating and exaggerated way of punishment. I told him how shocked and stunned I was about the terrible things he told me and left his flat without saying goodbye. I am considering calling the police now, to protect the poor girl that fell for such an evil man from his wrath.

<span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Now **you are Meursault.** Write a single diary entry, logging your reaction to Raymond's story. Emulate Camus' style (note - these stories seem to have no impact on Meursault - he is happy to be fed. He is, however, affected by his physical surroundings such as the cigarettes and wine).

After work, Raymond, a neighbour of mine, invited me to dinner. I accepted as I did not have any food in my flat. He had a dirty, untidy flat with some pictures on the walls. We had dinner together and I asked him about an arm injury I noticed. He told me about a fight he got into. He asked me to give my opinion about this matter. If I gave him my advice, he would be my mate. I said I did not mind and he told me about a mistress of his. We had cigarettes and wine and he started explaining. He had given her money every day but felt betrayed by the way she spend it and that she refused to work. I agreed with him that seemed not very fair. When he found to pawn-tickets for bracelets in her room, he got angry and beat her up. Now he was looking for a way to punish her further and he was hoping me to have an idea. He told me about options he and his friends had considered and asked me what I thought about one particular way of punishment. I agreed with him that that would punish her alright. He thanked me and told me that he was my mate now. I agreed with him and went home.

Comment on how the two differ.

A normal person would focus very much on the content of Raymond's stories. He would make judgements and have own ideas instead of just agreeing with Raymond and everything he says and does, as Meursault does it. A normal person would respond emotionally, which I tried to display in my diary entry by showing how "I" got angry when Raymond told about what he had done and was going to do. Meursault does not really care about the effects of his continuos agreeing, he just does it to avoid having to judge Raymond or his actions, which would require emotion. This is not possible for him, as he is an absurdist and therefore not capable of emotional response.

Chapter 4
A week has gone by. We have already seen a typical workday so there is no need for us to see more of this. Highlights of the week are mentioned.

Explain how Marie and Meursault's harmonious morning is juxtaposed/contrasted with Raymond's fight with his mistress. What is the significance of this happening right after Meursault declares that he did not love Marie but that "it didn't mean anything"? (Consider Meursault's reactions to both love and hate in your response)

Meursault reacts very similarly to both love and hate. He often just goes along with whatever he is asked, as agreeing with someone saves him the difficulty of making an own judgement. This juxtaposition also shows the contrast between someone completely neutral towards almost everything (Meursault) and someone reacting very emotional (Raymond punishing his girlfriend due to pure hate). It shows how Meursault's behaves differently compared to the rest of the society.

Summarise Raymond and Meursault's night out, leading up to: "I found him very friendly towards me and I thought it was a good moment." (pg 40). Describe your thoughts on Meursault at this point.

Meursault seems to consider it to be friendly to agree with him. He just went along with everything Raymond told him and now Raymond agreed with him for the first time. He did not change his behaviour to Raymond, just behaved as he did towards everyone else. However, Raymond accepted that and behaved friendliy towards him and this acceptance is perceived as friendliness by the absurdist Meursault.

As Meursault hears Salamando weep for his dog, he says, "For some reason I thought of Maman." He then decides to go to bed with no dinner - this is the first instance in which Meursault appears to break a routine. Which of the statements below do you agree with and why? - Meursault truly does have societal norms and expectations deep (deep) inside. - The reader is making a connection here due to our own ingrained beliefs and expectations.

=Chapter 6= Create a collage based on the happenings in chapter 6. Think carefully about the images you choose. More sophisitcated collages will make use of symbolism and will enhance the nuances prevalent in the chapter.

Write a rationale of the collage which includes an analysis of the chapter.

Chapter six starts with Meursault behaving completely different. Usually, Meursault is driven by his physical needs. He can control easily when to get up and fall asleep. Marie having to wake him up already foreshadows that there is something different about him that Sunday morning. I showed this event in my collage by incorporating an alarm clock, displaying his problem to wake up. Marie also says that Meursault had a “face like a funeral”. Even when his mother died, Meursault did not look as if he was mourning. Therefore this change is another omen for what is going to happen later that day, as well. The sun hitting him “like a slap in the face” is foreshadowing later events, as well, since the sun is a very negative symbol in the later parts of the chapter. On their way to the beach chalet, Meursault’s neutrality and gloom is a strong contrast to Marie’s happiness. Marie keeps on laughing and “amusing herself” while Meursault is just describing the scenery, not interacting with the others in any way. However, when they arrive at the house of Raymond’s friend Masson and he sees Marie and Masson’s wife laughing together, Meursault thinks of marriage for the first time. Laughter seems to have a great impact on Meursault. This is why I put a laughing pair of lips together with two rings, representing marriage on my collage. Even though it is not described by Meursault, being the first person narrator, he seems to have some kind of joyful emotional response to it. The reason for him not describing it as joy but just reacting with the idea of marriage to the girls’ laughter can be ascribed to him not knowing what emotions are and how to describe them since he is an absurdist. When Marie goes swimming with Meursault, he starts describing even more accurately than his usual observations. He feels connected with her because of their common pleasure of swimming and again feels physically attracted by her (“I felt her legs around me and I wanted her”). The “joy” of that swimming is incorporated in my collage with the swimming trunks. After Meursault has satisfied his physical needs by having lunch, the tone of the chapter turns into the negative again. The sun is again a negative symbol (“the glare was unbearable”), preventing him from thinking and making him sleepy (“the sun beating down on my bare head…”). My collage shows this with the sun having an angry face and being in front of a bloodstain. Directly after that, Masson, Raymond and Meursault have their first encounter with the Arabs. Even during the fight, Meursault is still describing the negative effects of the sun on the situation (“The sand was so hot that it seemed to have turned red”), red being a symbol for blood, foreshadowing what is about to happen. After Raymond had been helped by a doctor, Meursault and Raymond have another walk along the beach. They meet the Arabs again but do not encounter them again. All Meursault notices while watching the Arabs is “the sun and the silence”, which again shows us how significantly influencing the sun is on Meursault. On their way back to the chalet, Meursault decides to turn around and walk along the beach again. This decision is strongly influenced by the sun’s effect on him (“With my head ringing from the sun, I was unable to face the effort of having to having to climb the wooden staircase again … but it was so hot that it was equally unbearable just standing there in the blinding rain pouring down from the sky”). He is directed to this action by the sun and this action is the first step towards the murder of the Arab. He tries to escape the sun at a cool spring band meets the Arab again. He thinks about shooting him and “realized that he could just turn away, but the sun was pressing against him from behind”. Again the sun drives him towards the murder. Meursault then moves towards the Arab “because he could not stay the burning feeling any longer”, provoking the Arab to draw his knife. This action of Meursault is directly controlled by the sun, as well. All he can feel then are the “cymbals the sun was clashing against him”. He loses control (“that was when everything shook”) and shoots the Arab, driven by the sun to do so. The sun controlling him is shown by Meursault, a marionette, being attached by strings to his “puppet master” the sun. This adds to Meursault’s strange characteristics as it is more than strange for a man to let his actions be dictated by the weather.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Write a paragraph describing how the tone at the start of the chapter foreshadows the shooting of the Arab. Include techniques/examples in your response. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">//Eg as a start....// <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Meursault is a man who sleeps and wakes when he chooses. This morning, however, Marie had some trouble waking Meursault and when she does, he is described to have a “a face like a funeral”. While the reader is never7 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> privy to Meursault's emotional state, this simile describes him as being in a dark mood.

Chapter six starts with Meursault behaving completely different. Usually, Meursault is driven by his physical needs. He can control easily when to get up and fall asleep. Marie having to wake him up already foreshadows that there is something different about him that Sunday morning. Marie also says that Meursault had a “face like a funeral”. Even when his mother died, Meursault did not look as if he was mourning. Therefore this change is another omen for what is going to happen later that day, as well. As Meursault is an absurdist and he is also the first person narrator, even if he was sad, we would not know it as he could not describe him being sad. Marie describing him as this, however, indicates that Meursault is in a very bad mood. The negative simile of the sun hitting him “like a slap in the face” is foreshadowing later events, as well, since the sun is a very negative symbol in the later parts of the chapter.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> 2. Give detail of Meursault's __physical__ state leading up to the shooting. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> - "I realized that I only had to turn around and it would all be over" - this shows that everything could have been completely different if he just turned around and went home. Such a simple decision can change the direction of your life completely.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Meursault describes himself as “having a rather thick head” after having drunk a lot of wine together with Masson and Raymond during lunch. When walking along the beach, the sun “beating on his head”, he says that the sun was making him “feel sleepy” and that “he was not thinking about anything” because of that. This is probably because of the alcohol in his blood in connection with high temperatures has got an even bigger effect on the human body. When he is standing in front of the staircase up to the chalet, after having returned, Meursault is very exhausted and describes having to climb the stairs to the chalet as an “unbearable effort”. He is still under the influence of alcohol (“the drunken haze”) when he is walking back along the beach. When he meets the Arab again, he is still very sleepy and he cannot stand the heat of the sun.

Part 2
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chapter 1

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Describe the significance of the religious imagery. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first time that a religious image is mentioned in this chapter is, when the examining magistrate takes out his “silver crucifix”. The examining magistrate says that his belief is that all men believe in God and that whoever doubts that believe doubts the meaning of his life. This reflects the absurdist theory of the human mind, saying that humans try to find meaning in their lives either by “filling the void” with a higher power, in this case god for the examining magistrate, or accept that life is meaningless, as Meursault does it. Meursault still does not agree with the examining magistrate’s belief and the examining magistrate then tells him that “all other criminals have wept at the sight of this symbol of suffering”, meaning the crucifix. While all other criminals were committed to God in a way, Meursault does not have any connection to the Christian belief. The “Antichrist”, Meursault is called by the examining magistrate, is a religious symbol for someone having committed terrible sins and blasphemy, which fits Meursault in the eyes of the magistrate, as he does not believe in God and as he has murdered a man.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chapter 2

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Pretend you are Meursault and write a letter to your mother from prison (300 words).
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dear mother,

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some time ago I had to think of you and what you told me about life. ”You end up getting used to everything”, you always said. And now, after endless hours in prison, I have to agree with you again. Prison has changed my life and me, but I am starting to get used to that fact, as well. I changed my sleeping habits and when I’m awake all I do is try to kill time until I am tired again. It got easier when I started to remember moments from the past. I started thinking about things, about you, about Marie, about me. Marie visited me a long time ago. I sometimes still feel a strong urge for her presence, think about her beauty. I also miss the cigarettes, the swimming, the sleep at home. I miss being able to live in the moment, being able to decide my way of living completely by myself. I realized that all I did all my life was following physical needs and filling up my days with work or some other distraction. Now that I have got problems to waste all the free time on my hands, I cannot distract myself from my human nature anymore and have to face the question I tried to avoid before: “What is the meaning of life?”. It’s a question all humans face in their lives when they run out of alternatives. Now that I cannot spend my time distracting me from that question and only living without considering future nor past, and since I cannot accept the existence of God in connection with my upbringing, taking me another way of avoiding this question, I am, for the first time, thinking about it. I accept that I will never find a universal answer nut I hope that, on the way here, I find an answer for myself and I find me.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In thoughts with you, as I always should have been: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Your son, Meursault

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chapter 3

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. What is Meursault’s first impression of the jury? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Meursault’s first impression of them is one of anonymous passengers in a tram, scrutinizing someone who has just entered the tram. He also compares their task and motive with the ones of tram passenger as both want to judge and find ”peculiarities” or “criminalities” (in the court)of a complete stranger. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

3. Who are the eight witnesses who will testify at Meursault’s trial? „The warden and the caretaker from the home, old Thomas Perez, Masson, Marie”…”and Celeste”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">