The Feelings and the Man

Thus far, if anyone had asked me to describe the main character of The Stranger, I would have merely characterized him as an uncanny sort of man. The sort of man that seems to be slightly socially awkward, mostly because he is so drastically different from what society has come to tag as a “normal person.” In fact, before now, I had never considered a backstory for him.

Why is Mersault the way he is? Could it possibly be just his personality, or is there more to this character?

Whilst reading the past four chapters of the book, it finally came into my head (granted, it came a bit late) that there is a very specific reason that the book is called The Stranger. As readers, we don’t know anything about Mersault. His tendencies to think of only the present and the fact that the novel is narrated in first person both make it almost impossible to get to know the character. In the fifth chapter however, one hint is finally dropped as to what his past was like. The hint doesn’t help us understand Mersault better at all; mostly, it just makes him more of a puzzle. The allusion to this odd character’s life raises more questions than it answers.

“I returned to work. I’d have preferred not to vex him, but I saw no reason for ‘changing my life.’ By and large it wasn’t an unpleasant one. As a student I’d had plenty of ambition of the kind he meant. But, when I had to drop my studies, I very soon realized all that was pretty futile.” (The Stranger, pg. 28)

First of all, the quote conveys the fact that Mersault was a student once, although it doesn’t broaden on the subject, leaving the reader wondering whether he dropped out of high school, college, or even middle school. Moreover, the biggest dilemma is brought forward with the word “had.” It turns out that the character was forced to drop his studies and forget his ambitions. This detail hints at Mersault actually being hurt or bitter about something in his past, giving way to the hypothesis I made in my last blog post about the existential way of thinking being a tactic to avoid disappointment.

After reading this in the fifth chapter, my point of view on the character changed, making him seem more human in my eyes. Finally, there is at least a hint that he cares just as much as the rest of us do. Furthermore, I noticed that at the beginning of the sixth chapter, when the character states that “It was an effort waking up that Sunday morning” (The Stranger, pg. 32) he gives no particular reason as to why it cost him so much trouble. There is no point in the previous scenes in which the character drinks or does anything that might make his waking up harder. At that moment, all I could think of was my recent realization that Mersault is actually a man after all, and it came to my head that the prior day had been quite hectic for one who tries not to feel.

Firstly, he was reminded of his past life: a life in which he probably had a promising future and hopes for how it may turn out. Soon after the past life incident, he was asked to be married by the girl he subconsciously loves, even if he refuses to admit it. All in all, it is enough to make a person who is used to feeling nothing become a complete turmoil.

After finally determining this, I find that the quote I shared above actually unravels the story and the character at once. It shows that the character does have feelings, even if they are buried down under layer upon layer of resentment and self-preservation; but it also proposes a reason to the killing which happens later in the story. Mersault didn’t want to kill the Arab; he sees no meaning in dying anyway so there would be no point to that. Mersault wanted to kill his past. Mostly because everything was so much simpler two days before, when he wasn’t reminded of his preceding dissatisfactions or asked to compromise in marriage. 

What does it mean?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and philosopher wrote in his book The Sorrows of Young Werther that “The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.” This idea is reflected throughout The Stranger, novel by the controversial author Albert Camus. The main character within this book is not necessarily hiding from freedom because of fear, but mostly he shies away from it because of the existentialist belief that it will all be meaningless anyway. Even though the reason for the lack of freedom in Goethe’s phrase and in the novel is different, they have in common that they represent a monotonous reality which has no specific meaning. A reality which is completely fruitless; one in which consequences are not even considered, because they won’t mean anything anyway.

“I wrote the letter. I didn’t take much trouble over it, but I wanted to satisfy Raymond, as I’d no reason not to satisfy him.” (The Stranger, pg. 22)

For an existentialist, the only moment which carries any weight is the moment they are in. This is the reason why M. Mersault doesn’t give any specific thought to the idea of writing a letter for his friend, even if it may lead to trouble. As far as he is concerned, there is no reason not to do it right now, so he does it. Many would say that the mind of an existentialist is a simple place, given that there is no caution or particular hope to achieve anything. In many ways, this character created by Camus seems stoic or even selfish at times, in fact, in order to go through the book without coming to resent the character, one must understand that his actions are born, not from pomposity, but from not caring at all. The truth is, the mind of an existentialist is, to me, not a simple place at all. Mostly I believe that existentialism tends to be a method of self-preservation. If there is no meaning to life, then there is no reason to be disappointed by what it may bring, seeing as it won’t matter.

An existentialist existence must be a rather depressing way of life. Mainly because assuming that nothing matters means that all passion and feeling are sucked from life. This can be seen in the first four chapters of the story as it can be seen in the phrase above. Instead of asking themselves why life is worth it or why they should do something (in which case the answers would be: “because it matters”, “because I care”, or even “because I want to”) existentialists go through every day asking themselves why not do it. Why would it mean anything at all? In my opinion, being at either end is plain unhealthy. Always asking yourself why you should do something may lead to an over calculating person who doesn’t enjoy life, but always asking why not, may lead to someone who doesn’t appreciate it.

“It occurred to me that somehow I’d got through another Sunday, that Mother now was buried, and tomorrow I’d be going back to work as usual. Really, nothing in my life had changed.” (The Stranger, pg. 17)

This past phrase puts the whole existentialist movement into perspective. A perspective that actually makes one question the meaning of life as a whole. Mostly because it is the truth laid out in the rawest way possible.  What happens when someone close to you dies?

We’d all like to say that life changes, that suddenly we see something clearer or find a new meaning to it all. Really that never happens.

Sure, we may miss the person for a while. We will always have our moments in which we think back at how much they meant to us. But our world keeps turning. We keep going to school and work, we continue to follow the same schedule as before, we continue living in exactly the same way as we did when they were alive. So what is the meaning of life?

If nothing will really change when we are gone, if we will all be eventually forgotten, what is the point?

It is at this moment that I find myself at a crossroad.

See, I don’t believe there is a point at all. We live for a while, we have fun, and then we die. My life has no particular meaning in the world, and neither does anyone’s. Yet, I don’t think we should abandon all hope and passion because of this. After all, even if it is irrelevant in the end, I might as well enjoy the bit of irrelevance that has brought me here no?

My life may not have a meaning in the whole order of the universe, but it is important to me. And unlike an existentialist, I would quite like to do something with the bit of essence I was granted with. A walking body that doesn’t care about anything at all wouldn’t suit me, I think. 

Color, Irony, and Symbolism

"Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans." 

(Chapter 7) 

Most of the color references in The Great Gatsby are meant to show the character, or society as they truly are. This example can be seen in the name "Daisy" or the word choice when naming the towns "West Egg" and "East Egg".  These items are all white on the outside, seemingly implying purity. They are however, bright yellow in the center, implying arrogance and superficiality. The yellow can also be taken as an allusion to gold, which ultimately defines the society of the roaring twenties so cleverly portrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Furthermore, the white daisy is supposed to be the symbol of loyal love, which makes the naming of the character ironic as well as symbolic. 

In the quotation above, the color carries as much importance as it does in the rest of the book. Giving the reader input on what each character symbolizes. 

Silver is commonly known as a representation for wealth along with gold. This is obviously important, but personally, I believe silver may also represent other things relevant to the story and the overall meaning in the book. The color silver is also related to femininity and female power, which in the abstract from the book, can be seen clearly, specially when the two women are referred to as "idols". 

Silver can also be a way to represent illusion, which could mean that these two "idols" are really a lie,  much like the Daisy metaphor already suggests. 

White on the other hand, is the color of purity and virginity. The irony in this lies in the fact that Daisy and Jordan were anything but virginal throughout the story. In fact, in chapter eight, the author removes all doubt of this when he writes: "It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy-- it increased her value in his eyes." The significance of the color white is increased when one considers the position the color currently occupies: it is being weighed down by the silver. Meaning that all the illusions, power, and femininity are utterly trouncing all the purity left in women of the 1920's. 

All in all, this sentence, though seemingly inconsequential in the meaning of the book as a whole, actually symbolizes women (or at least women the way F. Scott Fitzgerald saw them) in the society of the roaring twenties.