Journal 4

Quotes:
"On my way out I was even going to shake his hand, but just in time, I remembered that I had killed a man"(64).

"I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings"(65).

"I felt the urge to reassure him that i was like everybody else, just like everybody else"(66).

"I was looking at the countryside around me. Seeing the rows of cypress trees leading up to the hills next to the sky, and the houses standing out here and there against that red and green earth, I was able to understand Maman better. Evenings in that part of the country must have been a kind of sad relief. But today, with the sun bearing down, making the whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhuman and oppressive"(15).

"A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn't mean anything but that I didn't think so. She looked sad"(35).

"I would rather not have upset him, but I couldn't see any reason to change my life, Looking back on it, I wasn't unhappy. When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that. But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of  it really mattered"(41).

The authors use of first person point of view was to put focus on the main characters thoughts, and to show what he thought and how he saw it. He uses first person point of view to explain everything through Meursault's eyes, and to show his descriptions of the situations and how he reacted to them. To me it seemed like Meursault did not care much for things or considered them to "not matter" or they were not important to him. That everything just happened but it did not have any significance.The point of view aligns with the protagonist through how it directly shows that the main focus is on the protagonist (Meursault) and what his reactions and opinions are. The point of view connects to other parts of the book, the point of view being Meursault and how he in a way connects the sections together and why they are significant to the theme.


A cultural difference, the french are catholic and so are all of the people against what Meursault did ( killing the Arab) i thought it was interesting how it seems like a battle against Meursault's thoughts of meaningless and how God does not matter and the others ( investigators, magistrate, jury) and their thoughts of how everything is meaningful and how with God being the reason that everything is meaningful, that the battle being against religion, purpose and reason for life. Kind of like the Absurd, being the thought that everything is meaningless, but we still reach for meaning and dwell on purpose and finding a reason for everything in life. What made me come to think of this is the court trial against Meursalt's killing of the Arab.