Literature Analysis #2

1. Exposition: A man lives a life based on routine and is very peculiar. He doesn't usually wish to talk to people, he doesn't show emotion and he doesn't like to miss work. This man lives in an apartment complex and only talks to his neighbors sometimes, but as the story unrolls he will become good friends with his neighbor, that is a pimp, names Raymond. Meursault, the strange man, receives a telegram informing him that his mother has passed. He goes the home that she was living at and will sit next to the body all night before the funeral. Some of the other old folks that live there sit with him during the night and are surprised that he does not cry and shows no sadness. The head of the home is shocked when Meursault says he does not wish to see her body. The day after Maeursault's mother's funeral he meets a girl named Marie, who he will have a relationship without the story.
Rising Action: Marie and Maeursault become very close and Marie talks about marrying him. He says that he does not particularly love her but that if she wishes to get married he will marry her. Marie and Maeursault become close with Raymond who had previously beat his girlfriend and had beef with the girlfriend's brothers. Raymond invites Marie and Maeursault to go to the beach, where his friend has a beach house. They agree to go and on the way see the girlfriend's brothers. They are having a great time at the beach, when the men go for a walk and come across the brothers. Maeursault keeps Raymond from killing the brothers by taking his revolver. The men get into a fight, but then it is over and they go their separate ways.
Conflict: Maeursault goes back out on the beach by himself because he is feeling a little sick. He comes across the brothers again and thought they would be gone since they had already gotten in a fight. Maeursault is minding his own business and is feeling very weak because of the grueling sun. One of the brothers comes over the Maeursault with a knife; he does not know what to do because he knows that he cannot fight because of how sick he is feeling.
Climax: Maeursault then remembers that he still has Raymond's revolver. He takes the gun out of his pocket and shoots the man four consecutive times. The police come and Maeursault is arrested for murder as the brother obviously died after being shot four times. Maeursault does not really realize what he has done because he still feels delusional from being sick.
Falling Action: Maeursualt is kept in jail and still doesn't realize what is happening, he feels as if he will be released soon, once the police find out the real story. Maeursault gets a lawyer and they are going to have a big trial. During the case, he sees Marie and Raymond and it all starts to sink in that he may never get to see them again. As the case seems to be going bad for him, he starts to realize his destiny. He knows there is nothing that he can do and starts reflecting on his life and what he would be doing in his daily routine.
Resolution: Raymond, Marie, and many of the witnesses try to help free Maeursault, but the jury finds him guilty, which means he has the death penalty. He now sits in a sell waiting for his day to come to be killed. He reminisces on the time he went to the death penalty ceremony and remembered how sick he was after watching. Now that he is sentenced to the death penalty and people will come to watch him be killed, he wishes that he would have gone to more. He says that if his appeal goes through he will go to every death penalty after that. A reverend from the prison comes to talk to Maeursault and get him to believe in God. He says that he believes his appeal will go through and he just needs to believe too and it will happen, but Maeursault refuses to believe in any God.
2. One theme in this story is the meaninglessness of human life. Every day Maeursault would get up and to the same thing waiting for the day to end, just like waiting for death. This story shows how death is inevitable and this man chose not to make his life memorable or something people will cherish. There are some people in the world that strive to accomplish and do wonderful things while they are alive and some people just live their lives and await death. In this story, Maeursault shows the meaningless side of the human race.
3. The author's tone is very melancholy. "He'd beaten her till the blood came. Before that he'd never beaten her." Page 38 Although this excerpt is melancholy it shows no emotion. None of the characters, nor the author, feels bad for the lady that was beaten up. So rather than melancholy, it may be a tone of carelessness or dispassion.
Another tone this author portrays is harshness or brutality. "'You let me down, you bitch! I'll learn you to let me down!' There came some thuds, then a piercing scream-it made one's blood run cold-and in a moment there was a crowd of people on the landing." Page 45 The author makes this seem like it seem as if women being beaten is harsh but normal.
Another tone is plain or monotone. I feel as if the story never changes emotion, again because there is no emotion. "I noticed at once that four men in black were standing behind the coffin and the screws in the lid had now been driven home." Page 16 This excerpt shows how detached the author was or how he made the characters seem because they are talking about locking up his mother's body and he has no sadness in him at all.
4. a) "I entered the mortuary. It was a bright, spotlessly clean room, with whitewashed walls and a big skylight. The furniture consisted of some chairs and trestles. Two of the latter stood open in the center of the room and the coffin rested on them. The lid was in place, but the screws had been given only a few turns and their nickeled heads stuck out about the wood, which was stained dark walnut.' Page 5 This is an example of description or imagery.
b) "There was the promise of a very fine day. I hadn't been in the country for ages, and I caught myself thinking what an agreeable walk I could have had, if it hadn't been for Mother." Page 14 This is an example of irony, he is angry with his mother because she died and he didn't get to go on his morning walk.
c) "But what caught my attention most was his ears; pendulous, scarlet ears that showed up like blobs of sealing wax on the pallor of his cheeks and were framed in wisps of silky white hair." Page 17 This is an example of a simile, he compares the ears to the wax on his cheeks.
d) "Salamano's spaniel is an ugly brute, afflicted with some skin disease-mange, I suspect; anyhow, it has lost all its hair and its body is covered with brown scabs. Perhaps through living in one small room, cooped up with his dog, Salamano has come to resemble it." Page 32 This is an example of a metaphor. The dog and its owner are compared and are alike.
e) "Then the dog began to moan in old Salamano's room, and through the sleep-bound house the little plaintive sound rose slowly, like a flower growing out of the silence and the darkness." Page 42 This is an example of juxtaposition because flowers remind someone of sunlight and growth, whereas silence reminds someone of darkness and decay.
f) "'And I daresay that's why I love you,' she added. 'But maybe that's why one day I'll come to hate you.'" Page 53 This is an example of dichotomy. There is a major gap between the two opposing things, they will either love each other or hate each other.
g) "For a moment the "little robot" (as I thought of her) had much impressed me, but I soon forgot about her." Page 56 This is an example of a comparison or a metaphor.
h) "But the whole beach, pulsing with heat, was pressing on my back." Page 75 This is an example of personification.
i) A common motif in this story is death and decay. Maeursault's mother dies, the dog dies, the brother dies, and soon Maeursault himself will die.
j) "And then a rush of memories went through my mind- memories of a life which was mine no longer and had once provided me with the surest, humblest pleasures; warm smells of summer, my favorite streets, the sky at evening, Marie's dresses and her laugh." Page 132 This is an example of flashback.
Characterization:
1. Indirect Characterization: "I was rather surprised, as I didn't know who she was. I wanted her to stop crying, but dared not speak to her." Page 11 This shows how Maeursault was not very attached to anyone nor had any emotion. He was not sympathetic to anyone no matter how sad the times were.
"Then, when she came back, he'd go to bed with her and, just when she was "properly primed up," he'd spit in her face and throw her out of the room. " Page 40 This shows that Raymond did not respect girls and often had a problem with women. He was a pimp so this just shows his disrespect towards women.
Direct Characterization: "Still, he often had a word for me, and drops in sometimes for a short talk in my room, because I listened to him." Page 34 This shows how Raymond relied on other people for advice. He couldn't do something until he had told Maeursault his plan.
"'No,' he answered, 'I shouldn't call him that. But he isn't one to wast his breath, like a lot of folks.'" Page 115 This shows that Maeursault did not talk a lot and wished not to be known by the world, but rather kept to himself.
2. I believe that the authors diction does not change throughout the story, it remains pretty plain and not highly sophisticated. When the author is talking about the appearance of characters, he usually uses longer, more descriptive sentences, but when he talks about the personality of the character he uses dialogue. "Next came a group of young fellows, the local "bloods," with sleek oiled hair, red ties, coats cut very tight at the waist, braided pockets, and square-toed shoes." Page 26
3. I believe that the protagonist is dynamic because once he is in prison and realizes that his freedom is gone, he wishes that he would have done things differently in life. Although he does not experience a big change and the change is not until the very end, I believe the text on the last couple pages makes him a dynamic character. I think that Maeursault is a flat character because he is pretty plain and easy to explain, it does not take a lot of words or sentences at all.
4. I feel as if I have only read a character because I could not really connect to Maeursault or anything that happened to him. He has gone through things I haven't experienced and some things I will never experience, so it was extremely hard to connect and be inside what he was feeling. "For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with hows of execration." Page 154 This excerpt confuses me as to why you would want a lot of people to watch your death. I would not want people to watch my death, but to remember me for who I was, but then again I have never felt the loneliness he feels in prison, so I don't know exactly what my reaction would be to this situation, which is why it is difficult for me to know him as a person, rather than a character.