The Stranger Reading #3

“And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (Camus 59).

            Mersault makes the above statement after killing the Arab; it is a fair claim to make after killing someone. Mersault does not follow through with the emotion of being unhappy, because he shows no feelings in the beginning of part two of the book. In fact, he reminds himself on two different occasions that he is a criminal. First, when he wants to shake his lawyer’s hand and then again, when his reaction does not fit the typical reaction of other criminals. He illustrates disconnect from society, because he only seems to believe that his actions are wrong because of the rules that society has put in place. Mersault acts the opposite of how most people participate in life: “that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings” (Camus 65). Typically many people believe that their feelings get in the way of their actual needs, and in some cases, that an individual has too many emotions. A person cannot act on all of their emotions, whereas Mersault appears to not be able to act on any, because he has none. Mersault is not capable of processing his emotions like an average individual, which makes him appear to be an awful person, because he is unable to respond to events.

Sound and Sense Chapter Eleven: "Woman Work"

In the poem Woman Work, Maya Angelou writes about all that women have to do, and she expresses her need to escape through her end rhyme and description of the outdoors.

            Maya Angelou begins the poem with a fourteen line stanza. In these lines she practically lists all the chores that she has to accomplish, yet she still has an end rhyme. The first stanza is the longest in length, and when it is read it is exhausting and the lines appear to be a list of chores. The short lines and repetitiveness of the use of “The” makes it tiring to read just like the chores would. The last two lines of the stanza are not chores: “Then see about the sick And the cotton to pick” (Lines 13-14). Angelou illustrates that woman do get out of the house and do other important tasks. In the rest of the poem Angelou describes things that are outside for example sunshine, winds, snowflakes, and the sky. The sky is described twice, and the sky is the biggest out of all of the things. Her description illustrates her will to free and out of the house. In the last line of the poem she writes “You’re all that I can call my own” (Line 30), referring to the sky. The speaker views the sky as something that is entirely hers, unlike the other items she has. Nature invigorates her, and does not drain all of her energy, like the chores she has to complete in her household.

The Stranger Reading #2

“I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfied with mine here at all” (Camus 41).

            Mersault makes this statement when his boss asks him if he wants to work in Paris. Mersault does not have a typical response to the proposition, because most people would either be really excited about the opportunity to live in Paris, or apprehensive about moving their leaving or leaving their family. Mersault has no family, nor is he excited about the job. His comment illustrates the belief that he and everyone else, are just living, and that the decisions you make are irrelevant. His comment is based on the assumption that everyone ends up in the same place, and that a person should not change their lifestyle if they already content. Mersault’s comment exemplifies his indifference to society and his passive voice. Mersault is not living life; he is barely even going through the motions. He does bring up the job offer when Marie is talking about getting married, and she comments that she would enjoy Paris. It appears that Mersault is in some way looking for a reason to go to Paris, and by Marie making the comment he can go and say simply that it was her decision. Mersault is beginning to illustrate that he does care about some decisions, but only just a little.  

Sound and Sense Chapter 10: The Oxen

                In the poem The Oxen, Thomas Hardy illustrates his disbelief in the Christmas story as an adult, by looking back at a Christmas Eve when he was a child. His tone expresses nostalgia, disbelief and hopefulness by his word choice and description of The Oxen on Christmas Eve. In the first stanza Hardy writes ‘“Now they are all on their knees,” An elder said as we sat in a flock’ (Lines 2-3).  Hardy is looking back at himself as a child, and his willingness to believe what an adult told him, and his amazement of the Christmas story. The word “elder” used to describe the person telling Hardy about The Oxen expresses that the adult is older and wiser. Hardy expresses nostalgia for when he was a child, and when he believed what adults told him without any questions. Hardy expresses his disbelief as an adult: “Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then” (Lines 7-8). Hardy explains that adult believed that the oxen were kneeling in the barn because knew that Jesus was holy and important. Hardy doubts the oxen were kneeling for Jesus. The last line of the poem illustrates that Hardy does not want to right about the Oxen, yet he still is trying to be realistic about the Oxen kneeling down for Jesus. Hardy is still hopeful that the Oxen are kneeling: “Hoping it might be so” (Line 16). His hopeful tone is expressed by the way the poem ends with hoping, and that he remember believing that the Oxen kneeling when he was a child.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Reading #8

“It would kill this monstrous soul-life, and without its hideous warnings, he would be at peace. He seized the thing, and stabbed the picture with it” (Wilde 164).

            Dorian wants to ruin the painting because he believes that he is going to change the way that he lives his life. He believes the painting is holding him back from moving on with his life; he continues to blame the painting, not himself, for his actions. Dorian’s plan does not work out the way he expects, because he ended up killing himself when he stabs the painting. The end of the book reflects Wilde’s aesthetic philosophy that life should mimic art, because when Dorian stabs the painting, he is stabbing himself. After Dorian dies, the painting changes back to its original picture of Dorian, while the body of Dorian has aged. The painting reverts back to the youthful Dorian after he dies because he no longer needs to hide the evil that has taken over his soul, because he is dead. The painting is still a reminder to people of who he was, and his body is the only evidence that he was evil.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Reading #7

“His meeting with Adrian Singleton had strangely moved him, and he wondered if the ruin of that young life was really to be laid at his door, as Basil Hallward had said to him with such infamy of insult” (Wilde 139).

             

          Before Dorian killed Basil, Basil saw Dorian as the reason for the changes in Adrian Singleton. Even though Dorian is permanently on the evil side, he goes to see if Basil’s accusations were correct. Unfortunately, Dorian is unable to take the blame for Singleton’s ruined life. The visit does illustrate that Dorian is stuck replaying the conversation he had with Basil. Dorian is rewinding the parts of his life that were once good, but he is not interested in changing his lifestyle. Dorian seems to want to prove Basil’s accusation wrong, because Dorian will never actually recognize the truth, because he will never take blame for what has happened to him. Dorian does not show remorse for killing Basil; he is still angry at Basil for speaking the truth about the evil that has overtaken him.