In the passage when Marie asked Mersault to marry her, Albert Camus suggests that everyone reacts to love and relationships different by having Mersault react so blunt towards Marie's question. Camus also showed everyone reacts to love and relationships different by the way Marie reacted after Mersault answered her. In many cases, Mersault's reaction would push a girl away, but in this case Marie just acted like everything was fine. Camus is showing that love and relationships may mean more to one person than the other.
When the passage begins, Marie asked Mersault if he would marry her. Mersault just answered saying, "It didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to"(41). Marie wanted to know if he loved her and he just said he probably didn't love her. She asks, " So why marry me, then?"(41). This probably really broke her heart even if she didn't want to show it. She is obviously in love with Mersault and he is just telling her, emotionless, that he doesn't love her. He is also giving off the impression that he is taking this relationship as a joke. Marriage is a serious impact on a couples life and a decision made by two people who are in love. " If she wanted to, we could get married. Besides, she was the one who was doing the asking and all I was saying was yes." (41-42). Marie could tell Mersault was just saying yes to give her an answer. She felt a little rejected and obviously hurt that the man she wanted to marry could careless.
She didn't talk for a while, thinking, contemplating what to do next. Finally, she spoke. " She just wanted to know if I would have accepted the same proposal from another woman, with whom I was involved in the same way. I said "sure" "(42). This part really showed people react to love and relationships different very different. Asking the rest of their lives with you takes a lot of courage and Mersault put Marie down hard. Mersault could care less about marriage, and it seems Marie really wants him to love her and marry her.
By the end of the passage, Marie found herself questioning if she loved Mersault. But she knew she loved him because he was peculiar. Mersault didn't really say anything to Marie. " I didn't say anything, because I didn't have anything to add, so she tool my arm with a smile and said she wanted to marry me. I said we could do it whenever she wanted"(42). Marie seemed like she was going to change her mind because Mersault seemed so blunt, and didn't care about anything. He doesn't love her, he doesn't mind if they get married, and he would have said yes to any other girl he was involved with.
At first love and their relationship seemed very important to Marie, and nothing to Mersault. At the end of the passage, their relationship and love wasn't so meaningful. Camus used a way in which love and the relationship didn't matter to the couple to show everyone reacts different.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
independent reading
In the memoir, Jay's Journal by an anonymous writer, the character is the type who tries to do good, but always falls back to doing bad. He conflicts and fights with himself ultimately resulting in him taking his own life. This shows that when you take life and family for granted, nothing good comes out of it, only heartache, disappointment, and in this case him taking his life.
In the beginning of the book, he seemed very angry that he had to keep a journal, until he finally gets comfortable writing in it. "But then somehow I got into seventh grade and started smoking shit and stuff I don't know, I guess it really was in seventh grade when I started getting off track"(p.7). He admits that when he was just in seventh grade and he was already getting into drugs. ". . .but I'm not really a whole person without them"(p. 10). He is very fond of his best friends Brad and Dell, and he doesn't feel complete without them. He likes this girl Debbie Dale, but the only problem is, she used to use drugs. In many cases when someone falls for someone who used to use, it doesn't turn out good. " Dad came in early and caught me stealing the pills for Debbie"(p.26). His dad has just got him this job in his pharmacy so he could make some money. Debbie needed more "ups" so she used him to steal them from the pharmacy, and he did. He got caught and almost had his dad closed down, which means seven employees would loose their jobs.
He gets sent away for his actions. After a while, Debbie wouldn't even write back to him, which upsets him because he did so much for her. "I'm the dumb bastard that took the fall while she goes right on licking her chops"(p.32). Now he feels dumb because he got into all this trouble, his family is mad at him, and Debbie doesn't even have the respect to write him back. He misses Brad and Dell and admits he's actually scared. "You gave me life Then put my hand in yours and led me on my way Till I rebelled and lost myself. Please do not let me go. I need you so."(P.43). He is finally starting to realize that his family is important to him, and they care about him. He starts getting his life back on track. "We were all on a natural happy high"(p.54). He didn't need to smoke to be happy, for once he felt good without being actually high. He is getting his life back together again.
At the climax of the story, he met a girl named Tina. She was sweet, the only problem is, she was very interested in witchcraft and voodoo, and based her actions on the Ouija board. "Then we messed around for a while with the Ouija board and the crystal ball. Tina said they had both told her emphatically that she was going to win the election, that's why she never had any questions"(p.125). Tina believed everything she did on the Ouija board. This made Jay uncomfortable because Ouija boards, voodoo, and witchcraft is all based in evil spirits.
Jay's two best friends both died after they "sold" their soul away. Jay was a mess knowing his friends weren't with him anymore. He always felt sick, couldn't eat or sleep, didn't feel like himself. He was always feeling evil around him, even his little brother didn't recognize him. "One night while we were out Jay took a 22-pistol, put it to his right temple, and pulled the trigger"(p.228). The pressure was too much for Jay. His two best friends gone, his family kind of scared of him, and he felt evil all around.
Jay took on too much for him to handle. He tried to do so much with school, get back on track, that it just made him crash. It is horrible it had to got to him in such a way that he felt the need to take his own life.
In the beginning of the book, he seemed very angry that he had to keep a journal, until he finally gets comfortable writing in it. "But then somehow I got into seventh grade and started smoking shit and stuff I don't know, I guess it really was in seventh grade when I started getting off track"(p.7). He admits that when he was just in seventh grade and he was already getting into drugs. ". . .but I'm not really a whole person without them"(p. 10). He is very fond of his best friends Brad and Dell, and he doesn't feel complete without them. He likes this girl Debbie Dale, but the only problem is, she used to use drugs. In many cases when someone falls for someone who used to use, it doesn't turn out good. " Dad came in early and caught me stealing the pills for Debbie"(p.26). His dad has just got him this job in his pharmacy so he could make some money. Debbie needed more "ups" so she used him to steal them from the pharmacy, and he did. He got caught and almost had his dad closed down, which means seven employees would loose their jobs.
He gets sent away for his actions. After a while, Debbie wouldn't even write back to him, which upsets him because he did so much for her. "I'm the dumb bastard that took the fall while she goes right on licking her chops"(p.32). Now he feels dumb because he got into all this trouble, his family is mad at him, and Debbie doesn't even have the respect to write him back. He misses Brad and Dell and admits he's actually scared. "You gave me life Then put my hand in yours and led me on my way Till I rebelled and lost myself. Please do not let me go. I need you so."(P.43). He is finally starting to realize that his family is important to him, and they care about him. He starts getting his life back on track. "We were all on a natural happy high"(p.54). He didn't need to smoke to be happy, for once he felt good without being actually high. He is getting his life back together again.
At the climax of the story, he met a girl named Tina. She was sweet, the only problem is, she was very interested in witchcraft and voodoo, and based her actions on the Ouija board. "Then we messed around for a while with the Ouija board and the crystal ball. Tina said they had both told her emphatically that she was going to win the election, that's why she never had any questions"(p.125). Tina believed everything she did on the Ouija board. This made Jay uncomfortable because Ouija boards, voodoo, and witchcraft is all based in evil spirits.
Jay's two best friends both died after they "sold" their soul away. Jay was a mess knowing his friends weren't with him anymore. He always felt sick, couldn't eat or sleep, didn't feel like himself. He was always feeling evil around him, even his little brother didn't recognize him. "One night while we were out Jay took a 22-pistol, put it to his right temple, and pulled the trigger"(p.228). The pressure was too much for Jay. His two best friends gone, his family kind of scared of him, and he felt evil all around.
Jay took on too much for him to handle. He tried to do so much with school, get back on track, that it just made him crash. It is horrible it had to got to him in such a way that he felt the need to take his own life.
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