My Blog

Scattered throughout The Stranger are numerous symbolic representations of ideas, something appropriate considering the purpose of the story. I want to specifically highlight an allusion that stands out to me the most: the sun as “the Absurd”. If we establish that Meursault reacts hyperbolically to the heat of the sun (even though he presumably encounters it very often), it is very... absurd to see that he somehow reacts stronger to the sun than the death of his mother. A similar variation is seen with the death of the Arab: instead of actually portraying a fight between Meursault and the Arab, Camus describes the standoff as more of a fight between Meursault and the sun; instead of the Arab rattling the dagger, it is the sun that provokes and "cuts" Meursault with its rays. We also find further evidence that the sun imposes pain upon Meursault on page 57:  "[E]very time I felt a blast of its hot breath strike my face, I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists in my trouser...

 As I read The Sun Also Rises , a question that lived rent free in my head was whether Brett was emotionally taking advantage of Jake. It is obvious that despite the numerous instances of Brett using Jake as an emotional punching bag, there are few to no examples of Jake using Brett for emotional support. It may be tempting then to assume that this relationship is toxic and Brett is using her femininity to "lock" Jake into a sort of vicious cycle. However, I think that it might be more appropriate to view this relationship as more nuanced. I WANT to blame Brett because it does seem like she is just taking over Jake who is affected by war trauma in a different way than her. However, I have been convinced against this assumption because of a few key factors. Both characters suffer trauma inflicted upon them by the war. If we take it that trauma is the reason for Brett’s “torturous” behavior, then there must be a similar output for Jake as well. While we do see him enjoy Pamplon...