Behind it All

Monsieur Mersault is a strange character. He pays attention to unrelated things, and very often makes comments about the surroundings and not what is happening. When he killed the Arab, it could be argued that he did to defend himself; the man had a knife towards him. Also, there are facts that prove the crime as intended, but there is never an explanation of why he killed the man. One way or the other, Mersault rarely has the opportunity to give his opinion. Maybe he does not want to or other times he is not allowed: “Despite everything that was on my mind, I felt like intervening every now and then…” but then again, he “didn´t have anything to say.” There is sufficient information about the course of the crime, but not the true feelings and intentions behind it.

Since Albert Camus is considered an existentialist, the crime could be considered unpremeditated. But the facts contradict this statement. It is hard to know what was on Mersault´s mind at that time and even before. He says that he wrote the letter because he did not have any reason not to write it (pg 32) but why did he write it? We will never be able to understand the true intentions of the crime, and the strange guy behind it. 

no future...no past..just present

Even though Camus refused to be called an existentialist, his book portrayed other wise. Since the first sentence of the book, remarks of this philosophy are present:

            “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don´t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn´t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” Pg1

The death of some one, more importantly a mother, is a very shocking experience for most human beings. After reading the sentence, we can infer that the meaning of the death of the mother was just that. A woman stopped existing and so did the importance of her. This has no relevance or importance in the present because it is something that happened in the past. It has no importance in the future because only the present matter. Existentialists live in the now, the past is in the past, and the future, when it becomes present, it will be important.  Another example of the book that backs up this philosophy is the following:

            “As I was waking up, it came to me why my boss had seemed annoyed when I asked him for two days off: today is Saturday.” Pg 19

Monsieur Meursault asked for two days off because his present situation demanded it. He did not know that it would to a 4 day weekend because even if he knew that in two days it would be Saturday, since it was in the future, it did not have any relevance to what was happening.

All through out the book, there are descriptions of what is happening. The past is rarely spoken of, and the future is rarely mentioned. The present is the only thing that matter, end of story. 

Colorless

“It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night…” (Pg. 113)

The vital piece of information to be able to understand the quote is the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. Right now, their romance is at it´s highest point. Daisy visits very often, and as a preventing reason, Gatsby fired all of his servants, afraid that they would gossip. Rather than the color, the importance comes in the lack of color. The traditional Saturday parties, where not happening. Even though Gatsby seemed happy with Daisy by his side, there was something missing. Just as we discussed last class, Daisy is a person that seeks to be the center of attention. She needs to be the only person who radiates light, the only one illuminating a room. Just like the flower, all white outside, she manages to do that, by turning off everybody´s light. She never tolled Gatsby to stops illuminating the entire East Egg, but Gatsby indirectly, she forced him to do it.