The Stranger pt 2

A strong case the prosecuting lawyer makes is with the way he talks about Meursault’s previous days prior to the event.  This doesn't have anything to do with the crime. It has more to do on trying to figure out the person he is. One by one people are called up to speak on behalf of Meursault. This is where the examination of the crime shifts to a condemnation of Meursault’s strangeness. The prosecutor definitely takes advantage of all of Meursault’s weird behaviors such as him being totally apathetic throughout the funeral of his mother, how he offered a smoke to the guy, how he slept through parts of it, and how he didn't even know how old his mother was.

“He said the truth was that I didn't have a soul and that nothing human, not one of the moral principles that govern men’s hearts, was within my reach… we find [emptiness] in this man, an abyss threatening to swallow up society.”

At the beach, after the fight, Meursault is walking on the beach and, once again,  is complaining about the heat. The reflection of the Arab’s knife reflected the sun into Meursault’s face and it sets him off. He shoots him. Then, Meursault shot the man four more times after that. When he did it he said, “it was like knocking four times on the door of happiness.”

I think if he hadn’t shot him four more times the verdict would have been very unjust. However, because he said this and showed no remorse or tried to defend himself, the verdict is a little more just in that sense. I don't think he should have been sentenced to the guillotine simply because killing someone for killing someone else doesn't seem very productive. Particularly in Meursault’s case as he says we are all going to meet death anyway. But also, I am not really sure what would really deem someone worthy of a fate like the guillotine.

One of the most inconceivable things about Meursault was that, he did not look to the Lord for help throughout the trail. He didn't believe in God at all and constantly refused to see the Father and when he was forced to, he called him “monsieur” instead. The court uses everything peculiar thing about him against him, to portray such a “horrible man.” I think it focuses more on his strange personality as opposed to staying on the topic of the death of the Arab. I think it is fairly normal to dissect the criminal to establish the type of person they are. This is evident when they twist Marie’s words in order to highlight Meursault as different.

Overall, the prosecutor most appeals his argument effectively to the jury through ethos and pathos. He then wraps it up by offering a plausible scenario of what happened.

“I had agreed with Raymond to write the letter in order to lure his mistress and submit her to mistreatment… Raymond had been wounded. I had asked him to give me his gun. I had gone back alone, intending to use it. I had shot the Arab as I had planned… to make sure I had done the job right, I fired four more shots, calmly.” 

It’s pretty convincing.

It would have been worse if he had said what actually made him kill him as that would make him more evil. He also didn't do anything to defend himself.

In the setting and society of this story, I don't believe someone like Meursault could ever have a fair trial.

Everyone deemed him very strange and was even referenced as “Monsieur Antichrist” by the magistrate. Meursault has no faith, empathy, nor any pleasing traits that could have put any doubt in the jury’s mind. Like the question poses, he is so at odds with society’s conventions and morals. By the time Marie, Salamano, and, more importantly, Raymond have something positive to share, no one really takes them into consideration as they already know what they believe. After all that they have heard, they can no longer accept that everything was merely happenstance. Because ridiculous, right? I think the jury was too bias and prejudice to have been able to offer him a fair trial. There are always going prejudices and biases, though. But at least in this decade, jurors wouldn't have really gone to that great of an extent of branding him inhuman for refusing to believe in God nor meet with the chaplain. No one can seem to get past the fact that he is apathetic to these events. Helen Keller referred apathy as one of the greatest evils in humans. I think that is why Meursault is seen as this monster, as the people in this jury have that same belief.

“Not once during the preliminaries hearings did this man show emotion over his heinous offense.”

Even when they read how he is being sentenced to the guillotine, they ask him if he has anything to say and he says, “no.”

“He reminded the court of of my insensitivity; of my ignorance when asked Maman’s age;  of my swim the next day; of the Fernandel movie; and finally of my taking Marie home with me…  He said the truth was that I didn't have a soul and that nothing human, not one of the moral principles that govern men’s hearts, was within my reach… we find [emptiness] in this man, an abyss threatening to swallow up society.”

More than anything I don't think he really deserves much of a fair trial as he didn't have to shoot someone 5 times.

There is a clear distinction. The people of the jury no longer see him as one of him but as a heinous monster. People can’t sympathize him even one bit.

Perhaps this is too different of a comparison but I started to think about how the Boston Marathon Bomber was not just a horrible person for his actions but also because during his trial he was totally indifferent. He barely spoke. Granted there was not much he could say to defend himself. More than anything everyone kept saying he didn’t even show any remorse. (So showing no remorse/being empathetic is still seen as inhumane). What I remember the most is just hearing how above all Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was an apathetic and sociopathic terrorist.  People won’t/didn't care about how he used to be loved by his teachers, classmates, friends, and family, etc, but instead his name will forever make people think of pure, heartless evil. (It really stuck to me so that is why I bring it up and it was all we wrote about in General Paper for a month). It was crazy how he didn't seem to care as his fate was being decided right in front of him. He had to listen to all those victims talk about how they will forever have some sort of reminder of this tragedy (due to loss of limb or family member). Yet the whole time he was impassive and showed no remorse according to everyone. I couldn't fathom how he couldn’t feel the least bit sorry for his actions after hearing all of these testimonies. I don't know why it is that empathy is seen as a universal

This jury consisted of strangers. None of these people truly knew nor understood entirely what Meursault is about. Of all the people that spoke about Meursault, Raymond seems to do him some justice but it’s incredibly too late by the time he speaks. No one really believes him. I think it was all in the way other people talked about the way they seen Meursault. I think a major fact is about perspective. They met him at the worst time ever.

“I blame myself every time for not having paid enough attention to accounts of executions. A man should always take an interest in those things.”

“with the guillotine was the fact that you had no chance at all, none.”

“I remember feeling a little disgusted by him at the time.”

“The thought of being the spectator who comes to watch and then can go and throw up afterwards, a wave of poisoned joy rose in my throat.”

The only two things that are certain in life is that you are born and somewhere along the way you die. The thing is you don't know when. Or how. Or why. Unless it gets determined by a jury. This is it for Meursault. He is going to be beheaded and he wants a huge crowd for it. I think he thinks there is this kind of rush, and a possible enjoyment, that people get from this experience. They're also lucky to realize that they're not in that position. Meursault says how they at least have a better chance of escaping the guillotine (but still dying nonetheless). I think he wants a huge crowd at his execution so they can feel that feeling. The more people that go, the more they will never forget it. It will stay with them forever. I also think it is a little sick to have such a bold (i guess) desire. He also might have said this as he wants to distract himself and “make the best of the limited time he has left.” it’s a crazy thing to fantasize. I think with how strange he was, it will surely make headlines for various newspapers and it will gather the attention of many people who will want to go see his public execution.

It is weird because his father went to one and then threw up after it. And now that is the fate his son has been given. It’s not any better. Young Meursault was disgusted his father went to one but now he is going to be up there, possibly making some disgusted for watching one and making others throw up.

The chaplain seriously can't believe how Meursault doesn't look to the lord for forgiveness or help. He said everyone in his place, whether they were religious or not before, they always looked to the lord. Meursault said he won’t call him Father because he isn’t his father. This shows disrespect to religious people and it also shows that Meursault doesn't understand and or know about how/why you refer to him as Father. He never bothered with religion which was not very common during these times. Meursault says, “I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn't.” and he literally doesn't have time to waste on things that don't interest him. The more the Father talks to him, the more annoyed Meursault was. He keeps saying how it is all the same. We are all going to die. He refuses to embrace the Father. I think when he is yelling at the Priest it isn’t entirely about just not believing in religion but he is just letting up all his pent up anger he has been holding back for years. He finally has released all that frustration out. So in way religion did help him. 

“The utter pointlessness of whatever I was doing there seized me by the throat…”

Existential thinking is about the universe being unfathomable; individuals must assume responsibility without knowing what is right or wrong.

Meursault is the epitome of this discussion. He says “there’s people worse off than me.” so there is no point to worry or feel regret for his actions or feel pity for himself. Meursault constantly invalidates his feelings as he is so quick to accept his fate. He doesn't fight it at all in the trial.

The scene with the priest is also relates to existential thinking. Meursault questions the purpose of faith, sin, and death. Ultimately saying that death is inevitable. So why does it all matter? Why make a big deal of one person's death when millions of others did/will too. “Deep down I knew perfectly well that it doesn't matter if you die at thirty or at seventy since in either case other men and women will naturally go on living… in fact nothing could be more clearer.” “only the words yesterday and tomorrow still had any meaning for me.” This shows more of how time is just an illusion. People are the only ones that think in time. We made up the dates and decided to choose a calendar. We are always stuck in the present, so can time really exist?? Meursault is probably on this train of thought more than he ever has before because his time is running out. He is in jail and is trying to make light of his fate. 

Maman and Perez

The caretaker at the home described Maman and Perez’s relationship as basically as a married couple. Although, there are not any specific recollections of their time together, their relationship sounds very cute and happy. Perez is clearly devastated about the passing of Maman. He is the total opposite of Monsieur Meursault. It is hard for Perez to accept this. He can’t believe Meursault and his total nonchalant demanor and especially when Meursault fell asleep during the procession!! This definitely the most loving relationship in the book. It sounds like both of them loved each very much. 

"‘There's no need to excuse yourself, my boy. I've looked up the record and

obviously you weren't in a position to see that she was properly cared for. She

needed someone to be with her all the time, and young men in jobs like yours don't

get too much pay. In any case, she was much happier in the Home.’" 

Maman and Meursault

Meursault is so apathetic. He doesn't talk much and, aside from showing up to the funeral, he doesn't do things most people going through this would do.

Something happened to Meursault that deemed him unfit to take care of Maman.

The death of his own mother totally fazes him. He doesn't recall any specific memories of her nor does he praise her like someone would for their dear mother!! Unfortunately, this gives us little information about her relationship with him as there isn’t much to base it off. He makes her death like such a regular sort of thing. He goes through it the same way one would go to school. He plans out how to get there and how long it would take. He falls asleep a couple times. He listens every now and then to the person talking. In short, it is pretty disrespectful.

Maybe they didn't get along. Or maybe they had a falling out.

I would describe this relationship as indifferent. Meursault is indifferent and overall apathetic about the passing of his mother. It is also sad as what kind of person feels nothing over the death of their mother??? He doesn't even know how old she is. This shows he has not been in contact with her for several years.

“It occurred to me that somehow I'd got

through another Sunday, that Mother now was buried, and tomorrow I'd be going

back to work as usual. Really, nothing in my life had changed.”

This line in particular made me kind of depressed, thinking of how everyday seems to blend into the other. Every day is the same routine until one day, we die. I hate it but I also don’t think I can do much but my routine.

Marie and Meursault

This seems purely sexual relationship in the first instances she is mentioned. Marie always leaves before Meursault wakes up in the morning and she always has an excuse. Then in chapter five, “...and [Marie] asked me if i wanted to marry her. I said it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.” Meursault does not believe marriage is a serious thing. He doesn't even love her. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Yet, Marie still loves him or loves him in spite of that. 

She laughs a lot. I guess she is trying to find the good and humor in all of this. Meursault kind of just uses her for his pleasure and he doesn't appreciate and love her as there is no point. He always says "I want her" than saying "I love her."

Salamano and his dog

“Then they halt on the pavement, the pair of them, and glare at each other; the dog with terror and the man

with hatred in his eyes. Every time they're out, this happens.”

This is another relationship that presents an inseparable relationship however this one is more negative and very violent. I like the way that Meursault mentions how they both look like each, old and scabby. Salamano kept calling his dog a “stinking filthy bastard.” Although I don't have a pet of any kind, I don't believe this is a cute, endearing pet name. Everything about this relationship has been the same for eight years according to Meursault. The path the take when they go for a walk has never changed. Then Salamano admits that after his wife (whom he did not really like but married anyway, "got used to her." This also goes back to Meursault's point on how it doesn't matter who you marry.)  died, he was lonely so he bought a dog for companionship. I think he has a pent up anger from his marriage as he wasn't happy with her. Also it is interesting how despite eight years with the dog, the dog's name is never mentioned. Names give people/animals an identity and that's what they respond to. So when his dog goes missing, Salamano realizes how good he had it, he’s lonely again, and he is kind of taking back all the bad stuff he said about his dog. They kind of saved each other, Salamano saved the from the pound and fed him, and the dog gave him some companionship after Salamano’s wife died. Despite the fighting they always had, Salamano is really worried about him. And that despite his flaws “he was still a good dog.” Maybe he can't find him because he can't shout the dog's name for the dog to hear and come home. Salamano is so lost without his dog. “‘I hope the dogs don't bark tonight. I always think it’s mine.’” That line hit me good.

Raymond and Meursault

“His name is Sintes; Raymond Sintes.”

Raymond is a pimp! This relationship seems to be when you only talk to someone because you don't really have anyone else. They are not super close. It is mostly raymond who does the talking. And he is all talk. He tries to act tough around Meursault with the bandages from fighting against a guy who asked for it, when the cop was asking him why he was hitting his mistress, and during the encounter with the two Arabs. He causes nothing but trouble.

He goes back to the beach shortly after he has been bandaged from going up to the Arabs and getting cut by them!!! “But without taking his eyes off his adversary, Raymond asked me, ‘Should I let them have it?’” Raymond just wants to hear what he wants to hear. He plans to provoke the Arab so he can shoot him. ultimately, it is Meursault who will have to pay as he is the one the shoots the Arab.

Raymond and his mistress

“You used me. You used me, I’ll teach you to use me"

He gives her everything she wants and money. Raymond believes his mistress to be cheating on him. He wants to find a way to ultimately punish her and he is asking his friends, like yeah no big deal, on how he can accomplish this “task.” he beats her and possibly rapes her.  Meursault and Marie overhear this disaster happen. Meursault doesn't want to get the cops to stop simply because he “doesn't like cops.” He doesn't see it as his problem and he just seems so fazed about this encounter.

This is another very violent relationship. It is shallow on behalf of the mistress as she is just taking his money, but Raymond takes it too far by beating her. He could've have just cut her off and/or found someone else. Once again he took extreme, violent measures. 

s e m i n a r

I didn't know what to expect for this seminar. To be honest I thought we were doing it on Monday so I had not given it much thought. 

It started off slow, awkward, and quiet. Granted half of us (unless the AICE English Language kids never had a seminar before) didn't really know how it was supposed to go. It eventually started to flow better and the pace picked up as the conversation intensified. I was so nervous. I hate talking in front of everyone and I was kind of winging it which only made me more nervous. When I get nervous I struggle even more with words; my voice gets all shaky and quiet; and my thoughts become alphabet soup so it made things difficult for me. Later as the seminar really picked up speed, it was a little hard for me to take down all the necessary notes while listening to others and thinking of where I stand on their opinion so I could respond to them. Sometimes I’d be listening too much and forget to  finish what I had been writing down. 

The good was the fact that we were all professional both in participating and listening to others. It was nice to hear everyone else’s thoughts and ideas. I will admit I was a little torn when deciding between Allie and Phoebe as the second most important character. However, I still stand with Phoebe. I was surprised how everyone thought Allie or Phoebe were only ones picked as a response. (unless you were Josh and thought Mr. Antonelli was the second most important character) I guess all the work Scalia assigned wasn’t actually given just to stress us out but it did help as previous class discussions were nowhere near that much work. I think it will only help us as thinkers and speakers, though it makes me really nervous. Plus the speaking twice rule only allowed for the discussion to be just that, a discussion. It resulted in a lot of ideas being shared that maybe in a different classroom would not have been shared. 

I don't think there was anything wrong with it. I am also not really sure what seminars are normally like so I don't have much base it off. I think overall we did really well for it being our first one. I will definitely be more prepared and hopefully less nervous.

In my other class discussions (mostly if not all were in my English classes) we didn't have to take as many, if any, notes on what others specifically said. There weren’t any stringent rules that would impact our grade as much as Scalia enforced. (eye roll, thx) So, normally I wasn’t very vocal in these discussions and let others completely dominate the discussion. A major difference was that it was us who were in charge of the direction of the discussion. In my previous classes there a few questions the teacher wanted to ask and the teacher was normally fairly involved in the discussion. This time though, Scalia only piped in to tell us there were six minutes left and that five or six people had still had not spoken, that kind of stuff. Overall, it was a good way to end the Catcher in the Rye.

if a body catch a body coming through the rye

 

I think the fact that Holden is finally talking to someone after these events happened shows that he has changed, thus making him a dynamic character. In the beginning of the book, he says how he doesn't want to talk about his family and childhood but then further into the book you see he talks a lot about his past and his siblings.

   

I think the reason he might come off as a static character is because he is he is recounting these events to the therapist. These events happened in the past year. Now he is 17 and finally getting the help he spent the past year looking for. Thus, making him a dynamic character. Dynamic characters experience some major event(s) that ultimately change(s) them. Holden has so many of these!!! Starting off when his brother died when he was 12 which resulted in him punching the garage windows; when he watches his classmate kill himself while he was in the shower and he is traumatized by the goriness of James Castle’s remains splattered outside; and when he was molested as a kid making him both crave and hate being intimate/touched. All of these things make us understand why he is the way he is. Although these events do not excuse his behaviors, it does clear some things up and makes us feel sympathy for this damaged boy.

Going back to how he says “What I felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.” It is an oddly specific thing to say about such a serious matter. Then you realize it is much more than Holden not wanting anyone to see him or the effect it would have on his mother but it's because once he dies everything is out of his control. He likes things to stay as they are. He doesn't like change. This evident throughout the story. After all everything changed after Allie died. He says because a kid he knew did that. Holden remembers how that happened. He heard him hit the ground. Implicitly, he doesn't want to execute that plan as he fears it will traumatize anyone that sees him doing it or the aftermath of it. Someone else could be in the bathroom and they could happen to look out their window at the same time Holden is falling to his doom. He also doesn't realize how the person covering him up would still see him. Going back to the Secret Goldfish, he wants to kill himself but doesn't really want anyone to see it. It's inevitable though. The first person he tells someone about this event is his sister. Now he is telling that to the psychoanalyst.

Also we realize why he doesn't see the purpose of going to a good college and going into a nice profession, why he is basically throwing all that away. It’s because he just want to be the catcher in the rye. “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do,  I have to catch everybody if they start to go off the cliff - I mean if they’re running and they don't look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.”

He just wants to protect little innocent kids from going off the rails, jumping off the cliff to their doom. He doesn't want anything to hurt them like he has been hurt. Childhood is an important factor to Holden. He doesn't want to taint it even though it is inevitable and has already happened to him. Because these events have such a strong impact on him, it has affected his future and his goals. 

He is in denial after going to the museum as he keeps saying how he doesn't know why he hasn’t come across a single duck while in the park. Yeah the underlying point is that Holden doesn't know where to go from here. He has no sense of direction unlike ducks. Birds are typically a symbol for freedom as they can fly and live both on land and water so they have so many places to go. They know to fly south for the winter. So it is wintertime and Holden is looking for the ducks. He is looking for something he is never going to find to distract himself from reality as well as a way to indirectly ask for help. He doesn't know if someone is going to come and help him find his way because he definitely can't do it on his own. He spends this whole journey trying to figure out where the ducks go during the winter when he knows very well that birds fly south for the winter!!!!! “There were even more upstairs with deer inside them drinking at water holes, and the birds flying south for the winter.” He clearly knows more than he is letting on. 

Another example is when Holden is talking about the Egyptians to the boys he meets. He mostly knows what he is saying showing that he purposefully wrote a trash assignment for Mr. Spencer. An important tradition they did in Ancient Egypt was preserve their beloved and praised rulers after they died with a strong aspiration for a happy afterlife. Holden mentions how modern science wonders about the secret chemical the Egyptians used to preserve the ones that died. He thinks a lot about that because he is trying to preserve Allie even though he is never going to come back. In fact he is trying to preserve his childhood and childhood friends just like one would remember their rulers. He mentions how he just really likes how everything is always the same way as the last time he was there. Again, he doesn't like change. He likes knowing it is certain that nothing will be different. “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish..” He refuses to admit how you would only change physically and not mentally. He says he just can’t explain it and maybe he really can’t. But he knows. This is evident when he says “Then a funny thing happened. When I got to the museum, all of a sudden I wouldn’t have gone inside for a million bucks.” He doesn't want to go in because he is afraid he is going to be different, the kind of different he says he can’t explain. He would always go there as a kid and now he’s 16 and doesn't want to go in and change anything. He is afraid of that taint. When you think about it, a museum has a lot of glass cases that show you things people have discovered over time. This one is historical and Holden likes to reminisce the past a lot and just stay on the past. The glass cases go back to the Secret Goldfish. Nothing is hidden behind a glass case.  

I think when Holden finally breaks down it is significant to him realizing he needs help. First his record breaks. He loves this song because it reminds him of being young like the girl in the song and it reminds him of Phoebe. He got it for Phoebe. But then it breaks! Just like his childhood was damaged and he has been trying to pick up the pieces since. He is a broken record!!!!! He takes the pieces with him even though they are useless but they are still important for him. Then he starts thinking about Phoebe and she is the only one that can get through to him. She ends up convincing him to come home. She also happily accepts Holden’s gift, despite it being useless. In the carousel scene, Phoebe doesn't want Holden to keep going in these circles because he is ending up in the same place. It is the same story over and over again. She is worried about him and she wants him to come home and solve his issues. Again, Holden says “that’s one nice thing about carousels, they always play the same song.” at first you think he really isn’t going to change and how this would only make him a static character but then he says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not saying anything. If they fall off, they fall off…” thus he realizes that childhood is going to end no matter what. You cannot always be there to protect them and bad things are bound to happen. So he gives in and decides to go home. Then he ends up revealing that he is talking to a psychoanalyst, meaning he is getting the help he had been searching for before.

Therefore Holden is a dynamic character.