heronumbazero Posted September 11, 2008 Report Share Posted September 11, 2008 I was looking through this forum and realized that tons of us have been assigned The Outsider by Camus for WorldLit. My question is: WHY??Oh, and also, what is the point of the book? I really am not feeling my buddy Merusault. Seriously. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruan Chun Xian Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Because it's on the WL book list. And it has themes that fit with a lot of other WL books. And like all great literature, it's depressing, thus giving us a lot to analyse in a literary way. You're not supposed to relate to Meursault. It would be a little scary if you did. The concept of the outcast to society is just so prominent in any age, anywhere that it just makes sense to study it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindpet Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 I take it you don't like the book? It's one of my favourites though we never studied it in A1. It's a shame you don't see why it's worth studying though.Maybe the thought of life as empty and completely meaningless scares the **** out of you? Or you wish you had the balls Meursault has or envy his apathetic attitude towards society? Consider reading up on absurdism in general and you may appreciate the work as I do. In particular, read the wiki summary on The Myth of Sisyphus and try to relate. I did presentation on Camus's philosophy and everyone loved it, maybe your teacher doesn't communicate it well - or, you just don't care (kinda like Meursault )I wish I had read it in class, but oh well; consider yourself lucky, not burdened! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
heronumbazero Posted September 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Well, truthfully I didn't really get into the book. I read it, but it was in a disengaged way. We just started looking at the book and I have heard about absurdism. But, I guess it didn't really touch me - or not yet - the way other books have, like Siddhartha. Now THAT was a good book. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted September 13, 2008 Report Share Posted September 13, 2008 The Outsider is an amazing book, Camus must have been a genius. One word: existentialism. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeBlake Posted September 13, 2008 Report Share Posted September 13, 2008 Well, truthfully I didn't really get into the book. I read it, but it was in a disengaged way. We just started looking at the book and I have heard about absurdism. But, I guess it didn't really touch me - or not yet - the way other books have, like Siddhartha. Now THAT was a good book.My teacher spazzed at everyone when one of us said that Meursault had no emotions...yeahhhone thought...it's interesting that he got the death sentence...not because he killed an Arab...but because he didn't cry at his mother's funeral...if you read the part about his trial...the prosecutor hardly mentioned Arabs...but kept attacking Meursault about his mother... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
heronumbazero Posted September 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2008 thats interesting. Actually, I didnt even notice that. Thanks for pointing it out. I think I might re-read the book with a more open mind... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruan Chun Xian Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 You didn't notice that?? Well now I can kind of see why you don't like it. That's the whole point of the second (third?) part of the book! The whole trial was about how he didn't cry at his mother's funeral, not because he murdered an Arab (who was basically worthless in that society's eyes!). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeBlake Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 thats interesting. Actually, I didnt even notice that. Thanks for pointing it out. I think I might re-read the book with a more open mind...next time you read a book...read it once for plot...then go back and read it again looking for imagery and symbolisms and stuff like that...what my teacher always encourage is looking for repetition of osmething, well...if they repeat it over and over again it gotta mean somethingex. blood is one thing that is repeated throughout MacBeth, as well as sleep...so apply that to Outsider Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindpet Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 The fact that he's punished for his dissonance to society's etiquette, if you will, is central to the message of the book. He's castigated for not adhering to 'standard behaviour' rather than murder. The murder just happens to be the gateway through which he is punished for not abiding by arbitrary rules set down by 'the herd'. This is truly absurd as Camus so elegantly illustrates.It also helps when analysing literature to understand the historical and cultural context of the time period in which it was written. There so many ideas discussed in works that seem so foreign to us 'modern' people so I always tried to delve into what it was like at the time so I could understand from the author's point of view. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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