Albert Camus' The Stranger Thesis

Albert Camus conveys the idea that society discriminates on any level whether it be on a physical level or mental level, as long as you’re different than the rest of the society, discrimination will be present. The Arabs are a prime victim of the physical aspect of this discrimination. The jails are filled with Arabs and the antagonist roles are Arabs which directs the reader to only view them as that. On the other hand Mersault is a victim himself. He is discriminated for how his mind works different. Emotions come hard for Mersault. The both of the Arabs and Mersault are bombarded with discrimination in the novel.

Camus demonstrates discrimination towards Arabs by making the Arabs take the antagonist role in the story. Camus demonstrates them as people who have a problem with Raymond and take the offensive in making the first move to change lives. When Raymond is talking to Mersault about hitting his former mistress, Camus writes “He’s been followed all day by a group of Arabs, one of whom was the brother of his former mistress(40). Camus justifies a reason for the Arabs to follow Raymond so the situation seems more realistic but Camus makes Raymond one of the protagonists’ friends so we view him as on the protagonist’s side which is Mersault’s side. Since the Arabs are Raymond’s enemies, the reader seeing that Raymond is good, would see the Arabs as the bad guys and by doing this he conveys the idea that Arabs are dangerous people and are out to hurt people.

Camus makes the Arabs follow Mersault and Raymond by placing them on the scene at random places just to create an idea that they are always watching to portray the idea that Arabs all Arabs are to be feared. When Raymond, Marie, and Mersault exit the police station, Camus writes “The beach wasn’t very far but we’d get there sooner that way… I saw a group of Arabs leaning against the front of a tobacconist’s shop. They were staring at us in silence, but in that way of theirs, as if they were nothing but stones or dead trees(48).” Camus changes up the tone in this quote to show a tense moment when it is unexpected to create an effect that the reader will see that the Arabs are serious and are to be feared. Mersualt is talking about fun at the beach when suddenly he sees a group of Arabs and his happy tone of voice stops and he begins to describe the Arabs in a serious manner. The author makes the Arabs perform a suspicious activity to draw the reader’s attention to make note that the Arabs are up top no good since the action is directed to the protagonist and his party.

The Arabs are intimidating and even though they are a minority in the story they are certainly used as the antagonist as a whole nationality of people. The judgment Camus credits is that all Arabs are seen as people up to no good and that they are discriminated by society. After the police station and the sight of the arabs, Albert Camus writes “Raymond told me that the second one to the left was his man, and he seemed worried…She wanted to get going right away(48).” Clearly the characters are struck with disturbance just by the sight of the Arabs. Camus uses diction to convey this. The fact that Marie wanted to leave “right away” shows that she is feeling intimidated by the arabs just by sight of them and wants to leave as soon as possible to avoid what she feels would be confrontation since she thinks the arabs are evil. Discrimination toward the Arabs is conveyed by Albert Camus.

Mersault is definitely different than all the people around him. He gets treated differently by the people who do not know him by premature judgment of him. During Mersault’s court process, the persecutor attacks him almost relentlessly making exaggerated claims of what a monster Mersault is. Camus does this to show the treatment of not someone who looks different, but someone who is different in his mind. Camus writes “I heard him say ‘Has he so much as expressed any remorse? Never, gentle. Not once during the preliminary hearings did this man show emotion over his heinous offence(100).’” The author makes the prosecutor make exaggerated inferences about Mersault in the way he is and how he lacks common sense from the rest of society. Never is Mersault’s differences ever mentioned that it could be a medical disorder nor any offer for some help to treat him. The prosecutor goes straight to the point that Mersault has to die on the basis of the idea that Mersault lacks emotion that the rest of society has. Camus creates the events this way to show the tendencies of society to discriminate the people that are different.

Camus wants to say that people who are different are treated unfairly by society. During the closing statements of the court, Mersault says “He stated that I had no place in society whose most fundamental rules I ignored and that I could not appeal to the same human heart who elementary response I knew nothing of(102).” Camus is making the prosecutor to say that since Mersault is different and that he can not understand the normal average human heart, he can not be treated like he has a human heart. This makes the reader feel the discrimination that Mersault is facing that his fate is being judged fully by what society think he is and he should not be spared because he thinks differently in a world of people who share the common senses.

In the passage, Fumbling a little with my words…I blurted out that it was because of the sun. People laughed(103).” Camus suggests that even being honest, when you are different, is does not matter, people will still discriminate. Camus makes Mersault “blurt out that it was because of the sun” to discredit Mersault even more from the rest of society. Society already thinks he is out of his mind already since he does not have remorse, so this crushing embarrassment would just discredit Mersault even more. He is already mentally different, and with an answer like that, which was ridiculous to the rest of society where the sun does not affect them, this was just crazy talk. Camus does this to show how society treats people who are different.

Albert Camus uses society to show how discrimination works in the world. Any difference can cause society to pick up on your minorities, and/or differences to treat you differently. In the case of the Arabs, it is racism and in the case of Mersault it is his flaw of being emotionally challenged.

James Joyce Critical Essay

In society, politics is all about the struggle for power. In order to gain this power, an understanding of society and its habits are required to achieve and manipulate this power. In James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Joyce displays the evolution of the young protagonist in the story, Stephen Dedalus to show his coming of and how Stephen attains power. While growing up, innocent Stephen is suddenly thrown into the adult world of corruption and sin where he is to fend and learn for himself how the world works. Stephen’s environment and strong religious beliefs aid him in his quest for adulthood. Stephen’s evolution brings him the understanding of the world which gives him the political strength he needs to make it through. His control over himself and others seem to be bleak at the beginning of the novel but as he grows older and learns more, this power of his evolves and transforms Stephen into an independent and wise adult. Through Stephen’s journey of dealing with politics in the corrupted world, Joyce implies that power is found through trial and error in the real world. Life is not just simple as black and white or easy as one, two, and three. One can not just do something wrong or do something right since much of people’s actions are backed by thoughts that might be justified. The real life in society is concealed from children. When the children come to the appropriate age, they are left to find out for themselves how to survive in this world which is so diverse. Who one is around, who one associates, or just what one thinks all play effective roles in how one evolves into the adult they want to be. With those people and thoughts, people commit mistakes and it takes these mistakes for people to learn from them in a world so cold and dark.

In school, Stephen’s lack of political strength leads him into trouble in his first encounter with an adult of higher stature and through this, Joyce constitutes that sight is power. Stephen accidentally breaks his glasses on the cinder path and is excused to have to take notes by his teacher, Father Arnall. Then when class is in session and another teacher, Father Dolan acknowledges that Stephen is the only one in the class not writing and is quick to confront him. When Father Dolan asks Stephen about his situation, Stephen “could not speak with fright” (55) Joyce uses the words could and fright to show the magnitude of the intimidation Stephen feels because Stephen lost his vision. Since Stephen has lost his vision, this is what makes Stephen inferior to the rest of the kids and to Father Dolan who also sports a pair of glasses. Joyce uses glasses in this case as a symbol defined as sight is power and superiority. Stephen is put down to a lower level than the other kids because he is “blinded” (55) and is unable to perform like the other children. He is picked out of the crowd because of this. His obvious weakness is seen by Father Dolan and he is attacked because of it.

This idea of being blinded also refers to the Oedipus complex. Oedipus blinded himself by gouging his eyes out after he had discovered the prophecy he had unintentionally fulfilled and then was driven out of his city Thebes, by his own people. Without Oedipus’s eyes, his control over his people was reduced to nothing and then was he vulnerable to be driven out. Sheldon Brivic states that “the loss of eyes is an image of castration” (Sheldon Brivic, 253). Brivic uses the word castration to suggest that the power is lost when vision if lost. Stephen, like Oedipus loses his eyes and becomes vulnerable to be attacked by others. Then Stephen “closed his eyes and held out in the air his trembling hand with the palm upward.” (55) Joyce suggests that Stephen castrates himself as he performs this gesture of surrender relieving himself of any power. This castration Stephen performs on himself takes the man out of Stephen. Since the general man likes to be in control of situations and able to lead, Stephen just takes all of that away when he places his arms up to the Father.

The almighty God has limitless powers as defined in human bibles and in human faith. If the messenger of god connects normal humans to this god then priests must have great political power as well. They forgive wretched sin and purify the evil and corrupt souls. Since these priests follow this god and achieve power through this god one can believe that power can be attained by following these priests who possess great power. Stephen with his sinful and shameful conscious comes to the priest in hopes that Stephen can find strength to overcome this shame that disturbs him so much. He enters the booth and starts the process of confessions and the priest is there to aid and help Stephen. In the booth Stephen “made the sign of the cross and prayed of the priest to bless him for he has sinned” (129) Joyce makes Stephen perform this task because it empowers Stephen with the faith that he has with god to be open and confess the truth of his sins. This strength Stephen conjures up creates a sense of confidence and boldness. Then when Stephen finishes confessing, “The last sins oozed forth, sluggish, filthy.” (130) Joyce uses the terms oozed, sluggish, and filthy to substantiate the magnitude of the sins which in turn reflects on the readers idea of how difficult this confession of sins is for Stephen. To the reader those three words give imagery to the texture and movement of the sin. It conjures up thoughts of dirty and viscous slime which add substance to the truths that Stephen pours out to the priest. After the confession, Stephen “bowed his head, overcome.” (130) in which Joyce defines the degree of Stephen’s overwhelming with the term overcome. With that Joyce suggests that his sin was heavy and so substantial that it overwhelmed Stephen to just confess it all.

Loaded words are words that carry more than what is perceived and in this case, Stephen has loaded words when it comes to his sins. This substance of the sin is created through the psychoanalytic belief of the maternal goal and the paternal threat. Steven lacks power at this point in his life “because his mind generates the paternal threat whenever it approaches the maternal goal, Stephen cannot sustain the active male role.” (Sheldon Brivic, 255) Stephen’s anxiety that created the substance filled sins all stemmed from this idea. The strumpet is Stephen’s maternal goal and God is the paternal threat in this case. This unconscious realization within Stephen creates this anxiety and shame. The paternal threat is the shame and anxiety that God hands to Stephen because he did achieve the maternal goal. Thus Stephen can not sustain the active male role which is the conventional, empowered, and self-disciplined man.

Power that purifies a man’s soul. Power that cleanses a man’s conscious. With the couple words of a prayer, a life is changed. The priest changes Stephen’s attitude with just that. The priest “knelt to say his penance, praying in a corner of the dark nave: and his prayers ascended to heaven from his purified heart like perfume streaming upwards from a heart of white rose.” (131) The simile Joyce uses creates the feeling of innocence in the scene. Perfume conjures thoughts of refreshment and enlightenment and the color white conjures thoughts of innocence and heaven which can describe how the healing in Stephen is happening. Joyce suggests that power is attained with being pure. Stephen after the confession changes to a whole new man. He is no longer distraught and depressed but empowered and happy. On Stephen’s way home Joyce writes that “the muddy streets were gay.” (131) Joyce forms this paradox because it presents and emphasizes the newly changed mood of Stephen. The word muddy is generally perceived as a negative term since it relates to being dirty but gay is defined as happy. Usually anything negative and happiness do not go hand in hand so it is a paradox. To see the dirty street and to describe it as happy shows his change in mood. Before Stephen steps into the church, he is pessimistic about his whole life. Then god forgives him and everything changes within him. This new mood within Stephen presents his political strength he attains. His depression just in the aftermath of his committed sin seemed to cripple him. His mind was a mess and he was not able to do anything or think logically. After his encounter with the priest, he “strode homeward, conscious of an invisible grace pervading and making light his limbs” (131) His limbs are made light which shows what strength he attains. His body with the sin was heavy for him to handle and it held him down. Now with the new strength god hands him, he feels that his body is light and easy.

Fear is what drives many people to do what they do. Fear is what scares people into thinking certain thoughts and not doing what we do. To overcome fear requires power and strength. One must find it within themselves to stand up strong against what they fear and oppose it. Stephen and Cranly watch through Pembroke and talk about their new lives. They talk about their futures and what they are going to do and not do. Also, they talk about their experiences and their experiences through their lives so far. Stephen talks about his fears to Cranly and says

- You made me confess the fears that I have. But I will tell you also what I do not fear. I do not fear to be alone or to be spurned for another or to leave whatever I have to leave. And I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too. (213)

Stephen uses I repeatedly to stress empowerment in himself and put himself above Cranly to show strength and superiority. Then Stephen uses mistakes with a greater meaning word each time after each sentence to again show his superiority by suggesting that he is fearless to commit any mistakes. At this point Stephen is confident I himself and is politically powerful because he is able to make this bold statement. At no other point in the book is he able to make a statement so specific and so strong. He mentions that he does not fear to be alone when that is what bothered him through the whole book. He is able to confront his fears and stand up strong to it. Stephen’s evolution is to hit this point. His adventures are all there to take him to this point. A point where there is a realization of what to expect in life and what to not and be afraid of. Having the strength to confess such thoughts, is a sign of Stephens psychological development. When one is able to speak out against or voice such strong thoughts, the individual is politically on top and in control. In this instance, Stephen has control of the conversation since he is able to turn the conversation from being about fear to what he does not fear. This scene is not like when Stephen was sitting in fear listening to Father Dolan but Stephen is actually in Father Dolan’s position at this point. Stephen is able to take control of the conversation, manipulate it, and turn it around on Cranly. Stephen goes from confessing the fears that he has to that he “will tell… also what… does not fear.” (213) Just by saying that he will tell Cranly shows the strength within Stephen. Stephen is not asked to reveal to Cranly what he is does not fear but he voluntarily does. This puts Stephen in a position higher than Cranly since Stephen is clearly on the offensive when he turns the conversation around.

The information people gather from the sources around them all contribute into shaping and forming of a personality and proper morals. Stephen develops and grows up substantially over the course of time in the book. His superego develops as he does with every incident and in the end it transforms him into his powerful self. “The superego is ‘outside,’ since much of what it tells us to do or think we have learned from our parents, our schools, or our religious institutions.” (What is Psychoanalytic Criticism, 237) Stephen through what he experiences and what he learns from the church father, his education, and his parents all bring him to this point where he shines. All these incidents where Stephen loses his political strength and has no power over anything, it serves as a lesson for Stephen to learn about the world in his journey through the new world he is to discover. Father Dolan overwhelms Stephen in a political sense even with his mistaken intuition. Stephen with his blindness is reduced to nothing as a man with a strong voice and a higher hierarchal position. With vision, Father Dolan has authority that Stephen did not and that helps Stephen realize later on in his life that people are quick to jump to dishonest conclusions even when accidents happen. The Priest plays another role in helping Stephen to realize proper morals and to obtain political strength. After the sin, Stephen is distraught with anxiety in his mind and he does not function right. Just the realization of his actions to a woman made him go berserk with shame. This anxiety and shame render him powerless. He is left vulnerable to attacks from people and his negative thoughts. Finally when he comes to realize that the only way to heal this disease of sin and strength absorbing anxiety, he was to go to god. God’s morals taught by the priest through to the people help empower the people with righteous thoughts. When people have righteous thoughts, people believe in what they do and they perform in confidence and force. People will see the morals as logical and perform it without any thoughts of deceit or evil. Stephen talks to the priest and admits his sin. This acknowledgement of his actions and that he is forgiven by god sanctions him with political strength and changes his thought process upside down. His insecurities fade away and he is his own confident man. Confidence is a result of power because through confidence, nor fear or anxiety is affecting any actions performed. With confidence, Stephen is able to walk the streets and just live life with no worries and open to carry out any task. The morals Stephen learns from the school and priest help Stephen develop his superego strength and system of morals. With a developed superego, one can go about life in confidence knowing what they do is either right or wrong and to be able to fight for what they believe in and this will to fight for what one believes is a clear presentation of strength.

Joyce conveys the idea that power and strength is obtained through trial and error. As Stephen matures, he learns and has to fend from the world. He is clueless in the beginning of his adventures which leads him to have so many troubles and insecurities. As the book goes on and the adventures, he makes mistakes and learns from them and also learns from the people that he observes and happens to stumble upon. When he is a child, he gets in trouble because he is blind at school which can be seen as that he is blind to the world ahead of him and Father Dolan is there to give him a taste of the corrupt and dishonest world that lies before him. This blindness is Stephen’s loss of power. He is inferior to everyone around him since this blindness stuns him from completing the work that he should be doing. He is powerless to complete any task or even perform any task. Even though the father comes to the wrong conclusion, it is actually a learning experience to Stephen so he will know that there are people out there who will try to find ways to cheat the world. Then as he grows older, he commits sin with a strumpet which is morally wrong on both their behalves and seeks the aid of a priest to help him. At this point of time in Stephen’s life, Stephen is blinded by the guilt, anxiety, and depression. These emotions handicap Stephen so much that he can not find the strength or power to think or work properly. His mind is clouded and dark so that he can’t do anything straight. Stephen gains strength from the Father and the Priest and also gives him an understanding of the world. Knowledge is power and with this knowledge Stephen obtains, he develops his righteous superego that gives him power to do whatever he likes without fear or anxiety.

James Joyce Passage Explication

Pop Politics

In James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Joyce concludes that it is important to care about the how the government is run. Joyce displays that the people of nineteenth century Ireland were heavily concerned with well being of their country and the way it was run. The government maintained Ireland and that is what the people worried about most, the politics. Joyce gives us insight into this idea by providing dialogue, and allusion. The subject is discussed casually and also debated upon in the text.

Dedalus is the young protagonist in the story and he grows up in nineteenth century Ireland. During his childhood, he bumps into many important subjects dealing with religion, corruption, and politics. His world around him is run by the Catholic Church but his father and his father’s friends hate that fact and seem to always debate over it and tell stories about it. Mr. Dedalus and his friends think that Ireland should be run by a government not too closely linked to the church since the church had ruined Charles Stewart Parnell ‘s life when he was leading the Parliament.

Politics was on the minds of everyone at this period in time and even openly discussed at the dinner table. “We go to the house of God, Mr. Casey said, in all humility to pray to our maker and not to hear election addresses.” (39) Dante sparks an argument between Simon, Mr. Casey, and herself about the church and government. Mr. Dedalus and Mr. Casey are on the same side and agree that the church had contributed to the death of Parnell who was doing so well in the Irish National Party and seemed a promising leader that would attain independence from England. Yet Dante defends her thought that “The bishops and priests of Ireland have spoken… and must be obeyed” (40) no matter what the subject. The people’s refusal “have no political discussion of all days in this year” (40) how hot the subject of politics really is. James Joyce places this dialogue in this part of the book to show how important of a subject politics is. The setting at this moment in the story is Christmas dinner where it should be a happy and calm time. He places this heated argument in this setting to show that politics were that important that people would not “let the matter drop” (40) and even ruin a Christmas dinner debating about it. Joyce creates a serious tone in this passage also to stress the importance of the matter. The three people go offensively about their dispute.

All the people around Stephen have something to say about the political workings of Ireland. Joyce creates this reminder of politics to show how the importance and influence politics had on the people. Later in the story when Stephen is in college, he spends his summers in Blackrock with his father and his uncle. One day Mr. Dedalus and Stephen go out where they chat but soon his father starts to die internally which is when Stephen tries to draw old vivid memories yet all Stephen can remember “only names: Dante, Parnell, Clane, Clongowes.“ (89) Joyce embeds Parnell in Stephen’s memory to convey the fact that politics were important. Parnell is an allusion Parnell manipulates referring to the Irish National Party which was the government of Ireland. People usually only remember key parts or important events in their lives. In this case Stephen’s “memory of his childhood suddenly grew dim,” (89) so the memories that did stick would show that it was more significant. Then small pieces start to come back to Stephen and he realizes “Parnell had died. There had been no mass for the dead in the chapel and no procession.” (89) Joyce uses this allusion referring back to how Parnell had died. Parnell passed away after condemnation from the church. When he died there was no real funeral for him nor procession for him because of his sin.

Joyce conveys the idea that people should be active in their countries politics. It is how a country is run and that the citizens of a country should take part and care about their country’s politics because it can affect lives. The people of Ireland take up a strong knowledge in politics because it changed what could have been. If Parnell was not condemned by the church for his affair, Ireland at that point in time could have been independent from England. Joyce portrays scenes of politics as a part of daily lives of the Irish citizens to show how important it was to them.