The Stranger and Meursault

Who is this "stranger"? Is this referring to Meursault, or is there another connection within this book? I think that the title of this book is named after the metaphor of who Meursault is to other people, and to himself as well. No one truly knows who Meursault is. He is a mystery. Not even Meursault knows   who the true Meursault is. People spend time with him and they think they know him, but no one does. One who does not know them self cannot be acknowledged by others. I think the title of the book comes from this lack of character in Meursault, because he is simply a stranger to everybody.

Meursault's True Identity

Meursault never really actualized his identity in "The Stranger". His entire life revolved around other peoples' decisions and he never had a true self. Toward the end of the book when he was in jail, Meursault began thinking about what had taken place and this was the very first time that the reader was able to get a slight sense of what his thoughts were. The time he spent in jail gave him no other option but to reflect on things and to become somewhat of an individual for once. He pondered on what he had gone through and what he thought of all of it. He really did not show much emotion however. Still, I would say that Meursault never became a true individual.

"Song of Myself"

"For me those that have been boys and that love women,

For me the man that is proud and feels how it stings to be slighted"

-Walt Whitman

From the seventh section of "Song of Myself", Whitman states these lines that join all of the feelings that he was trying to express in this section. Sexuality and acceptance was always such an important deal for Whitman. He simply wanted society to accept who people were on the inside, rather than picking apart every small detail about the person. People are shallow and Whitman knows that. Whitman is homosexual and homosexuality was nearly forbidden when Whitman was alive. On these few lines that I stated, Whitman talks about men in general and how they should all be proud and walk around happily, with great confidence. Men should naturally be happy to be men in this world, according to Whitman. However, due to Whitman's homosexuality, he cannot experience the happiness that all other men can experience. He cannot proudly walk around knowing that he likes males and people will just be alright with that, because it was really not like that. Who he was as a person was never fully taken into acceptance. It "stings [Whitman] to be slighted" and that is not entirely fair. Whitman cannot take ownership of pride and confidence, knowing that acceptance of being gay would just never be a thing for him in his life.

Influences in My Life

My grandfather is definitely one of the most influential people in my life. He is my mom's father and thankfully, I still have him in my life. He is 95 years old and unfortunately has Alzheimer's. Ever since he had Alzheimer's, it has been a tough ride for my entire family. My mom has seven other siblings and both of my grandparents have successfully managed to bring all eight children to America from another country, legally of course. My grandpa got a high-paying job right when he moved to America and he was able to provide for his huge family. Everyone ended up in a great place, and my family did not have to go through the struggles that many other families did have to go through during this time period, especially immigrants.Visibly seeing a person you love basically fade away and turn into something that they were not before, is a terribly sad sight. I knew the Eddie that I once had in my life, and he was such an important role model in my life. The fact that he does not know who I am anymore is really sad and has made me think about a lot of things in my life. One thing this has taught me is to value and cherish every moment I have with people and to truly appreciate what they have done for others. I constantly think about things from multiple perspectives, and I thought of how hard it must have been for my grandpa to achieve everything that he achieved. I am so proud to call him my grandpa, and sadly the only thing I can do now is cherish what is left of him. I love him so much and a lot can be learned from a man like him. I have learned to appreciate everything that I have and to simply take things as they are. Changing what you are given signifies taking what you have for granted and I avoid that in my life. This situation with a grandfather who has Alzheimer's and does not recall much from the past, including memories that we shared and who certain people are, has contributed to my identity and the ideas that I stand for.

Seminar Reflection

One of the things that was discussed today during class that I found very interesting was the idea of what differentiates humans from animals in regards to being evil. Many people said that it is not possible for animals to be evil, only because humans created this concept of evil and we know the differences between what is evil and what is not. It is hard for me to decide what to think of this. I do not see a difference in humans killing humans and animals killing animals, unless it has to do with acquiring food and survival. There are so many exceptions to this question. There are times when humans kill humans just to kill, and there are times when they have to kill for the protection of their life. The same goes for animals. Because of all of these exceptions, it is difficult to decide on a conclusion for this. Sometimes I even believe that murder does not necessarily always make a person evil and that animals can be evil, just like humans. Other times I think differently. I feel like the discussion kept going back and forth, but it was a very in-depth discussion with great thoughts.

Facts and Truths

There are seven billion people on Earth. This means there are seven billion perceptions of what life is, and what the things in life we hear and see all mean. I hear everything that is told to me in a way that no one else hears. It is not a fact, therefore it is an opinion. I perceive words in my own personal way and words mean something different from person to person. We can all hear the same words but each individual is actually hearing the words in a different way. Words do not have the same value to each person. Similar to words, everything we see is our own personal perspective. I can see the same thing as any other human, but we are all seeing this same thing in a different way. There is not truth in life. There are not any people who know everything about life. When it comes to the things humans hear and see, we are not as intelligent as we think we are due to the fact that there are no true facts. There is no truth on Earth, despite the fact that many people aim for this common truth. Each individual is their own person who strives toward this nonexistent concept of truth.

Meaning of Life

The meaning of life varies greatly from person to person. Because life is perceived from so many different perspectives, there is not even a limit of possible responses that can be made to this question. In my life, my main purpose to achieve is to reach a level of happiness where I create a metaphorical plateau when I am an adult. I aim to work very hard during my years of college, and the years following. During these years, my goal is to be the happiest person I can be. Even living right now, I am the happiest and most positive person I can be. I have no complaints and I hope this pattern of positivity and joy carries on throughout my life. Leading a life of happiness is key to progress and health. There is nothing that can get in my way from letting me get things done. After reaching the highest point in my life, I want to be able to stop all of the hard work and to take in what I have done and made out of my life. I want this new "plateau" phase of my life to enable me to enjoy my life and to relax without putting in so much for once. All I have done thus far in my life is put in everything I have to be the person I am today. I am aiming to reach that point where it all pays off in the end.