The Stranger- Journal #1

SUMMARY: Meursault starts off by going to eat, and then proceeds to get on a train for Marengo. At his mother's funeral, he goes to the vigil and then walks to the church. When he returns from Marengo, Meursault sleeps, goes swimming and goes on a date. He then sits and watches people in the street.

REACTION: Meursault bothers me. He is so passive in all he does. He is not trying to live his life and experience things, all he does is sit, and watch rather than become involved with his life. It bothers me because he is wasting his time, and it makes it so that our time has a reader is wasted. I'm interested to see how this plays out, and if the author is trying to say something about how people waste their lives.

ANALYSIS: Through the character of Meursault, Camus is trying to portray how people waste their lives. People lose portions of their lives to laziness, and it does not seem has though Camus thinks that is a bad thing. Meurault is the epitome of an anti-hero, while he has annoying qualities, most of them are normal and cause the reader to become involved. This involvement occurs because Meursault's personality has qualities that can be found in many, many people.

RESEARCH: In 1942, Algiers becomes the capitol for the Allied forces in North Africa. Most of the events surrounding Algiers in 1942 have to do with WWII. The raid on Algiers occurred on December 11 1942, it was a raid by the Italians. Several other raids/battles occurred there before the end of the war.