Isolation
Jeanna Carlsson and Shalaka Damle
Overview
isolation - cause (a person or place) to be or remain alone or apart from others.
- Meursault isolates himself from all other people and relationships
- Lacking emotion, desire to be connected
- Cannot find meaning in interactions - absurdism
"The Stranger" by Billy Joel
Billy Joel The Stranger With Lyrics
ACTIVITY
quotes
Song Connection #1
You may never understand
How the stranger is inspired
But he isn't always evil
And he is not always wrong
Though you drown in good intentions
You will never quench the fire
- attitude towards mother's death
Quote #1
"I still don't know why, but I said that until then I hadn't realized that people thought badly of me for doing it, but that the home had seemed like the natural thing since I didn't have enough money to have Maman cared for." (Part I, Ch. 5)
- "good intentions" about putting Maman in a home
- still an act of isolating himself
Quote #2
"It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed." (Part I, Ch. 2)
- cannot form relationships; never had a real relationship with his mother
- detached from her like everyone else
- leaves her room the same before/after her death
Song Connection #2
Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Did you ever let your lover see
The stranger in yourself?
- depicts Meursault's detachment from Marie
Quote #3
"That evening Marie came by to see me and 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. Then she asked if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything to me but that I probably didn't love her." (Part 1, Ch. 5)
- complete emotional detachment from relationship with Marie
- meaningless
Quote #4
"He told me that he spent Saturday and Sundays and all his days off there. 'With my wife, of course,' he added. Just then his wife was laughing with Marie. For the first time may, I thought I was going to get married." (Part I, Ch. 6)
- realization of commitment he's made
Quote #5
"On their way out, and much to my surprise, they all shook my hand-- as if that night during which we hadn't exchanged as much as a single word had somehow brought us closer together." (Part I, Ch. 1)
- he himself is shocked by apparent bond they feel with him
Quote #6
"As always, whenever I want to get rid of someone I'm not really listening to, I made it appear as if I agreed." (Part II, Ch. 1)
- general attitude towards others
Literary Criticism - Albert Camus's L'Etranger and Ernesto Sabato's El Tunel by Arthur Scherr
- Mersault is involved with people, "even if only on a superficial level"
- does not feel any more estranged from society than he does reality
- "indecisiveness holds Meursault back from making a better impression on people"
- represents, in single act of violence, Hamlet
- does not show his feelings, holds back from people, and only informs the reader
TAKE AWAY
- Meursault's absurdist perspective is a reason for his isolation.
- He is only capable of maintaining surface level relationships with those with who he interacts.
- He masks his personal opinions and emotions to avoid meaningful interaction.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What function does isolation have in Meursault's decisions?
- How does the degree of Meursault's isolation progress throughout the novel?
- Which, if any, of Meursault's relationships show the greatest amount of attachment and commitment?
- Is it possible to be isolated in your relationships?
- Which of Meursault's relationships best represents his attitude towards others?
- How does isolation play a role in the crime that Meursault commits?
Works Cited
Scherr, Arthur. "Albert Camus's L'Etranger and Ernesto Sabato's El Tunel." Romance
Notes 47.2 (2007): n. pag. Questia School. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.