We Journal Comments

To Andrew:
I like what you said about how Zamyatin said "of One State" instead of "in One State". You were right in observing that that one word can make a huge difference in the connections between the people of One State and One State itself. Although this clue is subtle, it is very important and is helpful to the reader. However, I did not completely understand how the repetition of burning cheeks points to an inner struggle within D. Especially if the burning cheeks that are first mentioned are caused by what seems to be pride.

To Olivia:
I really liked how you viewed the "burning cheeks" in regards to that being possible foreshadowing. The possibility of "burning" referring to the Integral is a connection that I did not make, however it is a captivating idea. I agree completely with your observation of Zamyatin's use of the word "we". The fact that Zamyatin uses that word implies that the coutry is indivisible, almost as if it is not built up of individuals, but instead is built up of parts that cooperate with one another, working towards a common goal.

We Journal 1

       Yevgeny Zamyatin uses imagery in the first page of the novel to help characterize D-503. "Yes, to unbend the wild, primitive curve and straighten it into a tangent-an asymptote-a straight line" (2). This sentence describes in great detail what kind of man D-503 is. He is a man who s very straight forward, in some respects he reminds me of Meursault in the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus. Both D-503 and Meursault are straight forward and they get to the point. D-503 likes everything to be in order which is why Zamyatin writes, "to unbend the wild, primitive curve" (2). Wild and primitive are both antonyms of orderly, predictable, and organized which is how D-503 likes things. On the first page, Zamyatin is giving as a great insight into who D-503 is and how his character will act throughout the rest of the novel.
       Zamyatin also creates a serious mood on the second page that sets he tone for the rest of the novel. He does this not by inserting serious words, but by excluding cheerful words, words having to do with any sort of emotions, or any abstract thoughts. Zamyatin does this to explain to the reader not only what the main character, D-503 is like, but also what the setting is like. After reading page two the reader can infer that One State is not a very happy place and that the overall mood of the novel will in fact, be serious.

Stranger Journal 6

Throughout the whole absurd life I'd lived
Nothing, nothing mattered

It would all come down to the same thing anyway
Everybody knows life isn't worth living

I'm going to die
We're all going to die

People would forget me when I'm dead
Nothing, nothing mattered

If you don't die today, you'll die tomorrow
Nothing, nothing mattered

Stranger Journal 5

In the second part of the book I felt like Meursault was analyzing. I felt like he would notice or observe a character say or do something, such as a witness being interviewed. After he would observe this Meursault would then analyze what happened, give his opinions and feelings on the matter, and say what else he noticed. Thus differs from the first part of the book. In the first part of the novel, Meursault would simply take everything in and analyze it. After that he would make an expressionless remark of some sort. It seems as if Meursault is more engaged during the second part of the book, "There were times when I felt like breaking in on all of them and saying, 'Wait a minute! Who's the accused here? Being the accused counts for something. And I have something to say!'" (98) In the first part of the book Meursault would never express feelings about anything, and if he did they were either about sexual desires or indifference. Meursault showing emotion is a huge change between the two sections of the book and Camus illustrates this change by Meursault's analyzing and internal response to his observations. Camus is able to shove all this interpretation into one section because there are simply lots of characters for Meursault to analyze. There are judges, multiple witnesses, reporters, audience members, jury members, and lawyers. Each of these groups of people are mentioned multiple times throughout the section and Meursault takes the time to analyze each one of them. The numerous characters and the frequency of their appearances is crucial to Camus' attempt to show how Meursault is developing emotions as a character.

Stranger Journal 4

Camus portrays the spiritual world as something that is neither real nor unreal. He does this by having the main character, Meursault be atheist. And by having many other characters be quite religious and having them try to convince Meursault that he should become religious. Camus portrays the spiritual world as something that an individual has for a particular reason. He does not imply that it does not exist, in fact he implies that it could exist inside of you, it is something that an individual possesses. "That was his belief, and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would become meaningless" (69). However, almost contradicting himself, Camus portrays the physical world as meaningless. We can see this by Meursault repeating the phrase, "It doesn't matter." This is contradictory because it would be a highly religious person that would believe that, they would believe that life on Earth does not matter, and it is your eternal life in heaven that does. Meursault has the belief that nothing matters at all, not even a heaven. That makes him different from the religious people, but it also makes him different than the people who believe that life on Earth is important.

Stranger Journal 3

The title "The Stranger" is significant because it sums up Meursault. Dictionary.com defines a stranger as "a person who is not a member of the family, group, community, or the like, as a visitor or guest." That really defines Meursault because he truly is not a part of the community. He may conform and transform into a normal member of society when he is in the public's view, but when we hear his thoughts and analyze his actions we can clearly see that he is not what we would consider normal. We can see this when Marie is asking Meursault to marry her. Meursault responds to her proposal by saying, "it didn't make any difference" which is clearly not a response that a normal person in society would come up with (41). Marie recognizes this oddity and responds by calling Meursault "peculiar" (42). Clearly Meursault is a stranger in his own town.

When I think of the term "foreigner" I think of a tourist, I think of someone in an unfamiliar place, unaware of their surroundings, without a clue of what to do or how to act. The title "The Foreigner" also shows how Meursault is categorized in society. He is not one who does things for the same reasons as others. He may do the same actions, however he does not have the same reasons for his actions. In fact, we can assume that the sole purpose for many of his actions is simply to become apart of normal society. For example, he goes to Maman's funeral, he does not go to mourn as many would, he simply goes because he, I assume, feels obligated to go. This is not how a normal member of society would function. Many tourists or foreigners would likely find themselves going with the flow, or just trying to fit in. They would not know why they were doing what they were doing, they would do it just to appear normal, and that is precisely what Meursault is doing.

Stranger Journal 2

I chose to analyze Raymond Sintes. I think that Sintes is a great foil to Meursault. Meaursault is a man with a very few emotions other than annoyance, however Sintes is a man with many emotions. In this short chapter he reveales many emotions including jealousy, anger, and compassion. While Meursault and Sintes have their conversation, Meursault continues to have a small range of emotions. Meaursault shows very little sympathy towards Sintes, except for when, "he [Sintes] asked if I thought she was cheating on him, and it seemed to me she was; if I thought she should be punished and what I would do in his place, and I said you can't ever be sure, but I understood his wanting to punish her" (32). That "understanding" is the closest Meursault will get to sympathizing with Sintes. It is from the same quotation that we see that Sintes recognizes that lack of empathy in Meursault and Sintes attempts to pry it out of him by asking him directly what his feelings are. Meursault and Sintes are emotional opposites; Meaursault never even has emotions, while Sintes is full of emotions and his emotions are what control his actions. Camus uses the foil to further show the "disconnect" between Meursault and the rest of society when it comes to connecting emotionally to anything.

Stranger Journal 1

Cultural Journal: After reading the first two chapters of the novel, I began to see that the French are quite easygoing and fun loving. I saw examples of this multiple times. In fact, Meursault took the death of Maman in stride, and the day after Maman's funeral he was, "wondering what I [Meursault] was going to do and I decided to go for a swim" (19). We can also see that the French are very social, they spend time together at various events, "Almost all the moviegoers spilled out of the neighborhood theaters into the street" (23). Despite whatever troubles the French people may encounter, whether it be as a nation, or as individuals, we can clearly see that they will maintain their fun-loving, easygoing personalities.

Journal 1: I feel like Meursault does not care about life. He seems to be very neutral, whatever the situation. For instance, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I dont know," to most people the first thought in their head after learning that their mother had died would not be when she died, it would be that she actually did die (3). This shows that Meursault does not have a wide range of emotions at all. The death of a family member is something that invokes emotional distress and since Meursault showed almost none we can jump to the conclusion that his range of emotions is very small. We can also see this on the other side of the emotional spectrum. Meursault rekindles a flame with Marie and he does not seem to put any emotion into it at all. He describes the physical parts of their relationship, "She had her leg pressed against mine. I was fondling her breasts. Toward the end of the show, I gave her a kiss..." (20). This shows that although Meursault is able to connect on a physical level, he is in no way capable of connecting emotionally. A life without emotions, good and bad, is a life that is worthless. Emotions are what make life, life. Meaursaults lack of emotions explain why he seems to have no interest in his life whatsoever.