Stranger

In the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus I had a different view point on the main character Meursault. I did not see him as a soulless monster but instead a guy that had little passion about anything, not really a big talker but he wasn't a complete introvert considering he had a girlfriend and several acquaintances. I saw Meursault as he presented himself, there was no ambiguity no false pretenses. Although I though it was foolish of him to shoot a man simply because of summer heat he had no other motives beside that. In present day or in many other literature works a killer usually has a motive, if The Stranger had been written like that Meursault would have killed that man to stand up for Raymond or to finally let out his repressed emotions about his mother's death on this innocent man but no it was just a hot summer day. I suppose that is why the whole trial is ridiculous, the prosecutor tries to find reasoning behind Meursault's crime and like a leach sucks out all the evidence that could be found in the day of Meursault's mother's funeral and in Meursault's daily life. Meursault does seem to embody the existentialist state of mind and this way of living and being is what causes his death, in the eyes of the judges, jury, and prosecutor he is a soulless monster. I think in society we never really get to know a person that is in the public eye or on a famous trial. We take in all the magazine headlines, interviews, and public opinions but we don't get a one on one with these people that are being analyzed everyday for our entertainment. Also if they don't measure up to our standards we label them as evil or strange. If Meursault was a celebrity in present day I highly doubt he would lie about his personal life or if he was caught in a scandal he wouldn't make excuses that his publicist would urged him to say like his lawyer tried to do in the novel. Meursault would be the most honest celebrity, I'm sure celebrities lie all the time but for Meursault he wouldn't see any reason to not tell the truth. 

The Price

In the Socratic seminar we briefly had a discussion about immortality and what one would sell their soul for. I think that many people would give their soul for immortality if they had the chance, especially famous people because they would stay beautiful forever if they never aged. I also think scientists would jump at the proposition because they could study a subject for years without having to face death which would mean the end of their research, they could live long enough to get to the end of their research and maybe even find a cure. I think that the loss of someone's soul is a very serious subject but I also think that everyone has a price. The only man in literature that would not sell his soul to the devil because he would not give up his name was John Proctor. However in real life I don't think that everyone would be as honorable as John Proctor. In Dr.Faustus Dr.Faustus gives his soul to the devil to gain knowledge about dark magic and things that a common man could not know. Dr.Faustus did have his moments of doubt if he could sell his soul but after being tempted by Lucifer in the end he gave in. Dr.Faustus lost his soul but his price was knowledge. He was already intelligent but his greed for more got to him and he willingly gave up his soul. Today in media we put celebrities on a pedestal and admire how they look and dress. However we have to remind ourselves that they spend hours in makeup, have personal trainers and some even have Botox, plastic surgery, or Lipo. I think that if a celebrity was offered immortality and everlasting youth they would sell their soul right away. It would personally take a lot for me to sell my soul and if I had to go against the people I love I would say no even if I was offered immortality and I do realize the people I love would die before me but I would still say no.