Plunge into The Stranger

Alright, I’m going to lay it down hard. We recently just started The Stranger by Albert Camus and I am loving it. So, my initial reactions to the first chapter of the book are a bit weird so just bear with me. Camus opens up the novel with the line “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” This was both shocking yet disturbingly funny to me. Yes funny, I laughed a little. But what I found a bit humorous was that he wasn’t sure which day his mother had died; just disputing it in his head which one it was: today or yesterday. But after that first bout of giggles, it got a bit disturbing at how unfazed this man was by his Maman’s death. Something else that I found really funny was when he started smoking during his mom’s vigil. Thinking about it, it’s not really funny at all—kind of disrespectful if you will. But he thought “it didn’t matter.” (8). I guess his lack of emotion mixed with a bit of stunned disbelief is why I found it so funny. Or maybe I just have a really bizarre sense of humor, who knows.

Reading further into chapter, I noticed how little Meursault seemed affected by the death of his mother. He was just focused on other mundane things going on around him.  I mean, the death of a parent is a pretty big deal, but our main character here just kind of swept it under the rug. I feel like he treated the vigil and funeral as an obligation. And if he didn’t do it, then he would be looked down upon or judged or something. So basically, to this ordinary fella, his mother’s funeral was kind of like jury duty.

 At this point in the book, I’m not sure if Meursault's detachment is a personality trait or if he just feels very little about this event. But I’m kind of getting the vibe that this may just be the type of person he is. I think that he is aware that his reaction to this death is an abnormal one; that he is supposed to be sad. I thought of this because Camus writes:

“We put the cover on, but I’m supposed to unscrew the casket so you can see her.”

He was moving toward the casket when I stopped him.

He said, “You don’t want to?” I answered, “No.” He was quiet, and I was

embarrassed because I felt I shouldn’t have said that.

Meursault recognizes that what he said might not have been the right thing to say in this situation. But a couple of lines later, the caretaker replies “I understand”. I interpreted this as if the caretaker thought seeing his mother dead and never to return again would make him more upset (if he is upset at all). But I think that Meursault just wanted to get quickly finish the funeral so he could go back to his life before it.

Although, in class we also discussed that his lack of emotion to this may just be a part of his grievance process. It’s only the first chapter, so we have no background idea on how this character reacts emotionally in other situations. I think it may be a possibility that this may be his process of accepting that his mother is dead. For instance, he says:

But he probably will day after tomorrow, when he sees I’m in mourning. For now, it’s almost as if Maman weren’t dead. After the funeral, though, the case will be closed, and everything will have a more official feel to it. (3)

Here, Meursault states that Maman dying hasn’t really sunk in yet. And it seems as if he is expecting himself to mourn later on, after the funeral is done and over with. But what I wonder is if it would really make a difference in his life. In the chapter he talks about how he never really saw his Maman because the trip was too long and he didn’t have time for it. So he was already accustomed to not seeing Maman regularly; how would it change with the knowledge that she is now dead?

Oh Gregor

The Samsa Stamp of Approval

                Throughout The Metamorphosis we have come to know Gregor pretty well. I thought that it wasn’t really that hard to figure him out in comparison to someone like Jake from The Sun Also Rises. As the book opens, you immediately get the sense that Gregor is a skittish little being that thrives on approval from others and appeasing people.

He doesn’t want people to think of him as some big letdown; which is probably why he was so insistent on going to work in the first chapter of the book. Despite how much he detested his job, he was still paranoid about the results his tardiness would bring. Now, Gregor, this dude was completely committed to this horrible job. And you’d think that waking up in a bug body would give him an incentive to stay home but it doesn’t. He doesn’t even think about how others in his work place may react to his new appearance. But rather, he frets over the fact that his boss will be angry and that it will put a damper on his father’s four course breakfast meals.

        Gregor’s need for approval can also be observed in the next scene where he opens the door and his family sees what he has become. In the moments before this happens, the chief clerk is scolding him through the door for being late to work. Now, how angry must your boss be to go all the way to your house just to yell at you? Upon opening the door, Gregor thinks that although the chief clerk if furious with him, he’ll take pity once he see the situation that he is in. And he imagines that his family will be sympathetic and try to help him. Boy oh boy, poor Gregor was wrong. His new form caused his chief clerk, a large burly man, to flee in terror and his father to push him back with a newspaper. One of my favorite lines from the scene is Gregor’s mother’s reaction to this spectacle, which is:

“His mother was not far away in front of him and seemed, at first, quite engrossed in herself, but then she suddenly jumped up with her arms outstretched and her fingers spread shouting: "Help, for pity's sake, Help!" The way she held her head suggested she wanted to see Gregor better, but the unthinking way she was hurrying backwards showed that she did not.”

        The last sentence of the quote emphasizes how Gregor desperately needed someone to sympathize and help him with something he didn’t even understand. By using the word “unthinkable”, Kaftka accentuates that Gregor didn’t think he’d have these negative reactions from his family. In this moment, the entire household just viewed him as a giant bug a nothing more. I felt this scene to be especially important because the Samsa’s family initial reaction influences the way that Gregor goes about doing things further into the book.  

        After the overwhelming response of disgust from his family, Gregor doesn’t want to cause them anymore trouble. His father was furious with the fact that he just had to turn into a giant bug and would no longer be able to work. Gregor’s job, which allowed him to pay off his father’s debt, gained him a certain approval from his father. He was fervently working so that dear old dad, didn’t have to. Making all the family money so that dad could have his kingly breakfasts.  Gregor felt like he was doing something correctly with the job, that its results were important to the family. Therefore, he was important to the family. But he lost that. And now, the only way he could somewhat gain their approval and appease his family was by staying out of their way. The Samsas didn’t need a constant remind of what dreadful thing he had become, so he hid.

        Gregor’s method kind of worked, at least for a while. He was considerate of where and when he hid so that he didn’t make them feel any discomfort. But in part two, Gregor rushes to stand atop the picture of the woman in the fur as his sister and mother attempt rid his room of furniture. The sudden visual of Gregor gave his mother a fright, and caused her to faint. And the situation worsens when his father comes home from work only to throw apples into his back. But whoa! Father Samsa is working now, who would have thought? The one thing Gregor felt he was good (having a job and providing for his family) had been filled by his father. The one thing that guaranteed the family’s appreciation towards Gregor had been stripped from him as a result of his metamorphosis. Gregor still feels the need to feel please his family because that’s just who he is. But what’s a bug to do?

Brett's Manipulative Ways

In response to the comments on my previous post, I do agree that Brett does have feelings towards Jake. We have established that the two could never be in a relationship for several reasons, and due to this, they have settled on being friends instead. But I think that in this so called friendship – Brett manipulates Jake for her own motives and desires. For instance, the scene where she talks with Jake about how she wants Romero. She uses Jake to help her “hook-up” with Romero. At some points in the conversation, Jake didn’t really want her to go through with it, which can be observed when they say:  

“I’m a goner. I’m mad about the Romero boy. I’m in love with him, I think.”

“I wouldn’t be if I were you.”

“I can’t help it. I’ve never been able to help anything.”

“You ought to stop it.”

“How can I stop it? I can’t stop things. Feel that?" (187)

Despite this resistance from Jake, Brett blatantly states that she can't help her ways; and what Brett wants, Brett gets. She makes it seem as if her desire for Romero (and men in general) is some force of nature that is completely out of her control. And she uses this excuse against Jake, sort of insisting that she and Romero must happen and it can only done with his help.  

Brett also talks bad about herself, saying that she’s “never felt such a bitch.” And after this statement, Jake just gives into what she wants him to do. I think Brett called herself a bitch because she knows he doesn’t want her to think erroneously of herself. And by saying that, Jake would do what she asked in order to please her and make her feel better about herself.

So overall, I have a concept that maybe Brett does all the things she does with other men to fill a void that Jake can't fill. And you can see during some vulnerable conversations between Jake and Brett (such as the one above) – Brett has an emotional tether to Jake, but nothing beyond that can happen. So Brett uses these emotions between them to her advantage when it comes to other men and to getting what she wants from him. And in this scene especially, you can see how evident Brett’s manipulation towards Jake can be.