Anuprova's Twentieth Century Blog

     Throughout The Stranger, Meursault is characterized as someone who doesn’t really care about anything and goes with the flow. During class discussions, he was often described as “emotionless," as he shows no signs of emotion during extremely stressful times, such as his mother's death and after killing the Arab. However, near the end of the book, when Meursault is nearing his death, he has an outburst of rage when talking to the chaplain.     To understand Meursault's reactions to the chaplain, we have to look at the change in his state of mind after he learns that he is going to be executed, which is when he first starts to show signs of emotion. First, Meursault tries to bargain with the situation, thinking of ways he could escape his fate. He desperately tries to think of a way to escape the prison and wishes for the machinery to fail, but he quickly realizes that neither of those are feasible options for him. He then accepts his situation and sits ...

    Throughout  The  Sun Also Rises , Brett starts affairs with many men, but we as readers have a mutual understanding that all of the relationships will eventually come to an end. However, in the case of Pedro Romero, I was convinced that the relationship might have potential to last longer. After all, Brett doesn't have the same strong connection to the other men in the book (besides Jake) as she does to Pedro Romero. She dramatically claims that she is in love with Pedro Romero and asks for Jake's helping in setting the two of them up.      Nonetheless, much like Brett's other relationships, she ends up breaking up with Pedro Romero and telling him to leave. When Pedro Romero asks for Brett's hand in marriage, she immediately tells him that the relationship is over and makes him leave the hotel. She confides in Jake, telling him, "You know I'd have lived with him if I hadn't seen it was bad for him. We got along damned well." In this quote, she is ...