The Stranger #1

In my opinion, Meursault is not a cold heart man but just a man that just do not know how to show his feelings.

I feel that Meursault just do not know how to express himself to his mother. During her funeral, Meursault acted like he does not care about his mother because he feel guilty on how he treated her. When one of his mother's friend was crying, Meursault wanted her to shut up. This is because he fault that a random women is closer to his mom than he is. Therefore, he fault annoyed and do not want to listen to her anymore. This might seem as though Meursault does not care about his mom but i feel that he is just trying to forget about what he has done. I can connect to Meursault because sometimes when i regret something that i have done i will try to avoid it or occupy my mind with something else.

One thing that i noticed about Meursault's personality is that he jumps from one subject to another. Its interesting how he does not focus on details yet he just tells whats he see and what is being said. I feel that the author wants us the know what is going on but we have to put ourselves in the character's shoe and guess how they are feeling. I enjoy this because i do not have to read about a certain way that the character feels but instead i can put my own feelings in it.

My favorite part of this book so far is when Meursault's neighbor loses his dog. This is because i feel like it show how we do not know what we got until its gone. In the beginning, Meursault talks about how the old man is always yelling at the dog. It seems like he did not care for the dog. However, when the dog was lose the old man started to worry. He realized that he need the dog and will not know what to do if he does not find it. This really touch me because i feel that everyone can connect to the old man. Even though i do not know if the old man's attitude toward the dog will change or not i still hope he find him.

So far i enjoy reading this book. I feel that there a deeper meaning to what is written. But what i like most about this book is that is short and its easy to read.

Meaningful or meaningless?

Getting good grades, graduating college, and having my own family; these are some of my goal in life. However, if life is meaningless what is the point of having goal? Should I do whatever i want and forget about what right and what wrong just because life is meaningless?

I feel that life is not meaningless but instead everything is connected in one way or another. Life is just like a domino effect, when one part will fall then the other piece will be affected. For example, the swine flu is a connection. It's like a person gets the swine flu and it spreads to another person. Others might think that life is only meaningful when they get what they want. Although i feel that getting what you want is not the only reason why life is meaningful. It’s a big part of what life worth living. Also to achieve what you want to work hard in life.

One quote that reminds me of what we were doing in class was "They're basically moments in which you're in touch with the meaning of life, when your relationship to the rest of the universe makes sense." This quote was written by Barbara De Angelis. My interpretation of this quote is that the meaning for life is made up with the connection you have with others. I feel that the more connection you have with others, the more meaningful your life would be. In my opinion connection can be made by talking to someone. My favorite kind of connection is to be friends with someone. Friends are an important part of my life and influence a big part of how I live my life.

One of my favorite quotes is written by Arthur Rubinstein: “Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” Just enjoy life and you will be happy. I agree with this statement but I think it can be hard to enjoy life. This reminds me of something that was said in the movie: why do people only think about these questions when they are sad but when they are happy they forget about them?” No one comes from the same background. Some are more fortunate than others. However, as long as we make the best out of what we have we will make life more meaningful.

Overall, I feel that life is meaningful and that as long as you enjoy life and do the best you can you will succeed.

Comments on part 3 & 4

To Ali:

I agree that there is no point of living a good life all we suppose to be thinking about is death. Everything that we have done will be pointless if we are just going to die. i believe that you should just try your best in life so when you die you won't regret anything that you have done.

A question that comes in my mind is if we are happy all the time are we really "happy"? How would we know if we are? Will we ever have any other feeling?

I really like the way you question their ideas. Your questions were really good and I really enjoyed reading this. :-)

To Corey :

I really liked the way you summarized everything. I really enjoyed reading it. Your post brings up a lot of great point.

However, i disagree on what you said about eternal value can not bring happiness. Watching tv brings me happiness because most of the time it gets me away from all the stress i have in school. Even though it can only last a while it still brings me happiness. Plus i don't really agree that happiness is nothing. I think that its a very important part of everyone life and so are the other emotions and feelings.

For the second point i feel similar to what you are saying. I don't think that it is possible for everyone to be completely equal because we all come from different backgrounds and have different povs. You can give 2 person each 10 dollar but they will not spend it the same way. Therefore, you can never be the same as anyone else.

Good work Corey!