iop journals

Day one: I started by researching background information on Albert Camus. I discovered that Albert created many parallels between him and the character Mersault. Such as the fact that in some of Camus' work, he refers to himself as Mersault when addressing himself. Also, both of their mothers died when they were young. Camus also lived and grew up in Algiers, which is where Mersault lives and "The Stranger" takes place in. And finally, both of them grew up without a father figure in their lives, resulting in having their mothers raising them.

Day two: I researched the meanings of existentialism and absurdism in more depth. While researching, i remembered that Camus was often called an existentialist but he did not agree with that type. He viewed himself as an absurdist. An absurdist is someone who thinks that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe will ultimatly fail. Resulting in the thought of the universe being absurd. This is shown in "The Stranger" when Mersault tries to find the meaning of what is happening to him until he gives up. He finds the search absurd and soon gives up.

Day three: I researched some of Camus' earlier work and essays. In these works, he did come off as an exestentialist and many of his friends were as well. In the earlier writings, he wrote about the French Resistance and how he supported many of thier actions. He openly disagreed with Hitler and wrote about that as well. Also in his early days, Camus joined the communist party and wrote many works about them. After one essay, Camus quit because he could not commit to the party. He was very torn between governments in his early days and that continued in his other work.

Day four: While trying to find an outside influence to compare to "The Stranger" so support my presentation, I happened upon the movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest." In the movie, I noticed parallels between the characters of McMurphy and Mersault. Such as, Mersault feels as though he cannot make sense out of the society around him, just like McMurphy and The Chief, who are also outsiders in their society. After Nurse Rachet refuses to let the men watch the baseball game on t.v., McMurphy accepts the aburdity of his present situation and in turn starts to reenact the baseball game himself and triumps over Nurse Ratchet. Such as when Mersault recognizes the absurdity of his imprisionment and is able to find contempment in his current situation.

Day five: I tried to finalize my rough dratfs and rewrite my speech. I tried to include many of the new information that I discovered such as the new development in Camus not agreeing with exestentialism and thinking as more of an absurdist. I also tried to work in the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" and apply it to "The Stranger" and Camus' life as well.

Oedipus and Duck Journal Number One

There are a few similarities that I have noticed between Oedipus and the Wild Duck thus far. One of the first I recognized were the characters of Oedipus' mother and Gina , Hjalmer's wife.
They both seem to be kind of reserved people, who make an effort maintain balance and tranquility in their lives and homes. When the truth of her husband begins to come out in the open, she handles it in a way that doesnt try to attract much attention, she tries to keep the information from Oedipus to spare him the grief. Gina keeps the news of their rooms rental from her husband upon his return home from the party in an effort to not add any more concerns to her husband's mind at the moment, not to disrupt his present state. Also, the theme of a persuit of the whole of something, completeness. Oedipus asks information of the shepard and ends up getting that and much more than he expected ultimately helping him to some conclusions about his existance and setting in motion his new perception of his life. similarly, in speaking with Hjalmer, Gregers learns new details about the issues surrounding his father, his friend as well as his freind's father. This sets in motion a series of events and a confrontation with his own father.

Question 2, not about Oedipus, directly

In the story, Little Red Riding hood, do you agree with the author's decision to have the character of the axeman murder the wolf in order to save little red riding hood as well as her grandmother? How could this matter have been treated differently while maintaining the story's integrity?

Oedipus Qustion

How could the tale of Oedipus have turned out differently? How could he have responded differently to the unwanted news in order to reach a more positive conclusion? Do you agree, for instance with his decision to return to the mountain, the source in a way of the conflict, the source of his present life's path, to end his life?

Wednesday Journal

In being given a good amount of background knowledge, the plays read a little differently, or at least I percieve them in a new way. I knew only a little of these ancient times from what I've read before in school and things like movies but the information that we have covered in the last few days of class has all been relatively new to me. I found the information centered around the actors to be fascinating. It changes the way you imagine the events playing out as you read when you think about it being performed by a chorus or just a few actors.