Existentialism in The Stranger

            The Stranger by Albert Camus gives us a personal insight into the mind of what most people would consider a true existentialist. We quickly learn that Meursalt our main character and narrator is an extremely subjective and indifferent as to what happens all around him. His emotionless reaction makes the reader questions the true nature of someone like Meursalt. Albert Camus immediately strikes an interesting tone by opening the novel with this sentence: “MOTHER died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.” (1). The lack of grief displayed by Mersault suggests he is rather unfazed by this event, one that most people would consider a tragedy. Existentialism would have us believe that life and pretty much anything we do is pointless as in the end we are all going to die. To me it would seem as though Mersault agrees with this notion, not only demonstrated by his attitude towards the passing of his mother but also by his all around outlook on life. By this point it has been made clear that Mersault is quite different from most. This not only applies to his way of thinking but his habits as well. Take this quote for example: “now that I was by myself it was too large and id moved the dining table into my bedroom… the rest of the flat was never used, so I didn’t trouble to look after it.” (15) The depths of Meursalt´s existentialist persona is in a way reflected by his apartment. Everything about Meursalt does not suggest his concern for his future or basically anything for that matter. Meursalt is truly in every way a “stranger”  

Color Symbolism in the Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald there is a lot of symbolism to be found. Fitzgerald’s main tool to represent the true intentions of his characters is the way he foreshadows their emotions with the use of colors. Colors have always been linked to human characteristics; red means passion while blue is associated with wisdom and stability. In the novel the color white represents innocence and purity or it can also be thought of as the illusion of those things as the characters that display these colors aren’t really innocent. Take this quote for example: “An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in.” (84) In this quote Gatsby is about to meet Daisy for the first time in five years, before doing so he puts on a white suit in order for daisy to see his honesty and purity. Even the name “Daisy” suggests that she is also pure but as we realize later in the book daisies are white on the outside but yellow (corrupted) on the inside. In the end of the book the symbolism becomes more apparent, and now that I reread passages of the Great Gatsby I can see how the colors are a great insight into the mind of every character.