We Journal Comments

Comment #1 on Jack's Post


I thought it was interesting how you described D-503's personality by using his mathematical terms quotes. It does seem like he has the characteristics portrayed by the sort of graph he puts in the readers head. I also like how you portrayed the mood as relating to the setting of the book. The idea of simply excluding cheerful words and not using serious words makes me wonder why he would do this. It seems like if he wanted to show a certain mood, then he would simply match the words to that of the mood he wants to show.


Comment #2 on Olivia's Post


I thought it was interesting how you mentioned what the term "going off on a tangent" meant. It does seem like D does this a lot throughout the book, mainly because it is a compilation of journals which he wrote. People in journals can tend to go off to different places rather than the main topic of why they chose to write in the first place. I also liked how you showed that by using the term "We" he implies that his writings are all the thoughts of the people in the society, and their beliefs as a whole.

We Journal #1

     The passage in the first chapter of "We" starts out by saying, "my cheeks are burning."  This passage comes after a news article written in the daily newspaper about the construction and progress of the Integral.  Yevgeny Zamyatin shows D-503's feelings towards the article, suggesting that the story made him very emotional.  The next couple sentences describes the purpose of the Integral, and his supportive impression of the One State.  His display of emotion creates an optimistic tone and hooks the reader in to keep reading on.
     In the quote "I am only one of the mathematicians of the One State", Zamyatin uses the term "of the One State" to show the connection between the two.  The use of "of" instead of something like "in" shows that the mathematicians and the One State are directly related, and that one may be dependent on the other. This is directly related to the title of the book, and another quote in the paragraph saying "I will just attempt to record what I see, what I think-or, more exactly, what we think."  It is also shown in the quote "So these records will be manufactured from the stuff of our life."  These relations show the interdependence of the people of the One State and the introduction of this particular dystopian society.
     D then describes his relationship with his writing of his records as being like that of a woman giving birth.  Of course, D should not know what giving birth feels like.  In writing this, Zamyatin shows D's obvious lack of knowledge in other areas, besides that of his own expertise (mathematics).  Zamyatin begins to show the inter-workings of the society and the knowledge barriers between groups of people.
     Repeating the image of burning cheeks in the passage, Zamyatin portrays a potential internal struggle within the protagonist.  The image of destruction and pain is further shown by vividly describing the struggles of a woman during labor.  At the end of the passage, D says that he is ready, "just as every one -  or almost every one of [them]." Zamyatin shows the dysfunctionality of the society through D-503's emotions and through his journals.

Stranger Journal 6

I cannot remember how it all happened,

What does it matter to me? 

I didn't intentionally do it.

It doesn't really matter,

Nothing does.

I can't change it anyways.

I was standing in the heat of the moment,

The sun made me commit this act of murder,

My mother did not have one bit to do with this.

Why are you mentioning her, she did not kill.

He wants me to say what he wanted to have happened,

But he wont let me say what did.

Stranger Journal 5

Comparing the two parts of the book, I noticed a change in the length of most of the sentences.  In part one,  Camus uses very short, nondescript, sentences.  Then, when Meursault is faced with this life or death situation of being in jail and being tried for murder, he starts to contemplate his life a bit more.  It is not a very substantial change in thought, because he still has his habits of sleeping most of the day, but he still shows more reflective thoughts and feelings.

I also noticed that the seemingly unimportant robotic woman from Celestes shows up at the trial in part two.  The reason this very minor character may show up to the trial (which seems like she has no reason to be at) is because Camus is juxtaposing her and Meursault, thus, showing their similarities.  When the woman is described in the points we see her in the book, her actions closely resemble those of Meursault.  She is very exacting in the way she acts when she counts out the bill at the restaurant, the same way Meursault keeps a schedule and tries to be places at the right time (the bus, etc.).

Another change within the two parts of the book is the use of eyes and mouths.  In part I, the first thing Meursault described about people was usually their eyes.  "...she had bright eyes, and a face like an apple"(43).  In part II, Meursault focuses more on peoples mouths, and what they are saying.  At the start of the book, Meursault did not really care what people said, because he didn't really have a reason to.  He just went on living his life thinking that it didn't really matter.  When the time came that what people said did matter, and that peoples words were the difference between life and death for him, did he really listen.

Stranger Journal 4

#3. How does Camus use parallel scenes or recurring events in the two parts of the novel?

“I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything”(64).  This quote connects to when Meursault is talking to Marie in chapter 5, but instead he says he probably didn’t love her; "it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't love her"(41) . It shows how most things don’t really matter to Meursault and he is indifferent to a lot of things people asked him.  It brings out his character and portrays him as an particularly difficult person to have a relationship with.

“It was an idea I couldn’t get used to”(70).  When Meursault was talking to his boss on page 41, he tells his boss he "couldn't see any reason to change his life". This shows that Meursault is uncomfortable with change, and that change of lifestyle is something that he wouldn't be able to handle. Despite this depiction of Meursault earlier in the book, he completely changes his lifestyle by killing someone and going to prison.

“Only the words ‘yesterday' and ‘tomorrow’ still had any meaning to me”(80).  This connects to the first paragraph of the book when he didn’t really know whether his mother had died yesterday or today. Meursault is usually pretty good at keeping a schedule, or planning what he is going to do, but his memory of the past is not usually very good. He can plan for the future, but once he has done whatever he is planning on doing, it is like he doesn't really know what to do with the memories.

“I had actually found an old scrap of newspaper,” (79) This refers to when Meursault is in prison and finds the old newspaper scrap between his mattress and the bed platform. Earlier in the book Meursault finds an old newspaper and cuts an ad out of it for Kruschen salts (21). He is portrayed as being interested in the past, but not very recollective of the past. Perhaps the very fact that he has inadequate memory is the reason he is so interested in it. He cannot remember things himself, so he relies on other people or sources for information.

“For me it was one and the same unending day that was unfolding in my cell and the same thing I was trying to do”(80).  Before Meursault was put in prison, he had the same general schedule every day.  It seemed like all he did was sleep, eat, smoke, and people watch. This also links with the fact that he does not feel comfortable with a change of lifestyle. He does what he knows will not totally change his life, of course except for killing the Arab.

“I remembered what the nurse at Maman’s funeral said.  No, there was no way out,”(81). This, one of few of Meursaults' recollections, refers to page 17 when he was talking to the nurse. "There was no way out" connects to his predicament of being in prison, and never being able to get out. However, the time in prison for him is not even displayed as being harsh, or unpleasant, though. He describes himself as being one of the lucky ones, and the guards treat him well. It is almost like the nurses comment doesn't mean anything to Meursault anyways.

Stranger Journal 3

The Title "The Stranger" carries multiple connotations but there are a few that are very apparent to me.


One connotation of the word stranger is someone that you don't know, or are not familiar with.  This connects to the story because Meursault is a very confusing person and it is hard to know what he is thinking.  We don't know much more about him than what we can piece together by the ways he talks and the things he says in the book.  He is very different from the other characters in the book, in an emotional and spiritual sense.  To the reader, he seems stranger than the other characters.


Another connotation for the word stranger is someone who is not from a certain place, or in this case, a foreigner.  The title of the book in French is L'Étranger, or The Foreigner.  Meursault is a French man living in Algeria (a pied noir).  He is not of Algerian origin and, by definition, he is a foreigner to the country.  However the book suggests he has been living in Algeria his whole life, because of the way his mother lived there, and the opinion he has on living in another country (when his boss offered him a job in Paris).  He did not like the thought of going somewhere new to a place he was not familiar with.  This may mean that he is a foreigner in a metaphorical sense of the word.  Meursault is a foreigner to the people around him, connecting with the former connotation.

Stranger Journal 2

Old Salamano is a plays a minor role in the Stranger and appears first in Chapter 3.  He is an old man who takes his old dog on a walk every day, and on the same route every time.  Whenever his dog does something bad, he beats it.  When Meursault asks him what the dog did, he replies, "He's always there."  You'd think that if he really wanted to be rid of the dog then he would give it away.  This may imply that he doesn't really hate the dog after all, but he just takes his anger from somewhere else out on the dog, possibly to assert his authority.  Upon reading the book, we know that when his dog runs away, he is very sad and lost without it.  Camus describes them as looking like they could be a part of the same species, and this shows that they are not all that different from each other.

Raymond Sintés is Meursaults neighbor and also is a minor character introduced Chapter 3.  Camus describes the casualty of this specific setting by saying how he just walked into Meursaults apartment.  Describing Salamano and his dog, he asks Meursault if he thought that it was disgusting, and he replies no.  It makes it seem like Meursault acts as a foil to Raymond in this case, by saying that Raymond was more sympathetic than Meursault.  Raymond had just broken up with his girlfriend because he thought she was cheating on him for reasons that seem very subtle.  Raymond talks to him about his girlfriend, telling Meursault how he had done so much for her, and then she went and cheated on him.  He planned on taking revenge on her by sleeping with her and then spitting in her face afterwards.  Meursault, not giving much input into the matter, replied only positively to Raymonds questions, saying that it did seem like she was cheating on him, and that it was a good idea to get revenge. He asks Meursault if he thought it was a good plan and he says yes.  It shows Meursaults uncomfortableness with talking much with other people.

Stranger Journal 1

In the first couple chapters, Camus repeatedly uses very short sentences, and references things as being small.  He also portrays Meursault as being a very simple person, saying and doing very simple things.  Sometimes even doing simple things is hard for him to do; he ate his eggs without bread "because [he] didn't feel like going downstairs to buy some"(21).  This simplicity makes Meursault appear very lazy or uninterested in others.  For example, he describes every little thing that happens to him and it kind of seems like he may have some kind of attention deficit.  He does this during the vigil for his mother, yet he never even bothers to even think about her.  His mother had just died and he never even once thought about how she had impacted his life or anything.  The ironic thing is his reaction to his mothers old friends that were sitting there "sucking on the insides of their cheeks and making these weird smacking noises"(11).  He says "I even had the impression that the dead woman lying in front of them didn't mean anything to them" when he himself was sitting there emotionless the whole time.

Another thing that bothered me (going back to his laziness) is that he is always either sleeping, or feeling tired.  During the vigil, which is a period of staying awake during the time usually spent sleeping (usually to pray or keep watch), he falls asleep.  Meursault really does not seem to have any feelings of grief or sadness towards his mother, let alone any emotions at all.  On the first page, he says his boss "should have offered his condolences.  But he probably will when he sees I'm in mourning"(3).  But for those who have read the book, we know that he did not really ever mourn.  Eventually he is even tried for not mourning the death of his mother.

His character is developed further by repeatedly saying "it wasn't my fault"(3).  Telling his boss he needed days off from work because of his mother, he tries to back himself up by saying "it wasn't my fault".  He realizes that his boss was mad because he was getting four days off from work but then thought "it isn't my fault if they buried Maman yesterday instead of today"(19).  He doesn't acknowledge his bosses disappointment by basically saying that because it wasn't his fault, he had to go to his funeral.  It seems like Meursault doesn't even want to go to the funeral for emotional reasons, but just because it wasn't his fault.  When he was swimming with Marie, he also said "I felt like telling her it wasn't my fault" that his mother died (20).

What really throws me off and makes me mad is Meursaults lack of emotional feelings, towards other people and even himself.  It seems like the only things that matter to him is eating, sleeping, and just aimlessly walking around Algiers.  The reason why Camus would create a protagonist like Meursault is very hard to see.  Meursault makes the book very bland but at the same time it kind of makes the reader want to find out what he is going to do next.  He confuses the reader so much so that they just want to keep reading on.