CHARACTER´S DESIRES BEING STOPPED BY SOMETHING...

In the last chapters we got to know some particular characters who were playing completely different roles within the same environment. In the last chapter of the first part we can clearly perceive how these characters have special desires but because of something, they are questioned or somehow blocked.

At the beginning of chapter four, Mr.Tench is writing a letter to his wife, who he didn´t know about her since long time ago. This desire is really strange, since we as readers already once understood him as a lonely person. “An odd impulse had come to him...”(P.45) This is the first free proceed this character develops, but he is interrupted by a knock in his door; “He couldn’t remember now what had given him the odd idea. Somebody knocked at the outer door and he left the letter on the bench...”(P.46)

Secondly, we analyze the scene in which Padre José is for the first time really comfortable and peaceful, since he is surrounded by a holy place, but again he is interrupted by a family. Once he is in this building holy estate or “The Garden of God”, he forgets about all the pandemonium; “There was a sense of intimacy-you could go anywhere and see anything. Life here had withdrawn all together”(P.47) While living this moment, Padre José is interrupted by a family who asks him to pray for them, but his fear doesn´t let him approach to his real desire; “Leave me alone” He said. “I´m unworthy. Can´t you see?-I am a coward”(P.49)

At last, we see two character’s examples which encounter certain desires´ s interruptions. When Mrs.Fellows is finishing reading the Holy Book to her child, Coral is really interested in knowing if her mother believes in God. “ Mother” the child said, “do you believe there´s a God?” The question scared Mrs.Fellows.”(P.53) With this mother´s reaction we can clearly interpret she really wants to answer her, but she is also interrupted by a fear.

The second scene is about the lieutenant being really anxious about killing the priest, but in his way to find him, he is stopped by a kid. The lieutenant has now the permission and the freedom to do anything for the persecution of the priest. Once he is authorized by the Jefe and the governor, he walks out and a little boy attacks him thinking he is a Gringo. “An empty gasesosa bottle sailed through the air and smashed at the lieutenant’s feet”(P.57) The lieutenant is for the first time attacked by someone while going to pursue his desire.

What I got from all these specific examples is that each character is stopped by something while freely following their objectives or actions. All characters have been living under a world of manipulation to forget about everything the catholic religion encounters. The pressure this new world which has invade all character’s spirits, is now starting to be the guilty by being obstacles during certain character’s desires. Although each character is playing a completely different role, each once has in this chapter the freedom to pursue their goals, but their surrounding atmosphere somehow blocks their minds and hearts to do them.
The majority of the passages has one word which makes us clearly see character’s feelings towards various interruptions. So now we should questioned ourselves...why would each character throughout this chapter reflect fear while being interrupted? Will their atmosphere be their reason to feel vexed?

ALCOHOL VS. PRIEST´S POSITION

Through the previous pages, I could identify two extraordinary issues which made me consider the protagonist in a superior way. As the story keeps on, we can conclude that the Stranger from the beginning is the priest, who everyone of the elite is looking for.
Many priests have abandoned religion to be accepted by government, but this main character doesn’t want to leave his religious role. We can assure this individual can be a stranger to society, because of being outside the common perspectives, but at the same time we can definitely say he does care about defending and saving his thoughts or beliefs, not caring being persecuted by all political hunters. He has two options: continue his life as a priest or give up to be part of acceptance; “Renounce your faith”, she explained... He said,
“ It´s impossible. There´s no way. I´m a priest. It´s out of my power”(P.40). That´s it! He will continue avoiding Mexican’s stiffness.
As this passage makes us clearly realize the priest is sure about continuing his escape, we are now also able to see his necessities to achieve the permanence in his position. As we could see in the first chapter, this protagonist has always being aware about having alcohol by his side. At first we could think this was just an insignificant act, although it has been easily to perceive this character continues being aware of his brandy. “She could hear him sucking desperately at the bottle. She said, “I think I could find my father’s brandy”(P.41). Even the other characters, such as Mr.Tench and the girl are aware of the priest’s constant attention towards the existence of alcohol.
By the moment we can conclude the priest is an alcoholic, so... will the priest´s position change if no alcohol is by his side?

PERSECUTION OF THE STRANGER

From the second chapter, we can start realizing that this novel will focus in the persecution of priests or followers of the catholic religion.
One of the characters, the lieutenant, makes the readers understand the hate that should be developed towards individuals who think God is magnificent. The stranger from the first chapter is now recognized as a priest, who’s being watched by government, and all members of it are aware of his escape. “I could guarantee to fetch this man in, inside a month...”(P.23) Every priest has to be persecuted and executed, since the lieutenant thinks there’s no merciful God and that existence is meaningless. This point of view wasn’t just analyzed by this character, since in many periods of time the catholic church had to face several schisms.
The character, so I think, is referring to the Schism that occurred with Martin Luther and Calvin, when the Christian church was divided in two main branches, the protestants and the Catholics. Some of the differences mainly consisted on; the priests´ role, whether they could or couldn’t get married, the concept of the Immaculate conception, the ineffability of the pope, the Bible interpretation, the way some of the rituals as well as the sacraments were performed, and lastly the concept of the Holy Trinity which still varies within the two religious branches.
With this conception about catholic religion persecution, we shall now be aware about the Stranger or priest’s flee.

CHARACTERS AND THEIR RELFECTION OF CERTAIN ATMOSPHERES

In this first chapter we are introduced in a very strange but peculiar world. No setting nor dates are mentioned in this first part, but what we consistently see is the appearance of four characters and the atmospheres each one creates.
Mr Tench, an English man living in Mexico and working as a dentist, is the first character the reader encounters. Nothing important happens to him, until the moment he meets another character and full this part of his life with curiosity and friendliness. This event is really important in this character’s development, since it show us how lonely this person is and how he is amazed by meeting an individual who has a certain connection, both speak English. But this situation suddenly ends, and Mr. Tench is back to his daily reality; “Loneliness face him there, vacancy. But he was as accustomed to both as to his own face in the glass”(P.18). By this citation we can definitely realize Mr Tench is living a life of apathy and “spiritual deadness”.
The second unnamed character we get to know really fast is the Stranger. It´s really difficult to describe him as a person, since he only shows up in the meeting with Mr. Tench. What we can definitely perceive from this person, is that he always acts with mystery, anxiety, and hurry. “He sat there like a lack question mark, ready to go, ready to stay, poised on his chair” (P.15)
Throughout all the conversation he ignores certain themes and changes the topic of it. Another strange aspect, is this character has bottle of contraband alcohol, which can be an act of rebellion against law, or it can be his companion to fulfill certain feelings since when “He sipped at it. It was like and indulgence”(P.15)
By the other side, we see two characters, a boy and a girl who reflect two opposite moods. The boy shows sadness because his mother is dying, so he urges the last two mentioned characters for help. At this moment he is hoping his mother will survive because someone will help her.
All characters in this first part of the novel are either living under the conception of negativity and anonymity. At the end of this chapter, Mr Tench observes a young lady who is happy, but doesn’t pause to consider why she is happy. She is only caring about spreading a joyful atmosphere, without giving importance to her feeling meaning. For the first time we see a character who is demonstrating positive attitude towards life.

Would there be more happy characters in the rest of the novel?

TWO WORLD SOCIETIES (The Emperor)

While reading the short passage from The Emperor, I was really fascinated by the explanation and comparison between two common world societies, high and low class ones. Ryszard Kapuscinski starts describing the meeting of the presidents, who were invited by the Emperor to his palace. Each decoration, individual, or provisions are illustrated as the most magnificent and stylish things existed at that period of time. For the guests, this could be one of the most imperative events happening within society. All was focused in the representation of extravagance and high quality.
“Mountains of meat, fruit, fish, and cheese rose on the tables. Many-layered cakes dripped with sweet, colored icing. Distinguished wines spread reflected colors and invigorating aromas. The music played on, and costumed clowns did somersaults to the delight of the carefree revelers... It was a splendid affair.”

At the other hand, one character decides to depart the party for one instant. While having a walk through the palace, a peculiar situation gets his attention. All food which was left on the dishes by the guests was thrown over to some beggars. “I watched the crowd devour the scraps, bones, and fish heads with laborious concentration”. Here’s where we can see the other part of society, low class or poor people, getting satisfied with leftovers of the upper part of society. This is the perfect example to make society realize that food isn’t a toy, since it’s a privilege to have it. You can’t waste food, because all individuals need it for the same reason, to survive.

This short event isn’t a unique one, now days, societies are still socially divided, since money and power are still observed as the representation of superiority. This isn’t going to be changed, but what should be improved is the use of important things either from high or low class humanity. Food, water or money can be in all individual’s hands, as long as a good use is always done.

RESPONSE ABOUT THE NATION (ARTICLE)

As I read your article, I found all your opinion being parallel to mine. Throughout The Soccer War, I was really interested in how the author wanted to show his reality through a character which would represent himself. It’s really amazing how this individual’s personality, experiences, and work can easily be appreciated by audience.
This journalist describes all possible events evolving wars and political issues from a quick but effective perspective. This is just what you perceived; “Another thing that is absent from Kapuscinski's writing is deep political analysis. Let me qualify that. He is brilliant at describing two types of phenomena: the way an individual ruler amasses and then squanders power, and the way the masses mobilize for war and revolution. Yet there is a curious generality to the way he treats these subjects.”
What we get from his words are lots of information, but without dense and profound details which make his narration even more attractive. That´s why I completely agree when you say; “Kapuscinski describes, he evokes, but for all the unquestionable beauty of his words, he doesn't produce actionable intelligence. He is an oracle of the indeterminate.” He is definitely an oracle! His amazing eye observed and kept reality for many periods of time, without worrying about specific dealings which for nations at that time were important, but for us are not now so useful.

“But he was wrong about many things, and of these, I believe the most important was his evident belief that the confusion he felt everywhere was an inborn and incurable human condition.”

I concur this journalist could have made various blunders, but what´s the matter? Isn´t he a human? What we need to comprehend is his exceptional inspiration to signify and appreciate society. It’s a fact that to truly know how each type of society works, you need to last long time within it, so as Kapuscinski didn´t have lot of time for deep analysis, he just draw reality with a global and general perspective.
Isn´t enough his constant work to finally terminate him as a hero? Didn´t he survive more than 20 world revolutions were political, economical, and social issues could cause his death?

RHETORIC ABOUT ARTICLE

TYPE: LOGOS
DEFINITION: Argument of logic
EXAMPLE:
Bowie said Jena's judicial process was "unequal".One of the teens, Mychal Bell, was found guilty of second degree battery in June by an all-white jury before the case was overturned by an appeal court.

TYPE: ETHOS
DEFINITION: Argument of character
EXAMPLES:
-The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which is supporting the group's defence case, said it was pleased Bowie had got involved.
-"Mr Bowie shares our outrage. We hope others will join him," he added.
David Bowie has made a $10,000 (£4,981) donation to a legal defence fund for six black teenagers charged with assault on a white student in the US.

TYPE: PATHOS
DEFINITION: Emotion
EXAMPLES:
-GRATITUDE: "We are gratified that rock star David Bowie was moved to donate to the -NAACP's Jena campaign," said Julian Bond, chairman of the organisation's board of directors.
-SADNESS VS.HOPE: Thousands are expected to march in protest....
-HATE: The alleged assault followed a series of racial incidents between black and white.


ARTICLE:

Bowie supports US race row teens
Bowie said the donation was a "small gesture"
David Bowie has made a $10,000 (£4,981) donation to a legal defence fund for six black teenagers charged with assault on a white student in the US.
One of the teens, Mychal Bell, was found guilty of second degree battery in June by an all-white jury before the case was overturned by an appeal court.
The court said Bell, 16 at the time of the alleged incident in December 2006, should not have been tried as an adult.
Five others face charges. Bowie said Jena's judicial process was "unequal".
"A donation to the Jena 6 Legal Defence Fund is my small gesture indicating my belief that a wrongful charge and sentence should be prevented," said the 60-year-old in a statement published on his website.
The other students accused are Robert Bailey, 17, Theodore Shaw, 17, Carwin Jones, 18, and Bryant Purvis, 17.
A fifth teenager was booked as a juvenile and charges have not been made public
Racial tensions
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which is supporting the group's defence case, said it was pleased Bowie had got involved.
"We are gratified that rock star David Bowie was moved to donate to the NAACP's Jena campaign," said Julian Bond, chairman of the organisation's board of directors.
"Mr Bowie shares our outrage. We hope others will join him," he added.
Thousands are expected to march in protest through the small town of Jena on Thursday.
The Reverend Al Sharpton has helped organise the march and will later visit Mr Bell, who remains in jail because he cannot raise the $90,000 (£44,900) bail money.
The alleged assault followed a series of racial incidents between black and white students which began at Jena High School last summer.
A black student asked the school's principal whether he was permitted to sit under the shade of the school courtyard tree, a place traditionally reserved for white students only. He was told he could sit where he liked.
The following morning, when the students arrived at school, they found three nooses dangling from the tree.
The school's head recommended the noose-hangers be expelled but the governing board overruled him and the three white student perpetrators were briefly suspended.


Last Updated: Thursday, 20 September 2007, 09:17 GMT 10:17 UK

LAST COMMENT ABOUT KAUPUSCINSKI

Wow! Finally I got a conclusion about this remarkable and wonderful character’s spirit. Throughout all novel, he appears as an imperceptible gentleman, who has an ideal eye perceiving all events that are happening in the inside world. No one has any idea regarding his life, individuality, or nationality, since no one asks him anything at any time.
Well, at the end we can alter this outlook because for the first time some individuals get truly fascinated by him.
What we need to considerate now, is at this time he doesn’t play the journalist position, he’s now being questioned as a common character, such as how Kapuscinski is perceived now days.

CONSTANT REJECTION TOWARDS WOMEN

Throughout history there will always exist repetitive and cyclic events or interpretations. In today’s world, it’s really clear to perceive how women are still discriminated by society, since it has always built a fallacy that women are inferior than man in the majority of aspects.
“They cannot walk alone...They cannot look around, because that is in bad taste...”( P.212) This things should not happen, aren’t girls capable of walking alone and defend their selves? I don’t mean by physically defense, but men should be conscious that as they deserve respect, women also ought to have it. Men realize we are naive, quiet, or inferior, but we all as humans comprise potentials as well as flaws, so all should be valued and seen from an equivalent perception.
The Greeks were in war, and man were the major national support, but that doesn’t connote women couldn’t enforce higher quality jobs.
Someday, this gender misconception will revolutionize, because female souls are as well superb and proficient to reach advantage.

SILENCE

It’s really fascinating how Kapuscinski describes the word silence, mentioning its distinct appearances within societies.
“A universal silence fell”(P.190) It´s incredible the way this citation made me consider about several years ago, where Rojas Pinilla dictatorship took control over Colombia, building silence throughout society.
When this dictator took power over Colombia, people were hoping to have a high-quality government which would be able to erase all past dreadful aspects (political, economical, social). First year was good for Colombia, as some individuals consider, since new institutions and infrastructures were built ( I really think this was a way to buy people...POPULISM). The problem started when Rojas Pinilla now used armed forces and individual manipulation to control the nation. Next months, Colombians didn´t have a voice, since democracy was abolished and no newspapers were permitted to reflect opinion.
No voice, no opinion, no rebellion, no dispute, no action...all Colombian society was ignored since it was all quiet!
This is really discouraging to remember, but hopefully, as soon as two students were killed by this dictator (one was my aunt, Ernesto Aparicio) Colombian humanity determined to shout for words of noise and freedom! Within four days ( May 10,1957), all companies, schools and universities were closed, with the purpose to join the rebellion against this dictator and to find a door to escape from silence.
Wow! Colombians did it! No silence appeared after those days, because Rojas was totally forced to leave the country!
This is the perfect example which explains how silence is set but at the same time it can be concealed.
Throughout history, silence will be a permanent invader, but it can be sequential depending on how it is used by individuals!

THE WORST TRAGEDY IN MODERN OLYMPIC HISTORY VS. SOCCER WAR

As I started reading about the description of the Soccer War, I got really interested in knowing if this was the only historical event where sports and violence were both connected.
I found out 3 years after the Soccer War happened, a terrible massacre caused by political differentiations, was set in Germany in the year of 1972. Most Germans hoped the Munich Games in 1972 would at least in some way help to heal the racial wounds caused by Hitler.
On the morning of September 5, with six days left in the Games, the worst tragedy in Olympic history hit. “Eight Arab terrorists stormed into the Olympic village and raided the apartment building that housed the Israeli contingent. Two Israeli athletes were killed and nine more were seized as hostages. They demanded the release of over 200 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails, along with two renowned German terrorists.” (Munich, n.pag)

As we can see both events were determined by political conflicts that existed beyond the sport. They integrated much more actors and historical tensions between different countries. In both examples, athletes paid the price of conflicts that existed even before they stepped on the field.

SN´T NORTH AMERICA A BAROQUE NATION?

“Latin America-that is, the universal prevalence of the baroque: baroque not only as a style of aesthetics and thought, but also as general commitment to excess and eclecticism”(P.151)
While reading this surveillance from the journalist, I actually analyzed why he had represented just Latin America as a prevalence of the baroque because of its overstatement of everything, but...Isn’t North America more drastically exaggerated in more aspects?
I completely concur Latin Americans are surrounded by drastic divisions between things, such as the clear division between poor and rich, the differentiation of physical aspects between races, and the presence of diverse cultures. But I would add to this character’s comment that North Americans would definitely be positioned as the very first place of being baroques.
Since long time ago, North America has been perceived as a completely consumerist country. Individuals as well as companies have always developed within a highly competitive environment. The main goal of the system is to foster and sustain high levels of consumers. Television media, credit cards, and other facilities have turned the average American citizen into a compulsive buyer of goods. It is not coincidental that in the average American household there is always a storage full of merchandise and useless stuff. The need of always having the new brand and model creates addictive consumers in the hands of big companies. Another perfect example are the highest levels of electricity consumption: according to credible sources, the average American citizen spends three times the electricity rates of an average European citizen.

With all these and other facts about North America, I wonder...Isn’t North America a baroque nation?

EYE´S WRITERS WHICH SEE THE UNSEEN

Unfortunately, we found out through the report that the amazing journalist, Kapuscinski, died several days ago, at the age of 74. What´s most important is this individual’s life, since he made many people realize about astonishing historical events that happened in the 1960´s. Throughout all his research in various African nations, he had to deal with all political dealings and violence, although he wasn´t a member of those societies.
As Lawrence Weschler (a fellow writer, who met Kapuscinski in Poland) , said, Kapuscinski had an “incredible eye”, since he represented each scene with the most spectacular details. At the same time, he highlights the importance of his personality while being surrounded by various hot historical spots, given that he had to seem like nobody, capturing every slight thing. That’s why we, as readers, see Kapuscinski as a narrator, but always appearing in every story commented.
While listening this interview, I got really interested in how Kapuscinski is compared with Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( they were both great friends and were teachers for Latin America writers), since both of them chose to live under important historical situations and then reflect these with their own eyes and perspectives. Both use magic realism; In Cien años de Soledad, Gabriel Garcia Marquez imagines and describes a city which is not real, but the commented historical events did happened at that period of time. In The Emperor, the most important Kapuscinski´s book, he starts describing a city of pedigree dogs going wild, comparing them with humans.
With this comparison, now I will be able to be more connected with Kapuscinski´s writings, since I´ll be persistent in considering his magic applied in genuine events. An additional thing which got my attention, was that for he first time, The Soccer War book, is mentioned by his friend, Weschler, intriguing me more to discover its meaning...the title sense.

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS VS. KAPUSCINSKI

When Kapuscinski is in Lagos, he reads through Tristes Tropiques, where Claude Levi-Strauss, the protagonist, is running through an ethnographic research among the Indian tribes. While reading his thoughts about this journey, I found out that Soccer War´s journalist had being living under a similar environment. As Levi. Strauss has difficulties and resistance from Indians, Kapuscinski is living under certain political resistance, where maybe he can also end up being drained.
Kapuscinski´s boss is really concerned about his adventures, but it seems that for this journalist this job is pleasant and fascinating; “Our job is like baker’s work-his rolls are tasty as long as they’re fresh; after two days they’re stale; after a week they´re covered with mould and fit only to be thrown out”(P.141).
As Kapuscinski reads Claude Levi-Strauss words, it somehow reflects some questions which might have a connection with his ones.
“Why has he come here? With what hopes or what objectives?”(P.142)
Is Kapuscinski realizing about his present surroundings in each region? Are they leaving him a positive effect? From Claude Levi-Strauss passages, I would then now doubt about the continuing adventure of Kapuscinski.


VOCABULARY:
Coup
Epitomize

CAN INDIVIDUAL COMPLEXITIES OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME?

Throughout all first pages I have read, it´s astonishing how Ryszard Kapuscinski has the capacity to turn our minds to another period of time. For my first time I have the opportunity to understand various situations happening at the same moment at different countries. In the same month, 5 nations are living terrible events, which are completely different but all obtain same result; damage within society.
“Everywhere there was an atmosphere of tension, everywhere the smell of gunpowder”(P.127)
Wars happened at all time, leaving hundreds of dead people, destroyed houses and great sums of money wasted because of different reasons in the 1960´s.

From this systematic perspective of the character, it’s really easy to make us, the readers, realize how in today’s world, each country is facing different conflicts at the same time, but all affecting same issue, world’s population. Unfortunately this world has been build up the majority by humans, so all conflicts that cause destruction, touches neither positively or negatively all individuals.
Sometimes societies tend to concentrate in the present events happening just in their own countries, since they don’t realize others dilemmas are running outside. This perception is what diminishes the interest in having communication and support with other nations. Maybe, if the countries that we have known through this Kapuscinsky journal have the opportunity to share each others issues, the process of finding solutions can become more effective.

At the same time, this analysis makes me think about myself a lot, since in difficult times, I tend to think that I´m just the only one suffering, without realizing that all humans have hard times. I just start to complain I´m the only person facing something and I begin to reflect... why me? So as I said, here’s the instant where communication or sharing with other people can be a way to relate situations and come across solutions.

(SOCCER WAR) ISOLATION OF HUMAN GHOSTS FROM THEIR OWN COUNTRIES,

From long time ago, wars caused by political or social problems, societies have suffered isolation from their own cultures and territories. One of the major problems reflected in most populations is the disjointing of classes, where ignorance or impertinence take over natives. In the book Soccer War, Algeria, as a French colony, has a war against Vietnam and China, which was a one of the biggest wars of liberation at that period of time. As customary, some part of the population, the Algiers, lived without attention, because colonialism fosters still run through Algerian society.
“These people are generally strangers to Algeria. Nobody here knows the countryside” Ben Bella took a slight interest in the villages, but nobody else. And the villages are eighty percent of Algeria”(P.100)
Isn’t this unreasonable? In many countries of today’s world, they are still having this dilemma. Colombia has been affected by the constant war against the Guerrilla, where the worst effect from it, is the trace of desplazados. These groups also represent a big proportion of Colombian population which has been also disregarded by government, since there’s not enough resources to make up their livings.
As these kind of problems evolving societies don’t stop, there will always exist a reaction from individuals.
So will Algiers or Colombian desplazados react towards this isolation?

MEANING OF EXISTENCE

“Camus wrote The Stranger as an enticement to his readers, to think about their own mortality and the meaning of their existence.”(n pag)

After appreciating this extraordinary novel, we could finally have certain events which clarified us about its author’s purpose.
At first, we find in trial how the participants were persistently playing a role, which would have been also played in today’s society. Remember that Meursault´s life has no rational meaning, while we as humans live with the struggle of finding a meaning in our lives, (“This struggle to find meaning where none exists is what Camus calls, the absurd.”). Meursault basically ignores the meaning of life days, while each character, such as the trial members and the chaplain, are constantly aware of discovering the meaning of everything... but the point is; do they really get to the meaning behind Meursault´s life?

As follows, you´ll perceive in the passages, how some trial individuals´ reactions can definitively be similar to ours in this present humanity.

“He stated he had no place in society whose most fundamental rules I ignored and that I couldn’t appeal to same human heart whose elementary response I knew nothing of”(P.102)

“He said the truth was that I didn’t have a soul and that nothing human, not one of the moral principles that govern men’s hearts, was within my reach”(P.101)

For us, certain rules of life are needed to be followed, either moral principles or societies´ essentials. As existentialism becomes the unique stage in this novel, we can realize why Meursault is always explaining his life existence as a simple cycle, contradicting basic issues which are really pertinent for all humans.
Meursault, just in his last existence of life, was still caring about matters which were really important for him..but for a normal person would these be as well as imperative?

“I was assailed by memories of a life that wasn´t mine anymore, but one in which I´d found the simplest and most lasting joys: the smells of summer, a certain evening sky, Marie´s dresses...”(P.104}

For characters and audience, there was no soul, principles and meanings in Meursault´s life, but for him, simplicity was his first choice of living. Maybe, he realized human existence had no meaning, since he saw death as another door which was an inescapable fact of life, and was what his tomorrow was going to be.

At the end, Meursault quits his reality by again accepting his upcoming;
“I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world.”(P.123)