[English] World Literature

[Ahoo]

Hi,

I'm using " Siddhartha" and " The Outsider" for my WL.

I wanna talk bout how both main characters are so detached from the real world and how emotionless they both are but how they go and start changing.

like Mersault starts to realize his friends and Siddhartha finally finds himself; but i really don't know how i should phrase it and i could definitely use some help.

I had another choice of the relationship between Siddhartha and Kamala contrasting with Mersault and Mary but I'm not sure whther that would be a good topic.

If there is any better topic which i can do please suggest.

thank you,

may all of us survive this 2 year program :-)

[Daedalus]

Hi,

I'm using " Siddhartha" and " The Outsider" for my WL.

I wanna talk bout how both main characters are so detached from the real world and how emotionless they both are but how they go and start changing.

like Mersault starts to realize his friends and Siddhartha finally finds himself; but i really don't know how i should phrase it and i could definitely use some help.

I had another choice of the relationship between Siddhartha and Kamala contrasting with Mersault and Mary but I'm not sure whther that would be a good topic.

If there is any better topic which i can do please suggest.

thank you,

may all of us survive this 2 year program :-)

I haven't read Siddartha but I've read L'Étranger in french and in english so maybe I can help you out a little. This is just my interpretation of the novel but to me it seems to me that Meursault doesn't really change at all. Notice the juxtaposition of his reaction to Marie's queries as to whether he loves her and her seemingly incongruous love for him. Somehow, despite his stoicism and rationalism, people tend to like him - maybe because he is so predictable and honest - and that is exactly what causes his downfall in court, where being able to speak in the right way is the most valuable quality. Sometimes it feels to me that the novel is like the logical execution of a simple premise: the total rationalism of a man. It's an unlikely concept, maybe that's why we never hear about Meursault's childhood, or maybe it is because he immerses himself in the just consideration of the present.

I'm digressing here a little bit but if you want to stick with a similar topic you could contrast, I guess, the stability of Meursault's self and how it is, at first, successful but eventually his undoing, with whatever changes Siddartha has to undergo (perhaps to adapt?).

Anyways, good luck. Feel free to disregard anything if you don't agree, or if you have any more questions about L'Étranger feel free to ask.

Daedalus

[Ahoo]

Hi,

I'm using " Siddhartha" and " The Outsider" for my WL.

I wanna talk bout how both main characters are so detached from the real world and how emotionless they both are but how they go and start changing.

like Mersault starts to realize his friends and Siddhartha finally finds himself; but i really don't know how i should phrase it and i could definitely use some help.

I had another choice of the relationship between Siddhartha and Kamala contrasting with Mersault and Mary but I'm not sure whther that would be a good topic.

If there is any better topic which i can do please suggest.

thank you,

may all of us survive this 2 year program :-)

I haven't read Siddartha but I've read L'Étranger in french and in english so maybe I can help you out a little. This is just my interpretation of the novel but to me it seems to me that Meursault doesn't really change at all. Notice the juxtaposition of his reaction to Marie's queries as to whether he loves her and her seemingly incongruous love for him. Somehow, despite his stoicism and rationalism, people tend to like him - maybe because he is so predictable and honest - and that is exactly what causes his downfall in court, where being able to speak in the right way is the most valuable quality. Sometimes it feels to me that the novel is like the logical execution of a simple premise: the total rationalism of a man. It's an unlikely concept, maybe that's why we never hear about Meursault's childhood, or maybe it is because he immerses himself in the just consideration of the present.

I'm digressing here a little bit but if you want to stick with a similar topic you could contrast, I guess, the stability of Meursault's self and how it is, at first, successful but eventually his undoing, with whatever changes Siddartha has to undergo (perhaps to adapt?).

Anyways, good luck. Feel free to disregard anything if you don't agree, or if you have any more questions about L'Étranger feel free to ask.

Daedalus

thanks a lot for putting your time on it.

Siddharta has a really complicated character in the book and if i wanna mention one i will have to point put everything in order to portray it properly.

well the fact that Mersault mentions " i wanted to kiss a man for the first time" when he sees how he is been defended by his friends and how he also feels like crying could be contrasted to his earlier actions where he didn't even shed a tear at his mother's funeral and didn't even bother to keep the sorrow for a day.

do you think it would be alright if I talk about how he is outstanding in that society?

because even siddhartha has quite a similar character in ways of being different from others in the society, he's always searching for different people who could teach him how to live. he asks a prostitute to teach him how to love but Mersault is happy with his life and we anyway never get to know his emotions and it's only towards the end where there are little explanations about his feelings.

am i going off the track?

or would that be too wide to talk about?

since you have read the book, could you suggest me some topics and I'll see which could be connected to Siddhartha

thanks a lot