Who is this guy? ( The Stranger)

Meursault...
I think that Meursault seems to be very detached from his surroundings and emotions. He doesn't seem to have a connection with the people around him on an emotional level. I think that Meursault would agree with Banach that "we are all alone" because he goes through everyday life almost like nothing matters. He has a careless mentality, he doesn't really care. Things don't really seem to have an effect on him " It occurred to me now that anyway one more Sunday was over, Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed." To me he finds life meaningless which I think is a pretty sad way to look at it. Which could explain his detachment. Life is partly about the connections we make with people and how we interact with them which gives it meaning. Therefore someone's initial reaction to when someone they know dies shouldn't be to just brush it off but to rather mourn. Meursault is lacking in the emotional department, he distracts himself from his feelings " It was pleasant; the coffee had warmed me up, and the smell of flowers on the night air was coming through the open door. I think I dozed off for a while" (before mother's vigil). This is not the type of reaction I would expect from someone whose mother just passed away. Which makes me think that he has no value for life and doesn't seem to care what happens.
Allowing him not to be present.

Huckabees blog post

Do we live in a world that is meaningful and makes sense? I think that we are meaningful human beings who matter to this world. We just may have different definitions or ideas about how significant each of our lives or the world is. If we didn’t live in a meaningful world then what would be the purpose of living? “If nothing matters, how can I matter?”- Tommy’s girlfriend (I <3 Huckabees) If everything and everyone around us is meaningless then life would be pointless. I don’t ever want to feel like I don’t matter. “Everything is connected and everything matters!” it might not always make sense to us but we have a purpose in life. If the world is meaningless then no one would be connected or even care. But that’s not how we should live our lives. We are not alone in this world.

The ways in which we interact with people on a daily basis adds meaning to life so do our experiences and the people we choose to share them with. The people around us and the relationships we have give us a sense of belonging. We might not know all the answers regarding our lives and purpose but living and having a sense of wonder will guide us to those answers. However one chooses to live their lives gives them meaning. We are not separated from life if all things are connected, so it would mean that we are what makes life and the world meaningful.

Without happiness or the value of live would be easy for one to say that the world is meaningless and doesn’t make sense anymore so why even bother. It only becomes meaningless when you give up and don’t open your eyes to what it has to offer us. As long as someone is happy I think their life would be meaningful. Whether it is the happiness we get from within or the happiness we get from others. As long as we value who we are and life itself then we live in a world full of significance. It all depends on our realities and how we choose to perceive life. Meaning in life is the reason why we choose to continue on living, it’s the reason we wake up in the morning and decide to face the day. Without meaning we are lost and our life will make no sense.

HW - blog Comments #3

Shirley,
I liked how you asked the question "Are we free?" then answered it according to what you believe. I though that your thoughts about about everyone having "a choice even if the options aren't to that person's favor." were interesting. I agree because we, in the end choose or decide what to do in the the situations we are put in and under certain circumstances even if it isn't in our favor. we have the freedom to choose and make the best of it. I thought that your ideas on human happiness were insight full because I got to read what you had to say and then compared it to my own thoughts on the topic. "The only happiness that can't be taken away is memories, relationships, and etc. These happiness are caused by other individuals and doesn't exist physically so it can't be taken away.' I believe that too. Happiness can't be taken away from you. I thought that maybe for this paragraph you could have maybe added something personal, like where does your happiness come from? What makes you happy and why? Overall I enjoyed reading your post.

Raven,

I liked how to summarized what the final part of Banach's lecture was about and then stated your thoughts on it. I especially liked what you had to say about our freedom as individuals in the last paragraph- “If we have limits we are not free” but I do think that some of the limits help to keep us sane." I agree , we have freedom to a certain extent. The "limitations" we have keep us from losing control. Which is why we have "higher powers" to offer us some advice in how to live our lives and manage our freedom accordingly. Good post.