Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Choice Of Happiness Hindered By Societies Corruptness

       The corrupt society within The Stranger by Albert Camus ultimately decides protagonist Monsieur Meursault's happiness by alienating him because of his differences. Monsieur Meursault was an honest man who followed the path life had given him. His indifference contributed to his honesty, as he stated his observations plainly and straightforward. Meursault was a dedicated worker, did what his friends asked of him, and was straight forward with his feelings. Yet, because he was so brutally honest, society feels threatened by his differences. Meursault claims that "he wasn't dissatisfied with [his life] here at all" (pg 41). However, after Meursault shoots an Arab and ends up in jail he recognizes that he is unhappy. During his time in prison, he is harshly judged by his lawyer, as well as others. He is treated unkindly and as if he is a monster. His own feelings of honesty condemn him in a way, because society is uncomfortable with his feelings. Meursault was a man who made the choice to be satisfied, one may say happy, with his life. Society, however, made the decision for him to be unhappy by depicting Meursault as different and evil.
Meursault made the choice to be happy (or satisfied).
Society, however, made the choice to make Meursault unhappy.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Happiness: You Who Ultimately Decides

    The protagonist in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man written by James Joyce has an interestingly unique way in which he views the world. Stephen, it seems, has also been an outsider, yet it seems as if he chose to be there. When he was young, he enjoyed speculating from the side and viewing what the other boys were playing. Stephen began his life by having a negative outlook on life. He claimed that he had a skewed childhood and would never be happy. As Stephen is dragged into his own depths of negativity, Stephen decides to commit sins more and more, specifically with women. As Stephen slowly becomes more engulfed by his sins, he strays further and further from a chance at happiness. Until one day, he is impacted greatly by a priests talk about Hell and what happens if one commits a sin. Stephen becomes fearful of Hell and wants to escape the sins that have overtaken his soul. This is the beginning of Stephen creating a path towards happiness. He changes his life around, first by starting with a confession. While Stephen is still tempted by previous sins he has committed, he remains loyal to his new life style. This contributes to his overall happiness. Stephen realizes that he cannot do what everyone else what's him to do. He instead must decide things for himself and go his own way. He must live his life the way he wants to and he realizes this will enable him to experience happiness. While Stephen was not always a happy boy, Stephen made drastic changes within his life which ultimately guided him towards happiness.
Stephen chose happiness.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Happiness and Invisibility Hand in Hand?

     The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison pertains an unnamed narrator who is faced with a series of choices in order to discover himself. With each choice he makes, he has to contemplate how this will affect his life. The narrator begins in a state of invisibility, lacking happiness. Through out the book, he is taken on several journeys which help him to discover himself, and remove the invisibility, while finding happiness. Unfortunately, at the end of the novel the narrator finds himself invisible once again, and no longer feels happiness.
     At the beginning of the novel, the narrator is at the Battle Royal giving a speech to dozens of white men. While he is delivering his speech, no one is listening to him yet he continues to do it. This illustrates the beginning of his feelings of invisibility. Instead of feeling joy, the narrator is terrified of the situation he is in. As the novel continues on, the narrator finds himself attending college, searching for a job, living with a woman named Mary, giving a motivational curbside speech, and becoming a part of the Brotherhood, all of which are steps towards happiness for him. Through out these different scenarios, the narrator is able to find himself. He is able to feel joy, even from something as simple as a Yam because he is able to reflect back on home life. Unfortunately, the narrator gets to a point where he once again begins to lose himself and return back into the state he was in at Battle Royal. He finds himself alone, and unable to motivation an audience, like he could at the curbside speech. The narrator is faced with a series of hard times. Because all of these hard times happen so quickly, the narrator does not consider his happiness. The lack of happiness pushes him back towards being invisible.
     The narrator in Invisible Man is a part of a generation that is racist. His cultural experience involves prejudices between Black's and White's. Because of the culture he was surrounded by, he was faced by many different hardships. Through out his journey, the narrator had choices which could lead to happiness. While many of his choices did, his ending decisions lead the narrator towards invisibility and unhappiness once again.
The narrator did not choose happiness.