Kruthi's Blog

     The Stranger ’s Monsieur Meursault is an almost inexplicably unique character: his actions and thoughts are so unlike most of ours that it can be difficult to pick apart his decisions and explain them in terms that make sense to us. Most confounding of all, I would say, is his unwavering attachment to the truth: not rooted in a moral inclination to pursue an honest lifestyle, as is the motivation for most, but rather an unconscious inclination he has to speak the truth. Essentially, his honesty is not one of moral obligation, but of bluntness. Honesty is widely seen as a much preferable option to dishonesty today, lies often being hurtful and the truth being the better option in the long run. However, in The Stranger , Meursault’s constant narration of the truth is essentially his downfall. Though he could have easily provided a somewhat untruthful defense in a case that could have been significantly tilted in his favor, he never once spoke a statement that wasn’t th...

The star-crossed relationship between Lady Brett Ashley and Jake Barnes is arguably the most important in The Sun Also Rises, and its course throughout the novel is similarly important for character development analysis. However, in focusing very narrowly on the characters in this relationship only in terms of their role in it and not their individual personas, we have ignored the character development of them individually, Brett in particular. An important side to Brett Ashley is indeed analyzing her character through her treatment of Jake and the nature of their relationship, but equally as important to shaping Brett’s character is her individual development, her feelings, how her past and experiences have influenced her. Therefore, we need to holistically understand Brett through both her interactions with others important to her life, which is the more common understanding of Brett, and also through the minimal reflection we get to experience Brett having in the novel. Lady Brett A...

    As the class was discussing the importance of the juxtaposition of Septimus Smith and Clarissa Dalloway's storylines, I came to realize that I had taken a completely different view on what their storylines shown side by side can teach us. To me, their portrayals in the novel reflected strongly to me the importance that even a single day can hold for anyone, even people as seemingly unrelated as Septimus and Clarissa. Though for one character this is a tragic importance and for the other a rewarding importance, I think it is still important to recognize through these characters' stories how deeply significant even one day can be. Both characters have striking series of thoughts and unique recollections of the past that culminate in important events, devastating and illuminating respectively. The idea that all of this could transpire within the seemingly brief period of time that is one day is overwhelming, but fascinating.     For Septimus Smith, the gravity of th...

     Everyday human life is so rife with routine that, to us, it seems trivial to take time to talk about the little things we do everyday, much less analyze them. The Mezzanine makes a point of doing exactly that, eloquently describing the precise feelings that most of us experience during our daily lives. Tackling a topic as seemingly mundane as an escalator ride offers Nicholson Baker an opportunity to reflect through Howie on what really gets him going: the small, fleeting moments that can be zoomed in on for a surprisingly intriguing analysis. And this is what I particularly appreciate from the unique writing techniques introduced through this novel: Howie's capability to capture the little moments that we know we experience, but can't seem to put into words or even think about once the moment has passed.      Howie employs a number of methods for his in-depth analyses: not only does he use the main body of text itself to dive deep into the details, bu...