Albert 20th Century Novel

             During Mersault’s time in prison, the most memorable moment was when he was narrating the “Czechoslovakia story”, where the mom and sister accidentally beat the son to death for his money. In particular, I was intrigued by the phrase “On the one hand it wasn’t very likely. On the other, it was perfectly natural.” Is it perfectly natural? I initially only agreed with the first part of his statement. This type of event is not likely. It was a bunch of unlikely and unlucky events happening consecutively. However, he claims that it was also completely natural.              Since the beginning of the novel, Mersault seemed as though he was disconnected from society. He seems to ignore societal norms and has a blurry distinction between right and wrong. That being said, when I first read the comment that Mersault made saying that it was perfectly natural, I thought that he was a complete psychopath. How, i...

We discussed in class that the actions of the family were lacking in love and care for Gregor, but I think that the family’s response was completely reasonable. Gregor’s father seems to be horrified with Gregor’s figure. When he first saw Gregor’s insect figure he proceeded to beat him back into his room with the Chief’s cane. The second time Gregor got in the way of the father, the father threw apples and ended up severely injuring Gregor. I think one important commonality between these two violent encounters is that the father used “ranged attacks”. The father didn’t want to touch Gregor in any way. The fact that Gregor’s father kept his distance when attacking the monstrous bug, I think, was because he was fearful of Gregor. In class, we discussed the father as being an imposing and commanding figure reprimanding Gregor for his inability to work. But to me, it seemed almost like the father was defending himself and his family against Gregor. Gregor’s mother responds to Greg...