Both, ‘The Outsider ‘ by Albert Camus and ‘No One Writes to the Colonel ‘ by G.G.Marquez are novels full of elusive symbolism and certain absurdist elements. I will be analyzing these in the context of the two novels, since I believe that these stylistic inside informations add huge value to the texts by basically inspiring them. The cardinal character of ‘The Outsider ‘ is Meursault, while the cardinal character of ‘No One Writes to the Colonel ‘ is ‘the Colonel. ‘
At the oncoming, this essay will introduce you with the scene of the two novels, which is critical to foster the probe. The Foreigner is set in Algiers, which is the present capital of People ‘s Democratic Republic of Algeria ( a province with a big Arab community ) . However, when this novel was originally published in 1942, Algiers was under Gallic colonial regulation, and was considered portion of France. On the other manus, Marquez has set his Novel in Colombia during 1948 to the late sixtiess, a period called ‘la violencia ‘ that saw a civil war between progressives and conservativists. A close expression at this novel ‘s venue indicates that it is set in a town which is under dictatorial ‘Martial jurisprudence. ‘
Interestingly, both these novels begin with deceases, which are symbolic of the premonitions of disruptive times. In ‘the Outsider ‘ , Meursault ‘s female parent dies in an old-age place. In ‘No One Writes to the Colonel ‘ , the Colonel ‘s town experiences a natural decease for the ‘first ‘ clip in several months. Such a start was for the readers to symbolically understand the oppressive political ambiance in the Colonel ‘s town. The Colonel, a retired military-officer is waiting for his pension to get for 19 long old ages. His hopes of acquiring the pension-letter are crushed every Friday- ‘It was supposed to come today for certain, ‘ the Colonel said. The postmaster shrugged. ‘The merely thing that comes for certain is decease, Colonel. ‘
I believe that ‘Friday ‘ is used symbolically, as it would merely be disposed that the twenty-four hours on which this universe lost one of its greatest religious leaders in Jesus, the Colonel deplorably loses his hopes of a pension – hebdomad after hebdomad. For Meursault, his name itself is symbolic of his destiny. In Gallic, Meursault means ‘sea and Sun ‘ . They meet at the beach, where Meursault commits the black act of killing an Arab.
Camus has delineated Meursault as a symbol of truthfulness. He is a adult male who agrees to decease for truth but does n’t lie. When Meursault ‘s female parent dies, he shows indifference at her funeral and refuses to see her organic structure. Harmonizing to him, it does n’t truly count if one sees a dead-woman or non. Furthermore, he enjoys himself at a beach with Marie the following twenty-four hours, goes to watch a amusing film and slumbers with her at dark. Why? Equally far as Meursault is concerned, Lord’s daies are meant for relaxation and enjoyment – non for traveling to the Church. He is a adult male who refuses to lie, refuses to travel to a whorehouse, refuses to feign, and besides refuses to believe in God. Meursault has his ain rules, which are different from those of the general populace. He is therefore an ‘Outsider ‘ in the morally constricted Gallic Christian society.
Similarly, Marquez has used latent symbolism in his novel. ‘October ‘ is a instance in point. The Colonel says: ‘The problem is that in October I feel as if I had animate beings in my intestine. ‘ ‘October ‘ symbolises the disableds and painful life that the Colonel ‘s household is taking. Analogously, the Sun is a strong symbol used by Camus in ‘the Outsider. ‘ Meursault is antipathetic to the uncomforting Algiers heat. The Sun can be interpreted as a symbol of the society around Meursault, as it is the Sun that seals his destiny. He is excessively tired because of the heat on his female parent ‘s funeral- ‘The blaze from the Sun was intolerable. ‘ Furthermore, it is the Sun that is the chief accelerator in Meursault ‘s homicidal act on the Arab. Blinded by the Sun on the beach, Meursault instinctively pulls the trigger of his gun, an act which kills the Arab- A shaft of light changeable upward from the steel, and I felt as if a long, thin blade transfixed my brow. Every nervus in my organic structure was a steel spring, and my clasp closed on the six-gun. ‘October ‘ and ‘the Sun ‘ are therefore really likewise used by both novelists, in the sense that both of them act as ‘negative ‘ elements doing uncomfortableness to the supporters of the several novels.
It is singular that the adult male whom ‘Meursault ‘ killed was an Arab. As mentioned before, the Gallic enjoyed colonial powers in Algiers, where Arabs were marks of racism. I believe that by taking an Arab as a victim of Meursault ‘s slugs, Camus wanted to oppugn the so called ‘Moral ‘ society, which really was really much colonial and racialist in its ideological premises. One might believe of ‘The Outsider ‘ as a elusive indictment of the society by Camus.
Traveling back to ‘No One Writes to the Colonel, ‘ the cock is a really of import symbol. The Colonel ‘s boy was killed for administering cloak-and-dagger literature at prick battles during the ‘la violencia. ‘ The cock is a combatant, the best 1 in the territory. He is therefore a symbol of Augustine ‘s bequest. Furthermore, he is a symbol of hope, hope for a better tomorrow for non merely the Colonel, but Colombia as a whole. Marquez has besides personified the cock, giving an feeling that he understands the Colonel ‘s feelings-The cock was really much alive following to the empty can. When he saw the Colonel, he emitted an about human, croaky soliloquy and tossed his caput back. He gave him a smiling of complicity: ‘Life is tough buddy. ‘ Therefore, one might state that the cock made a great comrade for the Colonel, possibly better than his wife- The colonel acknowledged that 40 old ages of shared life, of shared hungriness, of shared agony, had non been plenty for him to come to cognize his married woman. He felt that something had besides grown old in their love. The cock can therefore be interpreted as a symbol of unselfish company.
If we look at stylistic elements, one that adds huge value to ‘the Outsider ‘ besides symbolism is the first-person narrative manner in which Camus has written this novel. He creates a different point of position wholly, that of an absurd universe. It is because of this that we have, harmonizing to me, one of the best gap lines in universe literature today- Mother died today. Or possibly, yesterday, I do n’t cognize. I had a wire from the Home: MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. YOURS SINCERELY. ‘ That does n’t intend anything. It may hold been yesterday. It is this line that introduces us to the absurdness in Meursault ‘s universe. It is rather eccentric that a adult male has no feelings towards his female parent ‘s decease. Likewise, love is following to nil for Meursault. He is ready to get married Marie- a lady he does n’t love. Many a work forces put on a frontage to love their fianc & A ; eacute ; vitamin E for the interest of a stable relationship, but Meursault is an exclusion. This is another illustration reenforcing Meursault ‘s honestness, howsoever absurd it might look.
In my sentiment, Marquez ‘s novel besides has absurdist elements. It is rather absurd that the Colonel, his married woman, and many others are dependent on the cock. In the instance of the Colonel ‘s household, they are impotently reliant on the cock to win in the upcoming cockfighting season. The terminal of this novel is besides rather open-ended. We do n’t cognize what happens following. Does the cock win? Does the Colonel sell it off or does the Colonel ‘s conflict against poorness and humdrum of the smashing Fridays continue? It is rather absurd to stop a fantastic narrative like this without a defining terminal. But that is what is Absurdism- a doctrine saying that the attempts of humanity to happen significance in the existence finally fail ( and therefore are absurd ) , because no such significance exists.
To reason, I would wish to repeat that both of these novels can be interpreted in eclectic ways. What I believe is that Camus inquiries the society and its regulations through his absurd and experiential work, seeking to turn out to his readers that a adult male can non be labelled as a indurate monster merely for non shouting at his female parent ‘s funeral or killing a adult male under palliating fortunes. Marquez, on the other manus, throws some light into the Colonel ‘s incapacitated life. He efficaciously uses symbolism to sketch specific inside informations, and besides gives an absurd touch to his novel in the procedure.
Very merely set, ‘the Friday ‘ and ‘the cock ‘ mean a batch to Marquez ‘s narrative, merely as the ‘the Sun ‘ and ‘the Arabs ‘ attention deficit disorder ‘invaluable value ‘ to Camus ‘ ‘absurd ‘ novel.
The manner in which these novelists tell their narratives has made these inactive pieces of text a work of true art, because it affects their audiences exactly as they wish. This has made both of them meriting Nobel laureates for their instrumental part to ‘World Literature ‘ .
Word Count: 1500 words
