The Stranger and a Glimpse into my Novel

IT IS NOVEMBER! You know what that means- NaNoWriMo. It seemed wrong for me to be spending time writing a blog entry (although I desperately needed to) when I had a novel to write. So, Ainsley, my main character, suddenly had an English assignment about The Stranger by Albert Camus, which I have been meaning to write a blog post about. I also finished No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre and Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen. But I shall get to those later. Until then, let me leave you with my cop-out-I-don't-have-time-to-write-a-blog-entry-so-read-some-of-my-horrible-novel blog post on The Strange. Let me defend myself by saying I had really bad writer's block when I was writing this. Yes, I am aware that it is quite awful. But:
A. This is NaNoWriMo. I'm trying to write a novel in a month. It's about quantity, not quality, dudes. That's the point.
B. I seriously think I have some very good passages in this novel. I mean, nothing Pulitzer worthy, but passages that are definitely publishable, if the book as a whole is not.
C. Also in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, this has not been edited at all.

Onwards!
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I had put off my English and Psychology assignments until the end. I hated both of those classes. I don’t like to read novels, especially not modern ones. And poetry is awful. I am not a believer in being vague about your feelings. If you want to share something with people, then share it. If you want to keep it personal, keep it to yourself. I don’t like all of the in between, vague shit.
I decided to attempt to tackle the English assignment first. I typically hate English slightly less than Psychology. It’s subjective, sure, but it’s not as personal and introspective. I had to write an informal journal about The Stranger by Albert Camus. It wasn’t a research paper or anything. My teacher had just instructed the class to write a page or two on what they thought about the book, their reaction to it, or, really, whatever they felt like. I knew a few other kids in the class were planning on writing fictional pieces, short stories in the same style as the novel or with the same themes.
I hate this sort of open-ended assignment. A research paper I can write. I can look up sources and quote articles and integrate information. I hate vagueness though, and I hate having to respond personally to a book. I am not a literary critic, and I have no intention of ever becoming a literary critic. What is the point in analyzing books? No one wants to hear my opinion, and I don’t want to share it.
I sighed and got up from my desk to retrieve my laptop from my bed, where I’d left it the night before. After I’d finished my work, I’d stayed up later doing practice problems for the chemistry subject test online. I wanted to get a perfect score on it. I needed one to get into college.
I sighed again, resolving to study more for chemistry later that night, and opened up my laptop. I carried it over to my desk and plugged it into the wall; It was low on battery. I firmly pressed the on button and waited for it to start.
I drummed my fingers against the edge of my desk anxiously, trying to think about the essay topic so that I wouldn’t waste time. I don’t like sharing my own thoughts in writing. Really, I don’t like sharing my own thoughts out loud. I would just make up a response, or formulate some fake opinions, but I can’t. I’m not creative enough to bullshit something. For these kinds of assignments, I usually just end up staring at the cursor, blinking on my computer screen, for nearly an hour before I can actually write anything.
I glanced up at the screen and opened up a blank document. I needed to start if I wanted to sleep at all.
The Stranger. Existentialism. I get that. Honestly, I wasn’t all that moved by the book. I mean, basically, the main dude Meursault just doesn’t care all that much about life. Whatever. He get’s stuff done. Actually, he’s really efficient. He doesn’t get caught up in emotions that prevent him from getting work done. Sure, he killed a guy, and that was stupid. And he has no ambition, which is about as stupid, but at least he himself isn’t stupid. He’s just... robotic, I guess. In some ways really, I envied Meursault. If he thought things out a little more, I really don’t think things would have turned out so badly for him.
I stared at the cursor blinking in the word document. I could do this.
I typed out a tentative title, “The Benefits of Being Meursault” and hit the “enter” button, starting a new line. I drummed my fingers against the edge of my laptop’s keyboard. I could do this. I could think of something. I tentatively hit a few keys.

Meursault is the epitome of the mechanical man.

I stared at what I’d written, biting my lower lip. It sucked. I would fix it later. First, I needed to get something down on paper.

From the first pages of the book, when he reports the death of his mother without displaying any signs of grief of personal weakness, he acts rationally and unemotionally. Meursault is productive, never materialistic, and always finishes what he sets out to do. In American society today, men like Meursault are difficult to find. Our society is an emotional one; It is a society in which appearance is more important than almost all else, and social intelligence is favored above academic intelligence. Perhaps, if America had more Meursaults, we would not be falling in the ranks of world power. Perhaps, with more Meursaults, we could once again become a productive and thriving nation not held back by patriotism, anti-elitism, or emotional reactions to social issues that keep our courts and lawmaking bodies tied up for months. Although Meursault certainly was detached from consequences and emotion to an unhealthy and detrimental degree at time, many of his traits are certainly enviable.
First, look at the benefit of Meursault’s stoic nature. Because he is able to emotionally detach himself from situations, he is able to handle them cleanly and efficiently. After hearing the news of his mother’s death, Meursault is able to take care of her burial and assure that all of her affairs are in order. Then, on the following Monday morning, he is able to return to work here he is just as productive as usual. The ability to continue to work in spite of personal losses is an excellent attribute to have. If everyone had this ability, the world would be a far more productive place.
Next, Meursault’s ability to detach himself from other people is enviable. Although Meursault has an intimate relationship with his girlfriend, Marie, he does not become dependent upon her at any time. In a world where a break-up is often a spirit-crushing occurrence for most people, the end of any romantic relation almost certainly leads to disastrous consequences in terms of productivity. If society learned to be more emotionally detached like Meursault, fewer people would be seeking time off or therapy following the ends of meaningful relationships. Emotional distress following the end of a relationship is a detriment to society. The money used to pay for therapy services is, in some cases, taken from the pockets of tax-payers as the government pays for medical expenses. Society, too, must pay for the drop in productivity if a person misses work. Ergo, the ability to remain avoid becoming dependent on or emotionally attached to another person would be of great benefit to society.
Last, Meursault’s ability to remain psychologically stable in the face of events that would be traumatic to another person is enviable. When Meursault sees the girlfriend of his neighbor, Raymond, brutally beaten, he is able to remain unemotional. When he later sees his Raymond bloodied after a fight with an Arab, he is able to calmly take him to a doctor and not react with desires for revenge. When he later kills the Arab impulsively, the murder is entirely unemotional. He is able to calmly fire five shots at the man and never becomes upset after the murder. Although I certainly do not advocate murder, one cannot deny that the ability to remain calm in what could be considered a highly traumatic situation would be a highly profitable trait for a person to possess. The ability to remain calm, like the previously mentioned aspects of Meursault’s personality, would improve productivity in any person.
Hence, it is clear that although Meursault’s traits are rarely pleased by the reader, his attributes certainly have their uses. A society of rational, unemotional, independent people would certainly be more productive and more stable.

I glanced at the time in the bottom corner of my computer screen. Fifteen minutes had passed since I had begun writing. Not bad. I began to read through what I had written.
Maybe it was bad, I realized, but it would have to do for the time being. I had a psych project to do, and I was doing far worse in psych than I was in English. I mean, I had a ninety-eight in English, which wasn’t amazing, but I had a ninety-six in psychology. That was unacceptable.
I saved the words document and opened up a new file, pulling out the directions for my project.
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Let me know what you think about this. Try to come up with more than "It sucks" if you can. I'd appreciate some real feedback. Also, for the record, she decides to scratch this essay all togethe later and writes an entirely new one about symbolism in the novel (which, don't worry, is not actually included in the novel). She decides that this one sucks and tells too much about her desire for perfection and productivity.

Also: They just changed my high school's no-ipods policy. So I will now be listening to audiobooks during art class. Hopefully, between art and my long drives to doctor's appointments every few days, I can finish 1 or 2 audiobooks a week.

Total Books: 79
NonFic: 25 (31.6%)