Rochester, one of the core narrators of Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, plays an important role in the progression of the plot. Portrayed as an Englishmen grown with imperialist ideals, Rochester visits Jamaica in search of a potential beloved and falls victim to tropical disease, leaving him bedridden for over three weeks. In that time his marriage with the protagonist, Antoinette, is arranged and Rochester awakes to the information that he is to wed her within the week. Without any prior knowledge or understanding of each other, we get see how two complete strangers grown in two different environments and with conflicting beliefs come to interact with one another as husband and wife.
Premature signs of a possible conflict arise just as Rochester and Antoinette travel to her estate in Granbois, as the former comments, "Everything is too much, I felt as I rode wearily after her. Too much blue, too much purple, too much green. The flowers too red, the mountains too high, the hills too near. And the woman is a stranger. Her pleading expression annoys me." (41). Having lived in England for all of is life, Rochester is not accustomed to the exquisite scenery of the Caribbean islands. Disoriented, Rochester takes his first critical look at Antoinette, his newly-wed wife. The first aspect he finds interesting enough to mention is her appearance, which offends him. His public expression of discontent acts as foreshadowing of more disagreements further in the plot, which ends up being the case.
One such instance of this can be found when Antoinette learns of Rochester's misdeeds with Amelie and in a fit of rage, she rants, "'...I loved this place and you have made it into a place I hate. I used to think that if everything else went out of my life I would still have this, and now you have spoilt it... I hate it now like I hate you and before I die I will show you how much I hate you'" (89). As previously mentioned, Rochester is unable to adapt to the sudden change in setting, so in order to compensate for the 'unenglishness' of his life, he acts as if he is still in Britain. Rochester repeatedly refers to Antoinette as 'Bertha' in an attempt to get her to conform to his ideal model for an English wife. Unfavorably for him, Antoinette is not the type of women who is willing to change for others, so when she refuses to do so he sleeps with Amelie, who is willing to obey his demands. Rochester's actions infuriate Antoinette and she expresses her anger in the most extreme of manners. Antoinette can not stand the fact that she was betrayed in her own estate, a place where she thought was one of refuge, where she could live her life peacefully and out of sight of those who would judge her. In doing so, Antoinette changes from a delicate, observant character to a untrusting, mentally-scarred one, permanently altering the outcome of their relationship.
At this point of the novel, Rochester and Antoinette's relationship is in ruins with both unwilling to trust each other, minimizing any chances to piece together what ever was left. Antoinette promises to demonstrate her hatred towards Rochester before she dies, and she does so when she burns down Rochester's estate, sacrificing herself and permanently blinding Rochester. Given that both of these characters were forced into a relationship, how do you think it would have fared if it were one of choice? Do you think that Antoinette and Rochester could have overcame their differences and lived in a healthy relationship or would it have crashed and burned just as it did in the novel?
Friday, November 16, 2018
Friday, November 2, 2018
Deciphering Meursault
The protagonist of The Stranger, commonly referred to as Meursault, makes some very questionable decisions over the course of the novel. Meursault is portrayed to everyone around him as a friendly man that is grieving from the death of his mother, but to the reader he is shown to be an anti-social being that lacks empathy for others and struggles to follow a moral code. Fortunately for us, the narrative is from Meursault's point of view, allowing us to understand the thought process behind his decisions.
Right after getting back home from his mother's funeral, Meursault is greeted by one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintรจ, who he describes as "living off woman" and "not very popular" (28). When invited to dinner with him, Meursault responds, "I figured it would save me the trouble of having to cook for myself, so I accepted" (28). The decision to have dine with a man not popular in the neighborhood only days after his mother's funeral just because it saves him from having to cook for himself is not a decision many would make in that position. Despite Raymond's well-documented immoral history and low standing within the neighborhood, Meursault is not deterred at the idea of an evening dinner with him. He simply accepts the invitation because does not have any reason not to. This reaction shows how indifferent his mother's death is to him as he does not attempt to hide his lack of emotion. Through this display, Meursault challenges society's accepted views on moral standards of death and grief. It becomes known that Meursault is no ordinary character and that his indistinction between good and bad/right and wrong pave way to his pragmatic outlook on daily life and effects the decisions he makes throughout the rest of the novel.
One such decision Meursault makes is the decision to shoot the Arabian man on the beach. Set right after his pal, Raymond, is slashed with a knife, Meursault goes out for a leisurely stroll on the beach. Unknowingly, he walks back to the same location and finds the Arabian man who slashed Raymond still there. Describing the encounter, Meursault thinks, "It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire. My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver...I fired four more times at the motionless body...And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness" (59). In the passage, Meursault blames the Sun for his lack of awareness about the situation, but this claim can not be taken seriously with how ambiguous it is in the first place. Even if the first shot was an 'accident', his claim does not explain why, after regaining consciousness, Meursault shoots the Arabian four more times. One leading theory that is explained in the novel is that Meursault shot the Arabian in revenge for his pal, Raymond. Meursault does not know how to physically express his emotions, so when he sees the man who hurt his friend, Meursault experiences a surge of rage, which causes him to lose control over himself and leads to the following sequence of events. Meursault narrates the event passively as if he is watching the trigger being squeezed and not if he is the one shooting the gun. The Meursault at that moment is not the same one that has been narrating since the beginning of the novel; the cold, calm, calculated Meursault disappears, his emotional barrier shattered, and is replaced by this rage-induced being that has only one objective: to get revenge.
Do you think the Meursault on the beach is the same one that has been with us throughout the novel? If so, what do you think happened to him for this to occur?
Right after getting back home from his mother's funeral, Meursault is greeted by one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintรจ, who he describes as "living off woman" and "not very popular" (28). When invited to dinner with him, Meursault responds, "I figured it would save me the trouble of having to cook for myself, so I accepted" (28). The decision to have dine with a man not popular in the neighborhood only days after his mother's funeral just because it saves him from having to cook for himself is not a decision many would make in that position. Despite Raymond's well-documented immoral history and low standing within the neighborhood, Meursault is not deterred at the idea of an evening dinner with him. He simply accepts the invitation because does not have any reason not to. This reaction shows how indifferent his mother's death is to him as he does not attempt to hide his lack of emotion. Through this display, Meursault challenges society's accepted views on moral standards of death and grief. It becomes known that Meursault is no ordinary character and that his indistinction between good and bad/right and wrong pave way to his pragmatic outlook on daily life and effects the decisions he makes throughout the rest of the novel.
One such decision Meursault makes is the decision to shoot the Arabian man on the beach. Set right after his pal, Raymond, is slashed with a knife, Meursault goes out for a leisurely stroll on the beach. Unknowingly, he walks back to the same location and finds the Arabian man who slashed Raymond still there. Describing the encounter, Meursault thinks, "It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire. My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver...I fired four more times at the motionless body...And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness" (59). In the passage, Meursault blames the Sun for his lack of awareness about the situation, but this claim can not be taken seriously with how ambiguous it is in the first place. Even if the first shot was an 'accident', his claim does not explain why, after regaining consciousness, Meursault shoots the Arabian four more times. One leading theory that is explained in the novel is that Meursault shot the Arabian in revenge for his pal, Raymond. Meursault does not know how to physically express his emotions, so when he sees the man who hurt his friend, Meursault experiences a surge of rage, which causes him to lose control over himself and leads to the following sequence of events. Meursault narrates the event passively as if he is watching the trigger being squeezed and not if he is the one shooting the gun. The Meursault at that moment is not the same one that has been narrating since the beginning of the novel; the cold, calm, calculated Meursault disappears, his emotional barrier shattered, and is replaced by this rage-induced being that has only one objective: to get revenge.
Do you think the Meursault on the beach is the same one that has been with us throughout the novel? If so, what do you think happened to him for this to occur?
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