Stranger Journal 4

How does Meursault change from part I to part II? How does the style in part I and part II reflect those changes?
1. The sensory details:

In the Part 1 of the book, Meursault relies on a visual aspect of society, and the people within it. "What struck me most about their faces was that I couldn't see their eyes, just a faint glimmer in a nest of wrinkles" (10).
Meursault's repitition of "eyes" and lack of other physical descriptions and sensations, highlights this aspect. "The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes"(59).
In part 2 of the book, Meursault's descriptions branched out in sensory detail. "As I imagined the sound of the first waves under my feet, my body entering the water and the sense of relief it would give me, all of a sudden I would feel just how closed in I was by the walls of the cells" (76).

2. Tempo of the context
 In part 1, the tempo of the context was fast. Many events would occur rapidly throughout the text, and sentences were short and precise. Some events would even occur randomly. In part 2, Camus takes time to decribe the setting, and emotions Meursault experiences, not only by slowing down the tempo, but also using details and longer sentences. By doing so, these experiences arrived without random breaks of thought.

3. Judgement
In part 1, the need for Meursault to justify himself repeatedly occured. "It wasn't my fault" This implies his fear of judgment. He worries about societies view on himself, and the judgment he believes people cast on him is pure assumption: "I had the ridiculous feeling that they were there to judge me" (10). In part 2 on the other hand, this feeling of justifying himself seems to diminish: "Still I didn't say anything" (68). "I had the ridiculous impression of being 'one in the family'" (70). Also, his fear of judgment changed drastically on the final page of the book before Meursault's death: I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate"(123).