Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Stranger Journal 2

Like many other characters in the Stranger there are relations to religion including Emmanuel. This name means "God is with us". Emmanuel only appears in the beginning passage of chapter three where the only possible connection between Emmanuel's character and his name is the fact that Meursault and him had blind faith in their actions of jumping onto the truck without receiving an injury. The idea of blind faith relates to believing God is always with us despite proof.
Emmanuel is a dispatcher for freight trucks which means he schedules and controls when trucks have pick-ups and deliveries. Emmanuel is applied to Jesus who had disciples that would spread the word of Christ. They would "deliver" the gospel to all of the gentiles.

Outside of the idea of religion I found it interesting that Meursault knew exactly what Emmanuel meant when he said, "How 'bout it?" and just immediately started running without hesitation. This suggest that they have a strong relationship even if it is only at work. I wonder if Meursault helping him up rather than Emmanuel helping Meursault up has any significance. Like the bus ride to Marengo, the ride is bumpy and there are probably strong smells of the sea and the dust makes breathing unpleasant none of which seem to be bothersome to Meursault nor Emmanuel.

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