20th Century - Chizara

In The Stranger, we see the main character Meursault make some very questionable decisions. We also see his lack of emotion, especially in situations that tend to evoke a strong emotional reaction. For example, he did not have a strong reaction to his mother's death. At first, I thought it was just his way of grieving and that he was not big on showing emotion. However, throughout the book we see him make poor choices due to his lack of caring. His neighbor Raymond asks Meursault to do different things for him that he should not be engaging in or encouraging. Unfortunately, due to his indifference and his lack of judgment, he helps Raymond out and his recurring involvement with Raymond eventually gets him into a lot of trouble.  Some of Meursault's qualities can be seen as having good morals. For instance, Meursault's lack of judgment made people feel like they could talk to him about things and they wouldn't be judged. I would say this is a good thing but he should al...

Throughout  The Sun Also Rises , we see the complicated nature of Jake and Brett's relationship. Both characters claim to love each other although Brett's actions do not reflect that love. From the beginning of the book, it is clear that Jake has strong feelings for Brett and does things for her even if it hurts him. Brett also claims to be in love with Jake but she has a fiance named Mike and sleeps with other men. She even goes as far as saying that she could not fully be with Jake because she would break his heart and cheat on him. This is ironic since she is hurting him anyway by keeping him at a distance to engage with other men. A potential reason why Brett cannot fully love Jake is his injury. Brett feels that Jake cannot fully fulfill her desires causing her to look for that in other people. The main reason why I feel that Brett does not truly love Jake is because of her personal problems.  In the novel, we don't see Brett's thought process as she nav...

     Mrs. Dalloway is a complex novel that has many interesting themes. There are themes of romance, self-discovery, gender roles, etc. However, there is one theme that stuck out while reading this book. The theme of communication or lack thereof is arguably an aspect that gets overlooked. A prime example of a lack of communication is between Clarissa and her husband Richard. Clarissa often struggles to communicate with Richard and connect with him and vice versa. At the beginning of the book, Clarissa and Richard seem to coexist with one another rather than being a married couple. They sleep in separate rooms and never go out together unless it is for a business matter. Whenever Richard attempts to buy gifts like jewelry for Clarissa, she never wears them or seems to like them. However, the couple never discusses why Clarissa does not wear the jewelry, and Richard does not want to talk to Clarissa about the issue. Instead, Richard takes the easy route and resorts to buy...

     The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker is an interesting novel about a man in his early twenties named Howie who has many thoughts about everything he experiences. Howie works in the mezzanine where his office is located. On his way to his office, he rides an escalator where he experiences many thoughts about his office and the things around him. He analyzes anything from shoe laces to hand dryers and his experience in his office bathroom. He also talks about and shares opinions about the things he sees. For example, he talks about using a toaster and the different ways that you can put butter on toast (slicing tiny pieces, cutting a chunk of butter, and struggling to spread it). However, he does not stop there. He continues to talk about different aspects of toast like why cutting it diagonally is better than cutting straight across and he gives multiple reasons. At first, I was not a fan of the rants he would go on, but eventually, I realized that this is how many ...