The novel, The Brothers Karamazov written by Fyodor Dostoevsky was first published in 1880. This book is unique because it is effectivly written in a combination of third person omniscient and first person point of view. The author seems to be a character in the book but also seems to know all.
Parts of The Brothers Karamazov is in the third person omniscient point of view. Third person omniscient is when the author is all knowing. This is shown when the author is able to read the thoughts of all of the main characters. A good example of this is when Mitya, one of the main characters, is observing two Polish men that he just met. Mitya’s thoughts are displayed when he decides that “it was the little pipe-smoking Pole who was in charge” (pg. 507). This shows what is going through Mitya’s mind when he meets the Poles and is a good example of the third person omniscient point of view.
The author also knows what is going on in other towns while he seems to always be at the monastery in the main town in the book. This is shown when Mitya goes to the village of Sukhoi in order to see a man about a business deal. Mitya gets a priest to go with him and the priest “suggested they go on foot, for, he assured Mitya, it was only a miles walk…” (pg. 452). This is information that could only be known to someone who was at Sukhoi at that time while the character of the author was still at the monastery that is in another town. This also shows third person point of view.
The author seems to also know what is going on in the privacy of people’s homes. This is shown on page 483 when Mitya is at his friend Perkhotin’s house and they are the only two people there and yet the author is able to describe exactly what is going on. He explains how “the washing operations began” when he had no way of actually knowing. This adds to the third person point of view.
The third person omniscient point of view aspect of the book makes it so that the story keeps going even though the author is not there. The thoughts and the actions of the characters are always known so that the story is more complete and therefore more effective.
Indifference in Albert Camus’ The Stranger
Indifference in Albert Camus’ The Stranger
In Albert Camus novel, The Stranger (The Outsider), the main character Meursault displays a unique indifference to his surroundings and the world around him. It takes him a degree of time to come to terms with his indifference, but when he does he feels truly free from society’s constricting bonds. He leads an apathetic lifestyle that is characterized by his constant lack of a definitive personality. Meursault wanders through life as if in a drunken stupor, living the life of a pleasure seeker. When he accepts his death he is relieved of the pressure of dealing with guilt and with relationships towards other people.
Meursault’s guilt plays a large role in the novel as far as his everyday dealings with his attitude about life in general. Meursault feels guilty about not feeling guilty. He knows when he enters a situation such as when his mother died he should have felt guilt and remorse, but didn’t and therefore his emotional state turned to an apologetic atmosphere. The concept of Meursault feeling apologetic instead of feeling guilty is illustrated when he is asking for time off from his job to go to his mother’s funeral. “Sorry, sir, but it’s not my fault, you know.” p.1 He was sorry for leaving work and thus he apologized, but then he later reasoned to himself that he knows under the circumstances he had no need to be sorry for asking for a couple days off. Meursault later wishes he reconciled with his mother about sending her to a home. He was sorry for doing it, but director of the home assured him that he had done everything he could have for her in light of his situation. With Meursault working in a town a few hours away by bus he was unable to visit his mother as often a…
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…ifference to the world he feels free because he no longer has to answer to anyone or be annoyed with doing anything that takes him away from his true love of self-pleasure. Meursault lives by and for the moment without regard for the ramifications or consequences of his actions. When his moment of purification by pain occurs he is exhilarated by the energy he feels with the crowd that has gathered to see him lose his life. Before he is beheaded he comes to terms about his life, he deems that now that it’s about to be over he can fulfill his need of achieving ultimate pleasure. I if I were placed in the same circumstance, I would have already come to terms with my own mortality knowing that I was facing death for the crime I had committed. Because I don’t know if I believe in God, I don’t know if would look forward to an afterlife or dread going into nothingness.