Stranger Journal 5

      In part 2, the sentence structure is different in that the sentences are longer and more detailed. I think this suggests that Mersault is starting to have some feelings and he can't quite figure out how to act, he's starting to go a little bit crazy. Also, he mentions more words about feelings which is different. Also, on page 66 he says "I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else." He repeats himself, and when a person repeats themselves like that it can suggest that they are trying to convince not only the other person, but more that they are trying to convince themselves of something. Also, I thought it was interesting at the beginning of Chapter 2 of part 2, Mersault sees Arabs in prison and they help him and show him how to roll up his bed and such even after he tells them that he is in prison for killing an Arab.
        Another thing that I noticed is that some of the images surrounding Mersault change. For instance, the image of windows and the image of walls is very prevalent in part 2. It's kind of cool that those two images are together because they kind of contradict each other a little bit. Walls could suggest being blocked in, cornered or trapped. But windows are like a view of the outside, they could represent hope. Walls could represent all the things that are holding him in and how he feels trapped, but windows could represent any sort of hope that he has.
        One scene that I found interesting on page 73-76 is when Marie visits Mersault is Jail and they are in the visiting room and people are talking to their relatives through the glass and Mersault describes all the Arabs sitting on the ground talking to each other and he even says "The murmuring of the Arabs continued below us". Just the physical placement of that is interesting, how all the Arabs are below them, which could symbolize them being less important, or less regarded in society and being treated as lower status. Which is different that the more detached way he describes them in part one. It's almost like he's noticing more and he's using more metaphors and less short, succint, sentences.
        I feel like in part 2, Mersault is starting to question himself and he's wondering if all his ideas are right. But sometimes when you doubt yourself you just cling to your old ideas even tighter because even though you suspect they may be wrong, you're so scared of what would happen if they are. Mersault's old, indifferent attitude isn't working for him anymore after he kills a man. And I think that, like with the Chaplain and such, he gets really angry and he's clinging to these old ideas even harder, and repeating himself, and trying to convince himself of how he's feeling because he's scared of what would happen if he opened up his heart or mind to something new. Also, the longer, more rambling and figurative sentences could represent the fact that he is no longer a free man, so all he does all day is sleep and think alone so since it's narrated in first person, his thoughts are no longer just actions "I did this...then this happened...etc." because he's not doing anything. So the writing gets more free and flowing because Mersault is just alone with his thoughts all the time in prison.