Angelina Tran - Breaking Cycles

 I remember reading the novel titled The Stranger that followed the character Meursault who felt like they were living a mundane life. Meursault, unlike many other characters, did not have many strong emotions of happiness, anger, and love until much later into the story. Meursault worked an office job and one day while on leave for his mother’s funeral he shot an Arab man. From that point on Meursault’s life changed greatly as he stayed in jail for quite a few days waiting for his trial and then, spoilers, waited in jail again for his death sentence. Meursault faced the death sentence because his reason for shooting the Arab man was that he felt hot and tired from the sun. Finally, Meursault changed his mundane life and felt strong anger at the end of his life but to no difference. This cycle would be similar to Professor Redick’s story of when he was a bit high constantly fixing his bed sheets. Redick’s roommate at the time was consistently laughing as Redick kept running around the bed fixing one side of the sheet only for the other side of the sheet to fall out of place. Redick was not able to break out of this cycle of realizing that the sheets kept falling out of place until he got so angry that his roommate kept laughing. Similarly, both stories had the person change their cycle out of anger, although Meursault’s story was much more morbid. Redick had actually related his story to that of the wasp constantly bringing the worm to the hole and how humans are able to break out of cycles. This is a concept that I often see in various books, movies, and dramas about why humans are so special. Oftentimes no matter how powerful and indestructible Gods, Buddhas, and upper beings may be it seems they always follow a constant cycle. Humans have this great value of being able to break a cycle. Knowing this great value, it is important to note how being able to break out of cycles can be for the better? For the worse? Only perceptions of the situation can determine if breaking the cycle is for the better for everyone. In the case of Meursault, it led to arguably the worst ending of his death. (Death is a whole different concept that can be talked about.) In the case for Professor Redick, it led to the betterment for him to not waste any more time on the bed sheets and making himself something to be laughed at by his roommate. I can not lie though that I would be laughing too if I saw that but besides the point. Going back to cycles, it is interesting to note how humans constantly crave patterns and cycles yet also crave change. Humans can not just do everything the same as they have been doing even if it brings them happiness as we get bored.

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