Thoughts on the Twentieth Century

            In both yesterday’s panel presentations and throughout our class discussions we have talked about the idea that Antoinette is unable to fit into Jamaican culture or English culture. The title of the novel, Wide Sargasso Sea , suggests that the difference between these two places is too wide to be able to bridge the gap between cultures. Throughout the novel, Antoinette tries to bridge the gap in multiple ways such as her friendship with Tia and trying to give the Obeah love potion to Rochester which ends up poisoning him and making him sick. However, she never seems to succeed.   Antoinette does not seem to be able to fit into either culture. When she goes outside of her house the other children constantly torment her. They make fun of her, call her names, and harass her. She cannot live in her own country without being bullied. However, she is not able to fit into English culture either. Antoinette mentions that “we ate English food...

            Meursault’s personality has been the topic of a lot of our discussions. He does not care about anything and just seems to go along with whatever people tell him to do. He also seems to like to do whatever is easiest for him and requires the least amount of work. While I was reading the book I was wondering why Meursault did not really care about anything. On the one hand, it could seem that the he is suffering from depression and perhaps he used to have a different personality when he was younger. However, he also seems pretty content with his life so perhaps he simply does not care about anything and that is just part of who he is.             Meursault definitely shows signs that he could be depressed. He does not seem to care about his future or about what is happening in his life, he does not even care about things that could have a major impact on his him. For example, when his b...