miscellaneous iterated circles

The characters of  Wide Sargasso Sea  can broadly be divided into two groups: those native to England, and those native to the West Indies. One the major themes that results from this is the nigh-insurmountable divide that exists between the two. Antoinette and Rochester are two characters who attempt to cross this Wide Sargasso Sea. The West Indies and England are depicted as being near-literally separate worlds. Those in one world find it hard to comprehend the reality of the other. Sometimes it's simple things, like how Rochester feels that the West Indies are too brightly colored, the hills and mountains are too big, how nature itself seems to hold hidden menace. In contrast, Antoinette thinks England must be impossibly dull and gray, and is only vaguely familiar with seasons from the books she reads (and many other facts that have no real meaning to her). Rochester and Antoinette both think the other's world to be surreal, like a dream. Rochester thinks the environment o

In The Stranger , the court in which Meursault is tried is as absurd as Meursault's crime. Even before Meursault enters the courtroom, we see the absurdity of the machinery of justice. From the very first moment, "Nobody seemed very interested in [Meursault's] crime" -- the magistrate who examines Meursault only does so because he is "curious" a week later. The judiciary system pays absolutely no attention to the dead Arab, or his family. Even before the court meets, "there had been some investigations into [Meursault's] private life," asking about Maman's funeral. When Meursault tells his lawyer that he will not say things that are not true, his own lawyer becomes almost disgusted with him, insinuating that things "could get pretty nasty for [Meursault]." However the most condemning thing about this court is shown when Meursault, like many of us, points out "none of this had anything to do with [Meursault's] case."