Whenever a philosopher wishes to understand the deep-seated issues, he or she would be forced to put in an extra effort to explore the long-term, short-term, and immediate causes of an event or problem. This entails looking beneath the surface, meaning going an extra mile to analyze several issues instead of being misguided by the physical appearance of an object or event.
Before making any conclusion on a subject, a careful assessment has to be conducted since many individuals are usually focused on describing the event or the problem instead of trying to comprehend what underlie it. Looking beneath the surface is a term that was first used in the Roman Empire by Emperor Aurelius, who was also a great philosopher, has contributed enormously in the development of philosophy.
The emperor urged his people to be wary of the enemy and to understand the real issues that affected them instead of accepting help from any person. Therefore, individuals are urged to be figuring out what the meaning of something before drawing any conclusion. In the Novel titled Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad attempted to explore the real issues that faced ivory traders in Congo, as they benefited little even though they were the actual manufactures and distributors (Conrad 78).
The author observed that the type of trade conducted between the western powers and Africans represented domination and oppression since the blacks never achieved their interests. With time, Africans were converted into slaves since the whites wanted to realize their objectives through imperialism.
They decided to colonize the blacks with the aim of controlling the ivory trade and obtaining cheap labor that could help them produce more products at reduced costs. The author compared the type of trade exercised with the river that resembled a big snake whose head touched the sea while the body was spread across the land. The tail of the snake could not be seen since it stretched several kilometers.
The writer tried to understand the nature of ivory trade, having noted that it never benefitted any black person although they established it. After realizing that the trade would strengthen the economic power of the Africans, the whites decided to inhabit the continent to ensure they reaped maximally from the trade. The blacks were forced to exchange their expensive products with cheap industrial products manufactured in the European continent.
In his analysis, the color of the whites was inconsistent with their hearts since they were unsympathetic to the people who introduced them to the lucrative trade. In other words, they had dark hearts while the Africans were the direct opposite since their color was black, but their hearts were bright. Kafka tried to explore the life of an individual who goes through dramatic changes in life. The author published his ideas on Metamorphosis after examining an insect that transformed itself into something different after some time.
He analyzed the life of a salesperson, Gregory Samsa, who turned into a monster suddenly and refused to accept his new status (Kafka 29). His family viewed him as a burden since he could not do something to sustain his life, meaning he was provided with everything that he wanted. Instead of looking at factors that forced the sales clerk to transform his life, the author aspired to analyze the type of life that Samsa lived after the metamorphosis process.
Life would never be the same again for the business representative since he struggled to interact with other members of society. Kafka was driving home his point that people will never accept change, and instead, they will try to resist any adjustment that comes in life.
In case an individual feels his or her interests are not being met, chances are high that he or she would lose hope in life and start blaming others for what would be happening. If this trend continues, a person might be considered an outsider because he or she would no longer understand his ego, what a psychologist would term as ego confusion. This happens quite often, especially when an individual fails to strike a balance between a maladaptive behavior and ego strength at each level of growth and development.
Children who experience confusion at the tender age would develop unpleasant behavior that might be dangerous to their survival, as well as the existence of others in society. In his novel titled Tonio Kroeger, Thomas Mann gave the details of a young person who experienced several challenges at both childhood and adulthood leading to confusion meaning the individual was an outsider to his behavior (Mann 56). Tonio was a son of a German trader and an Italian artiste.
He inherited the features of both parents, something that made him feel he was superior. Superiority complex was the source of confusion in Tonio’s life, which subsisted until adulthood when he ventured into writing becoming one of the famous artists in the southern part of Germany. He ended up developing a negative belief towards writing since he was of the view that an individual has to die to everyday life to be a famous writer.
When he visited his hometown, he was mistaken for a criminal, something that nearly cost his life, but his view was different since he still believed that an artist has to be an outsider to gain respect from members of society. Throughout the text, the author focuses on the theme of confusion since Tonio believed strongly that an artist has to seek exile since it would promote his or her works.
The stranger is a novel that brings out the theme of outsider clearly in the sense that the main character, Meursault, does not feel anything after the loss of his mother. The young man surprised many people when he started drinking and smoking in front of his mother’s coffin, which was against the tradition. Unfortunately, he was never interested in viewing the body because of the belief he held about the dead.
He surprised the crowd when he only started commenting on those who were attending the funeral. The main actor is seen engaging in so many activities just after the death of his mother, suggesting he was never interested in helping out the family in sending off the mother properly.
For instance, he entered into a relationship with his former employee a day after the death of his mother and went on to help a friend the same day in resolving a family conflict (Camus 61). The behavior of Meursault proves he was an outsider to his own family since he never wanted to be involved in anything. The reason for being an outsider is not given, but it is likely because of a poor relationship with the family having been raised without the father.
Works Cited
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York, NY: Vintage International, 1989. Print.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Superior Publishing House, 2010. Print.
Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis. Lanham: Start Pub, 2013. Print.
Mann, Thomas. Tonio Kroeger. Harmondsville: Penguin Books, 1980. Print