Take a look at Joseph Campbell' ideas on the "aesthetic arrest." Whatdya think? Has this ever happened to you while admiring a piece of art or listening to a certain song or...? Do you think Meursault has an "aesthetic arrest" of sorts towards the end of his days awaiting execution? What's that he says about the world?
Mr. Whyte
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Every time I see the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch, I experience what can be considered as an aesthetic arrest. Despite seeing the painting many years ago, this image still scares me and causes me to think about the meaning of it; I still don't know. I can honestly stare at it for over an hour just thinking.
In terms of The Stranger, Meursault never really has a moment prior to his execution where he says or thinks of something to the extent of "I cannot believe this is happening" or similar to it. I believe that there are three stages to problems such as Meursault's: denial, acceptance, and then some form of recovery.
Meursault does not deny the fact the he will be executed; rather, he thinks of and wishes for ways to prevent his death; nonetheless, this is his denial stage.
Oddly, Meursault skips the acceptance process and goes straight to recovery. Acceptance is the "aesthetic arrest" in which Meursault would accept his punishment and seriously think about it. The epiphany Meursault received after the confrontation with the chaplain is presumably the gateway that Meursault takes to skip the acceptance stage. When Meursault awakens from his sleep, he says that the world means "nothing" (122) to him. His calm wait for his execution is his much needed rest.
I like this bit about the three stages that Meursault experiences. More on this. Could you tell me more about what you mean here?
What if Meursault's life was a canvass depicting the precise moment when he realizes the inevitability of his death and the futility of escaping this biological entropy, if you will... is he not at this very moment hit by the not so absurd truth: you are alive now, breathe it. Could he, to some extent like "the picture" of Dorian Gray, become arrested and thereby freed by this beatific, numinous, and liberating aesthetic, by this personal realization?
In response to Mr. Whyte, Meursault must, at one point, have been hit by the absurd truth in the face like standing in front of the metro rail. The thing is that Meursault doesn't say it; it can only be interpreted. It's not Meursault's nature to show such emotions. The only emotion I ever really see from Meursault is his constant complaining of the sun. Meursault's personality shrouds his realization of the truth. Meursault's realization of the truth is like a mathematical limit. The limit may not be easily seen, but it does not mean that the limit does not exist.
As Joseph Campbell explains it, aesthetic arrest is a moment where completely enthralled by the radiance of an object--- a blank mind, unable to exactly comprehend what's in front of you. Upon seeing a photograph taken by Raghu Rai of a disturbing image from the Bhopal disaster I was instantly consumed by the horror represented in this instance of unexpected calamity resulting in the subject of the photograph, a young boy, dead, eyes wide, being covered with dirt. Similarly, in Meursault's period of aesthetic arrest, following his news of execution via the guillotine, clearly he is besides himself in the forsaken event that he will soon meet death. He can only concentrate on the troubling issue of his own death, approaching as time goes on. It is that fact alone, that time is indifferent, immortal, abstract, that forces Meursault to accept his fate as nothing personal but as a universal and continuous cycle.
According to Joseph Campbell the idea of aesthetic arrest involves complete focus on the beauty or radiance of certain art or objects. Whenever I see Van Gough’s Starry Night I am left in amazement from the use of color and texture that he uses. The image of this painting pulls me into complete thought as I wonder about the meaning behind this painting. Starry Night leaves almost a refreshing feeling because it appears as an illusion in comparison to other images.
Meursault appears to be in aesthetic arrest when his thoughts are consumed with the hope of freedom. Whenever someone passes his cell he wonders if his execution is approaching. His hope of escape from execution appears as a beautiful image for him because he is fearful of death. When he envisions several possibilities of freedom he feels undeniable joy because he can picture living his life again. He later realizes that death is unavoidable; this enables him to live his life free from aesthetic arrest because he no longer lives with images that bring him momentary joy. Meursault’s thoughts reveal society’s meaningless hope for treasure that will eventually disappear.
Joseph Cambell was an American mythology professor in the 1900s that wrote, "The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object....you experience a radiance. You are held in aesthetic arrest." He believed that the personal was dangerous in art; for having art like portraits had no meaning behind it. He enjoyed seeing art through a lens of metaphors where the artist is neither pulled into or pulled away from the piece but just there beholding it in awe. Aquinas demonstrates Campbell proper mode of art, calling them the integritas, convenientia, and claritas. Integritas means wholeness, the big picture, and convenienta is the arrangement. Then claritas is what puts meaning into the piece making the viewer or artist go “aha.”
This has happened to me lots of times when hearing a song. At first I feel nothing towards it but I keep listening. Then, I start understanding the singer’s view, and like a lightbulp, I realize what it is saying. Also when watching Renaissance art, I feel disappointed to just watch portraits because they are dull, with nothing to compare or analyze in them. I think comparisons allow humans to give value to the object, in this case art. Without comparison like metaphors or similes, there would be no way to measure the importance or devalue a work.
Meursault does this in his last day. When talking to the Chaplain he discovers that death is part of life and God means nothing to him. He exclaims “something inside me snapped” and then he starts explaining why he does not fear death, thinks society’s norms are a waste of time, and is indifferent to them. He has those stages where he sees society and hears the Chaplain words as the work. Then sees the structure in where society tries to manipulate him by making him have faith and hope. Finally he comes to realize the meaning of all this absurdities, and this hope leads him into realizing his own meaning of life.
Good for people to know.
Joseph Campbell’s idea of “aesthetic arrest” is when a person sees something and stops to think about it. This often occurs with works of art and literature. Campbell “saw everything through a lens of myth, metaphor and the metaphysical.” St. Thomas Aquinas believed that correct art has three things, Integritas, Convenientia, and Claritas. Integritas being the complete picture, convenientia being the way a picture is arranged through creativity, sensitivity, and the thoughtfulness harvested in it, and claritas being the point in which everything makes sense to a person. Campbell said that this is “the tricky part,” because that is the point when a person has reached the level of creativity.
This happens to me very often when I am looking at pieces of art. There are times that I just see a painting, but see it as nothing more than just a painting painted on a piece of paper. When I stop to really think about the painting, I begin to realize that the painting really does have a point to it. My mind starts to change the way it thinks, and starts to see the painting differently. This is the moment when I look closer at the painting and start to think a lot more. The painting then starts to come back together like a puzzle of a millions of pieces that as pieces are put together, the puzzle makes more sense.
This happens to Meursault in his last days of life. Meursault talks to the Chaplain, even though Meursault is not the one that wants to talk to the Chaplain. The Chaplain keeps telling Meursault to believe in God, because he is the only one that can save a person, but Meursault does not change his mind. During this time, Meursault comes to accept life, something that a couple of days before he did not understand. Before, Meursault did not understand what life was, but then while in jail he came to understand that he had to die in order for his life to be complete. Meursault understood this through his time in jail and through his mother’s death.
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