Examples Of Irony In The Truman Show

Amaya Gonzales Mrs. Bentley
May 6, 2014
Period 2B
Irony
The Stanger written by Albert Camus and The Truman Show both have irony in them. In the beginning their life is in a sense meaningless and nothing really to it. Trying to live a “normal” life is what they are striving for. Truman from The Truman Show and Meursault from The Stranger both have things that foreshadow their ultimate choices in life, which include symbolism, existential themes, and irony. In The Truman Show, there is irony present throughout the whole movie. During most of the film, Truman wanted to leave Seahaven and go explore the world. He had a desire to do more than just live a quaint, common life. He is unique, and it is his motivation that makes him stand
Although the show’s creator, Christof, tried to keep Truman in Seahaven, he ultimately could not. Truman’s freewill and control of his own fate led him to discovering the truth about Seahaven, and thus controlling the outcome of his life. He accepted the reality of his life being centered on a television show, but moved on by leaving Seahaven. Although Truman’s artificial world came to an end, he entered reality as he left Seahaven. Meursault faced a lot of things like an existentialist. For example, he was ready to accept his consequence after he shot the Arab. He also was ready for death, knowing it is inevitable. Some existential themes include freewill, controlling your own fate, accepting your fate, and taking responsibility for your own actions. These themes are all present in The Stranger. It was the freewill that led him to shooting the Arab, because he was in total control. He chose his fate, accepted the consequences, and took responsibility for what he did. For example, he realized he was going to die, and accepted
For example, Meursault does not like being uncomfortable, especially from the weather. Many perceive the sun as a source of warmth, sometimes beauty, but Meursault dislikes the heat. The sun normally brings joy, emotional warmth or comfort to an individual, but Meursault seems to dislike feeling emotional in any way. He also dislikes heat from the sun. The sun was a barrier of Meursault’s emotions. It also led him to murder. While walking on the beach, Meursault encountered the Arab again. The Arab reflected light off of his knife from the sun. Meursault thought to himself, “All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and, instinctively, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me. The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes," (Part 1, Ch.6, P.59). Right after this, he shot and killed the Arab. It seems like the little emotions that Meursault had took over his actions. Before he walks up to the Arab and shoots him, Meursault thinks to himself, “It occurred to me that all I had to do was turn around and that would be the end of it. But the whole beach, throbbing in the sun, was pressing on my back. I took a few steps toward the spring,” (Part 1, Ch.6, P.58).However, towards the end of the novel he did gain some morals and understood much more about life. When he did, he looked into the window, with the sun shining behind it, and gazed at his