Frank Illidge is the hired assistant to Lord Edward Tantamount, aiding in Edward's scientific pursuits. He is small with an "upturned" nose, freckly face, brown eyes, and orange eyebrows. He is aware he is not attractive. He is a communist with a very high awareness regarding the different levels of social class. He wants everybody to treat others as a neighbor because this leads to human empathy and connection. But he despises the rich because they have a sense of insensitiveness towards others since they can already afford everything they want. Frank's philosophy is ultimately that everyone should be treated equal and people should learn to connect and interact with others to prevent a superior and inferior class. He states, "There is something peculiarly base and ignoble and diseased about the rich. Money breeds a kind of gangrened insensitiveness" (pg.53)

The Stranger Existence Gains Essence:

Meursault found his essence once he accepted that he was going to die. At first a little part of him wanted to have hope that maybe he could live. When he faced reality and new that he was forsure going to be executed, he realized that having hope was just ruining his conscious. So then he realized that whether he dies today from execution, or in 20 years from natural causes, death was inevitable so why does it matter. He realized why would he want to waste his last hours alive having false hope and worrying about death when he can live his last hours to the fullest and accept the inevitable with no fear. That is when he found stability in his mind and that is when he came to a full understanding of himself. Meaursault making a choice to accept his fate by recognizing his individualism and coming to an understanding with himself, is when Meursault's existence gains essence. This is the first time in the book where Meaursault shows a deeper insight into his feelings and expressing his outlooks on life.

"I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise . . . Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man."

Whitman portrays a connection between all people of all ages and genders. Despite a great diversity in people's background and lifestyle, he believes we are all connected. He wants us to realize that if we look at the bigger picture, we all are somewhat the same. We all have a little bit of foolishness. We all can be wise at times. And our mothers can act paternally while our fathers can act maternally. Despite our main characteristics and traits, none of us are perfect which is another thing we all have in common. We all make mistakes like a child would, but sometimes a child can act with a maturity of understanding just like that of a man's.
The poem reveals Whitman to portray himself as united with all men. Whitman feels as if he is one of the same. I think it teaches the reader that no matter how much different we think we are from one another, we are all of the same. In a way he is saying our diversity through jobs, religion, and environment, is really how we are united and all connected through diversity.

An event that shaped me as a person took place in the second grade. I show up to school wearing my favorite pink sweater with ruffles on it. I was new to the school and began hanging out with this group of girls at lunch. A girl named Grace was the head of the pack and everything she said the other girls agreed with. When i came up to sit with them at recess she made fun of my sweater and called me names along with the other girls. My mom picks me up from school, and i break out in tears. That's when she played a song for me by the spice girls called Our Lips Our Sealed and made me listen to the lyrics that said, "pay no mind to what they say, doesn't matter anyway". Since then I have never been bullied and if i am teased about something I either stick up for myself or do not let it get to me. I learned that if you are confident in yourself people are less likely to tease you and if you are teased and you act like you don't care, they will stop. If i could go back to that event i would have said to Grace, "well i like my pink sweater, it's designer, and if you were updated on your fashion you would know. Plus if i wanted your opinion I'd ask for it." 

During our socratic seminar, i was most interested in the conversation of whether animals are evil. It made me question the difference between animals and humans. I personally don't think animals are evil nor can commit evil but i do think they can love. I know many whales and elephants mourn when they lose a child. I think animals are a mystery and there is a lot we do not understand even if we think we do. It's strange, i can watch a movie where a human dies or is killed and not cry at all or be sad. But when i see a dog or animal get shot or killed in a movie i will ball my eyes out. This is because i feel all animals are innocent and cannot commit evil. I love animals because they can be smart and emotional just like humans, but they can never be evil.

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything is we see is a perspective not a truth" -Marcus Aurelius.

I'd like to agree with this starment. I think if you look at the bigger picture you can say that every fact and every truth is just what human beings analyze them as. For example you could say it's a fact that it is 12:30, but if you look at the bigger picture, humans created the concept of tracking time. If you say it is a fact your parents love you, that could be a fact to you,  but maybe other people have a different opinion about what love is. If you "see" the dress as white and gold when in actuallity it is blue and black, than that is a perspective and not a truth.

Personal Philosophy

My personal beliefs and perspective of the world are not crystal clear. I believe in certain aspects of many religions and think it is unfair to deem just one religion the "right" one. I think out of all religions and faiths, the most important thing a religion can do for people is teach them how to love and how to be loved in return. I would say love is the closest thing there is to God. When one has everlasting love for someone else,  whether it be a sister, mother, father etc. , that someone will realize that nothing else in their life is more valuable. 

My parents always taught me that the most important thing one can do is to love and accept. Acceptance is key to living a more enjoyable life. When tragic experiences occur, sometimes I can't comprehend why something so horrible had to happen. Why would God let something so tragic happen to someone who does not deserve it? If God is so powerful why couldn't he stop this from happening? These questions are only natural to think when something tragic happens to you. But when it comes down to it, we are only human, and we do not know enough about God or his plan and power to judge or question him. We have to realize that life has many misfortunes or negative aspects, but life also has many positive and wonderful aspects. We have to learn to accept events in life, especially the ones that are out of our control. If you cannot accept, then you are fighting the way of the universe which only leads to mental instability. 

I don't know what happens after death, but I don't want to fear death. We were all meant to die for a reason. I like to believe that death is only the beginning and humans beings are incapable to understand what happens after death because it is too GREAT, just like God himself/herself/itself. If you do not believe in a higher being like God, or do not believe in heaven, I do not judge at all because I'll admit  it's hard to believe in the things we cannot see. But whether or not heaven and God exist, I like to believe they do because it has allowed me to live a positive and more enjoyable life. 

I want to live a life where I surround myself with people I love. I want to enjoy and value my time on earth because that is all I have; worrying about the future or worrying about death will not benefit one in any way. When there are bumps along the way in life, I want to accept them and know that no matter what everything will always be okay.

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced" - Sorean Kierkegaard