Throughout this year, the books we read challenged me to think about the way I am living my life. The two books that I enjoyed the most were Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk and The Stranger by Albert Camus. In addition to enjoying them, they had a lasting impact on how I view morality, justice, and the idea of meaning in life.
Janina, the main character of Drive Your Plow, was a character that I had almost no relation to. Her studies of astrology and passion for animal rights seemed strange and annoyed me. But as the story progressed, I began to see how deeply she cared about justice and her beliefs. Even when no one took her seriously, she stayed true. I am at a time in my life where people try to tell you what to believe. Her strong sense of right and wrong, especially when others judged her, was a characteristic that I admired. Even though I disagree with Janina on a lot of topics I would like to have the confidence that she has.
On the other hand, Meursault from The Stranger represented a very different characteristic. He doesn’t express emotions the way society expects him to, and from the outside perspective seems disconnected from the world. As the story went on I started to think that he might be more observant and connected to the world than everyone else. His story got me to think about what really matters in the world.
Janina and Meursault, to me, represent two ends of a spectrum. Janina cared about the world around her so much that she went to extreme lengths to protect her values. Meursault had pretty much no cares in the world. What I took away from these two characters is that somewhere on the spectrum of caring there is a happy medium. My final takeaway is this: “Stick to your principals, but don’t worry about what’s outside of your control.”