Slaughterhouse 5

Question: How does one become an “insider” or “outsider?”
So, time travel… Obviously a technology that we all wish we
could utilize and yet no one has been able to as of yet. Kurt Vonnegut picks a
protagonist named Billy Pilgrim to represent a man who has the ability to
re-visit instances in his life as well as travel to an alien planet called Tralfamadore.
Both of these aspects of pilgrim’s make-up help him become an “insider” on a mental
level and an “outsider” on a physical level. First off, the ability to look
back on instances in his life… Most of us struggle remembering things that’s happened
over one year ago unless it is a very major event. This means we are ignorant
of many of the things that have taken place, thus making us “outsiders” to the
truth. Billy is always able to be influenced by these past experiences, allowing
him to make the best decision in every situation. That would be the definition
of an “insider.” Now, on to Tralfamadore. In my opinion this is a very
controversial aspect to the novel because it isn’t clear what the purpose of
Billy’s experiences on it were. Possibly just Vonnegut showing that the
protagonist in his novel is crazy? I believe rather that it Vonnegut giving
Billy the gift of seeing the future because the inhabitants resemble the path
humanity is currently on. The last chapter of Slaughterhouse Five describes
how the aliens are changing. Once again, now Billy has the ability to see a
frame of time that no one else can, which makes him become an “insider.” Now,
it is also important to understand that the story is not completely happy for Slaughterhouse
Five’s Protagonist. As a matter of fact, I believe that Billy’s advantage
as an “insider” turns him into an “outsider” in society because no one can have
the advanced knowledge that he possesses.

Beloved

Question: How does one become an “insider” or “outsider?”

As we discover the different layers of the protagonist in
Beloved, we find more and more answer to the big question. It is quite apparent
that Sethe is an “outsider,” however; this is not due to some personal action
she committed, but rather the mere fact that she is black. But the fact that
Sethe doesn’t physically appear to be an “insider” doesn’t completely rule her
out of this title in my opinion and this is because of her mental determination.
Sethe stops at nothing to find every way possible to level the playing field
and bring the white folks down to her level. Furthermore, I believe that we can
find more answers to this big question in the character of Beloved herself.
Being a ghost, Beloved obviously has a spiritual advantage over the other
characters. This enables her to manipulate characters and be the most prevalent
“insider” in the novel. Beloved introduces an entire new dimension to the big
question because of the fact that what determines being an outsider in this
instance are aspects of life that are uncontrollable and spiritual.

The Stranger

Obviously, when one examines the title of this staggering tale, it is not expected to see an “insider” presented. This is the case for “The Stranger” as Meursault begins the story as an “outsider”. While this story does not do a great job of answering my original Big Question, which was “How does one become and “insider” and “outsider”,” it does a superb job of showing that pure passion with regards to an “outsider” such as Meursault can result in crazy actions and failed attempts to regain a position in society. While the reasons for Meursault’s ruthless killing of the Arab are never is explained, I believe his actions acted as an attempt to fit in with Raymond and the rest of his so-called friends. However, Meursault’s pure passion at trying to stand up for his friends leads him down an irreversible path that eventually leads to his death. The uniqueness in Meurault’s situation is that we find an “outsider” trying to become an “insider,” which has not been the case in the other novels read in class. Ultimately, Meursault understands all too late that he is different and realizes, as he sits in the jail cell awaiting the guillotine, that he had found his own form of happiness being an “outsider” before murdering the Arab.

Crime and Punishment

Psyche. Crime and Punishment delves into this confusing and intricate realm to determine what makes an “insider” and “outsider”. Rodya begins the story in a unique situation because I would neither characterize him as an insider or outsider at this point in the story. All the characters in other books have had a defined role in society. However, after the murders, Rodya distances himself from the “insiders” and as his mental health deteriorates, so does his presence in society. I believe there is a deeper message in this, which relates back to a classic quote, “Always believe in yourself.” It sounds cheesy and elementary, however, when one examines Rodya’s situation, his mental psyche is what ultimately demands his expulsion from society. If Rodya had a greater sense of mental strength he probably would have even gotten away with committing the murder and used the sense of “superman” power to greater his position in society and become an “insider.” Rodya’s thoughts and mental state are ultimately his downfall in what determines his spot as an “outsider” in the Russian society in which he resided.

King Lear starts as the obvious prime insider in the society that exists in the play along with the rest of his family. Ultimately, the event that separates Lear from a character such as Oedipus is that it was destiny for Oedipus to end his life as an outsider, while Lear was banished by humans. This is the first step to Lear’s insanity. The initial shock of going from the supreme leader to the lowest part of society as a banished citizen causes Lear to start questioning why this unfortunate lifestyle has put itself on him. He says “I am more sinned against than sinning.” This shows how much of a solid grasp he has on society. However, this understanding of the truth is what leads him to insanity. The more he examines his situation, the more insane he becomes. To address The Big Question of how one becomes an insider or outsider, in Lear’s case, it was his inability to please everyone. Lear tried to split his Kingdom three ways, which eventually led to his demise because there were too many he tried to please.

Oedipus

Throughout the life of Oedipus, we see the evolution of one a man who was born into a position of power. This fact that he was going to be a future king merited him an "insider" position. However, once the curse that Apollo created was put force, Oedipus immediately lost this position because he represented a threat, thus becoming an "outsider" position. An intriguing aspect of this situation is that Oedipus hadn’t yet even been able to make decision for himself. He was an insider and outsider without actions. As Oedipus lives life, he gradually (and with some luck) becomes an insider once again, but this time trough his own actions of solving the riddle. He leads a strong kingdom while king and represents perhaps the epitome of an "insider" to society. This lifestyle is seized in an instant after it is revealed that the king had indeed completed the curse and married his mother and killed his father. Just like that, the powerful king descends to rock bottom of the "outsider" role. Things that can be learned from Oedipus' story is that perhaps what make one an insider or outsider are generally not actions taken by an individual, but destiny and luck rather that determine one's presence in society.

Why this question?

This summer after reading The Shipping News, I started to ponder why Quoyle was such an outsider, particularly while growing up? I wonder whether or not people are just born naturally as being "part or the crowd" or "against the grain." Throughout the novel, Quoyle started developing more social skills and he eventually almost becomes the head man at his business. However, Quoyle was still known as being fat, weird looking, and odd. So this causes the question to develop into whether or not people become an outsider based on looks or personality. I am looking forward into digging deep into this whole concept of being an insider an outsider throughout the school year, and hopefully by the end of it I will have a grasp on this big question.