Living in the Now

Albert Camus is labeled as an existentialist writer, although he denies this label. He earned that fame because of his novel, The Stranger. His characters live and act as if they were existentialists, living in the present rather than looking back at the past and worrying about the future. Here is an example:

Wherever I looked I saw the same sun-drenched countryside, and the sky was so dazzling that I dared not raise my eyes. Presently we struck a patch of freshly tarred road. A shimmer of heat played over it and one’s feet squelched at each step, leaving bright black gashes. (page 12 pdf)

in this part of the book, the main character, Mersault, describes the setting of his mother's procession. He doesn't talk about his feelings towards her mother's death, nor tells a story of him and his mom. He only talks about the specific moment he is living through by using very precise descriptions of his present state and the things around him, appealing to the five senses. This is a perfect example of the existentialist thinking: the existentialist (Mersault) only thinks about the exact moment he is going through. 

Despite being in the whole process of burying his mother, Mersault continues on with his life as if nothing had happened. He carried on through the weekend as if he were on a small vacation, where he stumbled upon an old friend of his, Marie Cardona. After they spend the night together, Mersault says:

When I woke up, Marie had gone. She’d told me her aunt expected her first thing in the morning. I remembered it was a Sunday, and that put me off; I’ve never cared for Sundays. So I turned my head and lazily sniffed the smell of brine that Marie’s head had left on the pillow. I slept until ten.
 (page 15 pdf)

Mersault, as not many people who just had an emotional connection with another person do, doesn't care about Marie leaving. He just keeps on sleeping and doesn't think about the meaning of last night. I wouldn't say he is a careless person, but he simply lives his life minute by minute. Maybe his relationship with Marie is a substitute and an effect of his mother passing away. And he cared about as much when both left. Marie was kind of a rebound from his loss, a simple method of grief. 

The existentialist concepts are very strong throughout this novel. They are seen in Camus' characters behavior and thoughts. 

Green

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fine American classic about the society in Long Island in the 1920's. Fitzgerald uses colors as strong symbols throughout the story. Here is an example:

The "death car" as the newspapers called it, didn't stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn't even sure of its color- he told the first policeman that it was light green. (137)

The color green is used in a crucial part of the story, right in the middle of the climax. It is when Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan's lover, is run over by this green car, coincidentally driven by Tom's wife, Daisy, outside of her garage. This is clearly a part where a color acts as a symbol in the novel, since the color green has many different meanings. The color green is a color of renewal, of natural wellbeing, of good luck; but it is also a color that conveys envy, jealousy and money. I believe these last three are the meanings Fitzgerald wanted to emphasize out of all the things green can be.

Although it was a sad coincidence, Daisy killed her husband's lover, which could be interpreted as a cruel act of vengeance sparked by envy and anger towards her if it was on purpose. Fitzgerald wanted to show this by painting the car green, portraying the jealousy behind it. Also, it is a symbol for the deterred ideal of the dream that all Americans at that time wanted: money. In a time where consumerism and overflowing capital was king, the "American Dream" as some call it was corrupted to a point where money was the main goal of it. Since Myrtle was a somewhat humble woman, the green car running over her can be interpreted as money triumphing over the real "American Dream", where a happy family and a good place to live was all that was needed. It could be said that in the end, as represente by this color in the car, Daisy and her economic power won over Myrtle and Tom's happiness.