Literary Analysis #4: The Fall

General:

1. The Fall is about a man named Jean-Baptiste Clamence, who tells about his past life to another man. He confesses what man he used to be and who he is now. When talking to the other man he sounds very confident in himself and in a way seems like he thinks he's better than everyone else. I think the plot is just that he wanted someone to  speak to about himself to hear it out loud. In the end he seems more pleased with himself.
2. I'm not too sure what the theme is, but I'm thinking maybe it's that speaking to others about yourself can help you more understand yourself. Sometimes hearing opinions from other people can change you or not. In this case it doesn't change Clamence because he doesn't believe he should deserve to be judged.
3. The tone seemed to me to be overly confident and careless. For example when Clamence speaks he seems like he believes in men like himself to be the best of the best. He doesn't regret anything either when in some cases I think he should've. Also he shows he's careless because he admits to having not many friends only acquaintances. This obviously shows he doesn't care to please anyone else, but himself.
4. The first element that helped me better understand the book was the setting. This helped because the setting took place in Amsterdam and men there seem to me to think that they're more superior like Clamence thinks. Also the dialogue because the whole book is a one sided conversation. You never get to hear what the other man says. I thought this was odd at first until I caught on. Another element is the syntax because sometimes he's talking about his past and other times about what is presently occurring. This brings me to flashbacks because the whole book is mainly about his past. Flashbacks occur very often throughout the story. Finally his actions because he seems to always want to be telling the other man his story. He tells the man to meet him each day at the bar before he has to leave Amsterdam, and has him walk with him home.

Characterization: 

1. The author uses direct characterization in showing that Clamence is opposed to judgement because he states that he doesn't need to be judged. He seems not to care if he judges other people though. By this it shows indirect characterization in him being careless. It's not stated, but by the way he speaks about not having friends and not caring what other people think of him. Another example of indirect characterization is that Clamence is a little snobby. This is shown when he talks about how he lost his friends as if they weren't perfect enough or that they had to make all the effort to be his friend.
2. The diction is normal, but sometimes he speaks in french when referring to a person.
3. I felt that the character was more static because he wasn't really trying to change just tell his story of his life.
4. I felt like I was the other person listening to his story so yes I  did feel like I had met a person. In ways I felt myself responding in my head when he would ask the man a question.