The Stranger
In the book "The Stranger," the main character, Meursault, is a stranger to himself, and to life. Meursault is a person who is emotionally and physically detached from the world. He seemingly cares only about himself, but at the same time could be concerned little about what happens to him. The title, "the Stranger," could indicate Meursault's disconnection and indifference to the world that surrounds him and, therefore, his role as a stranger in the book. The title could also imply that he is simply a stranger to experiencing emotion and expressing feeling: that he is detached from himself and doesn't know what it means to be a human. Meursault show that is far more interested in the physical aspects of the world around him, than the social or emotional aspects of life. Throughout "The Stranger," Meursault's attention is centered on his physical relationship with Marie and physical elements of his surroundings.
Existentialism is a belief that is centered on man's freedom of choice and his responsibility for the consequences of his actions. It is the view that we create moral and ethical values though the choices that we make, that nothing is right or wrong until we make a choice, and the refusal to choose is a choice. Existentialism holds that there is no intrinsic meaning or purpose: therefore, it is up to each individual person to determine his own meaning and purpose, and to take responsibility for his actions.
According to Soren Kierlegaard, a nineteenth century Danish philosopher, an individual's response to a situation must be to live a totally committed life and this commitment can only be understood by the person who has made it. That person must always be able to defy the norms of society for the sake of the higher authority of a valid way of life.
In comparison to Existentialism, Meursault, in "the Stranger," exhibits these characteristics that are unique to his life experiences.
Detachment From Emotions
Meursault responds to situations in a way that is not normal in out society. He doesn’t distinguish right from wrong. Meursault clearly doesn’t judge one’s behavior to be good or bad. For instance, if there were a man abusing his dog, one would try and stop the man from abusing the dog. When Meursault encounters a similar situation, he sees this action, not as right or wrong, or good or bad, but as a man abusing a do...
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...I knew why. So did he. Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever offered me at the same time, in years no more real than the ones I was living.
(Pg: 120-121)
The Realization in the culmination of all the events of “The Stranger.” When Meursault accepts the gentle indifference of the world, he finds his peace, his center with himself and within the society around him, his development as a person, not just as a human being, he becomes complete.
In “The Stranger,” as is in Existentialism; Meursault convincingly accepts a responsibility for his act in killing the Arab. He realized that he had freedom of choice that it is up to him to determine the meaning and purpose of his own life.
(Remember there are 2 ways of Existentialism, “there is no mean to Live and There is Meaning”) there are 2 Existentialists that say that there is no mean to live and the rest DON’T I cant remember who pacifically but you can find out my teacher told me this in class. Thank you for reading I hope you in joyed my paper and much as I wrote it.
In The Stranger, Meursault is not able to tolerate intensive light which causes him to think narrowly and furthermore behave according to such thoughts. He does not seem to feel any emotions at his mother’s funeral as he shows more interest in the details of her death than his emotional connection to her as his mother. He is more bothered by the intensity of the light than the fact that his mother died. He portrays this kind of attitude at his mother’s funeral and then later on ...
Albert Camus is a skillful writer noted for showing aspects of culture and society through the depiction of his characters. In The Stranger, Camus illustrates the existentialism culture and how that comes into play in the life of the protagonist Meursault. The Stranger, as suggested by the title, is a novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault, who is a stranger to the French-Algerian society as he challenges its values. Camus vividly portrays Meursault’s journey through the use of imagery, irony, and symbolism. In The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the minor character, Raymond Sintes, to illustrate the contrasting nature of Meursault and how his friendship with Raymond leads to his downfall.
Part I of The Stranger begins with Meursault's attendance at his mother's funeral. It ends with Meursault on the beach at Algiers killing a man. Part II is concerned with Meursault's trial for that same murder, his ultimate sentencing to death and the mental anguish that he experiences as a result of this sentence. Several curious parallels emerge here, especially with regard to Meursault's perception of the world.
In Part One of The Stranger, Albert Camus avoids religious confrontations with Meursault in order to subconsciously place blame on Christ for his criminal actions. Camus restricts Meursault’s relationships to further distance him from his mother. Meursault then alienates himself from the typical spiritual ceremonies and actions to demonstrate his distrust of religion. Simultaneously, Camus uses diction of clear and bright elements to characterize people in the novel, excluding Meursault. Camus associates dark colors with Meursault to depict a sadistic persona. To conclude, Camus places Meursault in recurring situations which result in him being distracted by “the light”. Camus uses these literary techniques in The Stranger to demonstrate man’s condemnation of God.
Albert Camus’ The Stranger offers one man’s incite into the justice of society. Monsieur Meursault, the main protagonist in the novel, believes that morals and the concept of right and wrong possess no importance. This idea influences him to act distinctively in situations that require emotion and just decision, including feeling sadness over his mother’s death, the abuse of a woman, and his killing of an innocent man. In these situations Meursault apathetically devoids himself of all emotion and abstains from dealing with the reality in front of him. When confronted by the court over his murder, he reiterates his habitual motto on life that nothing matters anyways, so why care? His uncaring response inflames the people working within the
The main character Meursault is literally a stranger, a stranger to the reader. He is a stranger in many ways. Meursault does not act as we would say a normal person would. Being as he did not shed a tear at his own mothers funeral. Meursault also shot and killed an Arab at the beach and showed no regrets. Throughout the novel Meursault kept himself isolated himself mentally,
In “The Stranger”, the protagonist, Monsieur Meursault, is characterized as cold, uncaring, and emotionally detached. Throughout the novel, Meursault expresses no emotions toward the death of his very own mother, the proposed marriage between the woman, Marie Cardona, who became his lover, and to the actual murder of a man he didn’t know. While the jury at his trial sees him guilty because his uncommon and disassociated demeanor shows that he willfully intended to murder the Arab on the beach, a variety of psychologists would instead diagnose Meursault with Major Depressive Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Asperger’s Syndrome in order to characterize his indifferent thought patterns. If Meursault is suffering from Major Depressive Disorder, he is unable to function as a normal person would which ultimately leads the jury to believe that he is actually a cold blooded killer. Antisocial Personality disorder, like Major Depressive Disorder, causes Meursault to communicate a disregard for the lives of others and lacks remorse when he harms and even kills the Arab.
At first glance, Meursault could be seen as an evil man. He shows no grief at his mother’s funeral, worrying more about the heat. His first reaction to his mother’s death is not sadness, it is a matter-of-fact, unemotional acceptance of the situation. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” Later on in the story, Meursault kills an Arab on the beach, and his only concern is that he has ruined the calm, pleasant day he was having. When he is in jail, the magistrate comes in an attempt to save Meursault’s soul, but instead of cooperating, Meursault simply confounds the magistrate by refusing to believe in God. Even at his trial, Meursault doesn’t show any remorse for having killed the Arab. Based on this evidence alone, how can we not see Meursault as evil?
Meursault (the narrator) in The Stranger only sees and only wants to see the absolute truth in society. The readers first encounter with him...
“But from the moment he knows, his tragedy begins.” Meursault is not unlike Sisyphus. In the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus, we watch this character change from a carefree man who loves being alive and free to a man who is imprisoned for a meaningless murder he commits but who eventually finds happiness in his fate.
His beliefs began to form during his experience of World War II and after the terrors of the war; many other people believed that the human existence had no meaning. The Stranger could be classified as an existentialist novel because the protagonist of the story, Meursault, also seems to have existentialist beliefs. Meursault is a character that is very out of touch with the world. His attitude and morals were not accepted by the people of the society in the story, which leads to his death sentence. When people deal with a death, they grieve by crying or showing some type of sad emotion.
In The Stranger, Albert Camus describes the life of the protagonist, Meursault, through life changing events. The passage chosen illustrates Meursault’s view during his time in prison for killing the Arab. In prison, one can see the shifts in Meursault’s character and the acceptance of this new lifestyle. Camus manipulates diction to indicate the changes in Meursault caused by time thinking of memories in prison and realization of his pointless life. Because Camus published this book at the beginning of World War II, people at this time period also questions life and death similar to how Meursault does.
The Stranger written by Albert Camus is an absurdist novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault. A major motif in the novel is violence. There are various places where violence takes place and they lead to the major violent act, which relates directly to the theme of the book. The major violent act of killing an Arab committed by Meursault leads to the complete metamorphosis of his character and he realizes the absurdity of life.
The Stranger, a novel written by Albert Camus shows a world were being authentic is impossible. Meursault, the main character, is a strange person from the point of view of society and at the end of the book he is sentenced to death “for killing an Arab.” The society that judges Meursault as a stranger is the representation of our world, and Meursault is a person who tries to live his live following what he thinks is important in life; he is authentic. Meursault lives in a world really different from the real world. At the end of the book it is seen how the prosecutor, a “lawyer” of the state, defines Meursault as a person that is very different from the rest of society. The reason why Meursault is different from the rest of the world is that he doesn’t have the same ideals than society, and the things that society things are important Meursault considers them as unimportant. By having different reasons to live life, Meursault lives separated from society; he lives in a separate world. At the end of the book Meursault is obligated to come to reality. The judgment of Meursault let us see the impossibility of the. Meursault is not only himself but also a representation of the people how try to be different, and the prosecutor and the rest of the society are a reflection of our own world. The whole book is a reflection of our world.
Albert Camus wrote The Stranger during the Existentialist movement, which explains why the main character in the novel, Meursault, is characterized as detached and emotionless, two of the aspects of existentialism. In Meursault, Camus creates a character he intends his readers to relate to, because he creates characters placed in realistic situations. He wants the reader to form a changing, ambiguous opinion of Meursault. From what Meursault narrates to the reader in the novel, the reader can understand why he attempts to find order and understanding in a confused and mystifying world.