The Stranger By Albert Camus Essay

473 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: The existential angst in the novel of albert camus

In The stranger the author Albert Camus creates a main character Meursault who is very different from other people. Rather than operating as an emotional person in the world he mostly just responds to physical things and is highly sensitive to them. Emotions are not a part of who he is. As a result he is unlike most people. When he as a different person that he is comes into conflict with a world that cares deeply about social norms it makes us aware of how absurd our society can be and sheds light on some serious problems within it. There is no doubt that Meursault shot and killed a man. However we know that it only happened because of his extreme sensitivity to the Sun. On the beach where the killing takes place Meursault ends up standing across from the man who stabbed his friend but the only reason he was there was that he was trying to “escape the sun” (Camus 57). He had no intention of harming anyone. In fact he says that “as far as [he] was concerned the whole thing was over (Camus 58). …show more content…

Even when he is directly involved in events, he’s unable to get too caught up in them. When his mother died he didn’t even try to mourn her. Meursault refused to accord himself with custom, and maintains his freedom by doing what strikes him as appropriate at any given moment. This includes smoking and showing indifference at his mother’s funeral. Another example can be when Marie asked him to marry her. He explains to her that he doesn’t love her but he’d marry her anyways because it didn’t really make a difference to him. Meursault also sums up his absurd worldview, forcefully stating that nothing really matters, that we all live and we all die, and what we do before we die is ultimately

Show More
Related

  • Meursault Investigation

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    He, however, seemed question his presence because the death of his mom or even from the absence of his father—the fairly dynamic that every child should have (both parents present). In chapter two Meursault found himself alone in his apartment as Marie had left for work earlier that morning. In this section he explains that, “After lunch I was a little bored and I wandered around the apartment” (21). In this quote, Meursault demonstrates just how meaningless is life is. To have nothing more to do with his time than walk around his apartment shows that Meursault is questioning his place in this world. He is a man with virtually only two friends—Raymond and Marie—and a neighbor that he associates with on occasion about his dog. As he wanders the apartment he explains that he lives, “in just one room now” (21), one that he literally put his dining table in so that he could eat in his room. This quote symbolizes his loneliness as a person. Not only is the apartment too big for him, the world is too, and his is basically alone in both. For some reason—maybe a tragedy or trauma that he faced in earlier years—Meursault has closed himself off from the world and does not express love for anyone or anything. In fact, Meursault made a statement about the death of his mother saying that, “at one time or another, all normal people have wished their loved ones were dead" (65). At this point in the story, I think that Meursault may not have had the best family dynamic. He does not speak of anyone else but Maman, and mentions a father that he does not know. So, he may not feel like he belongs or does not know how to. He also explains that, “it was one of Maman’s ideas, and she often repeated it, that after a while you could get used to anything” (77). This quote could explain the fact that Meursault is closed off—he has gotten so used to not having anyone around that truly cares for him (his

    Read More

  • Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Parallels Within

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world.

    Read More

  • Meursault’s Subconscious Mind in Albert Camus’ The Stranger

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Motif of the Sun in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    However, both the force of society and the force of the sun can become overpowering. They beat down on people, smothering and suffocating them, just as the sun beats down upon Meursault throughout the novel. The sun is present whenever the force of society is strong within Meursault. At the funeral, the sun bears down on Meursault as society smothers him with expectations that he will grieve his mother's death in a typical manner. At the beach when he kills the Arab, the sun is ever present and overpowering, making Meursault disoriented and confused.

    Read More

  • The Stranger Injustice Analysis

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Meursault Isolation Quotes

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    The title The Stranger sums up the novel into two words. Meursault acts mentally, physically, and emotionally strange to the reader. Only because Albert Camus made Meursault so isolated. Many humans show emotions on everyday things, and that is why Meursault would be considered strange because he does not act as we would say a normal human should.

    Read More

  • Comparing Existentialist Values in The Metamorphosis and The Stranger (The Outsider)

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    Meursault (the narrator) in The Stranger only sees and only wants to see the absolute truth in society. The readers first encounter with him...

    Read More

  • Emotional Connections In Albert Camu's The Stranger

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many reasons as to why a persons might be forced to take someone's life but in the story Meursault doesn't seem to have a reason for what he did. He didn't have a motive, the victim didn't attack him directly, he didn't have any problems or anything personal against him, he just lost control. If he would've felt emotions maybe he would've felt sacred or compassion or grief or anger or anything at all that would've stopped him from committing the murder . He doesn't even feel remorse after he has killed him. I think that those feelings of detachment, of indifference, of dispassion and his inability to create connections led him or facilitated him to commit the murder.

    Read More

  • The Stranger by Albert Camus

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel The Stranger was written by Albert Camus in 1942. The story is an example of how Camus perceives the world with his views. Camus’s views are that moral actions do not have any justification. Camus is considered an existentialist which means that he didn’t believe life had a specific meaning. Many of his beliefs are seen in this novel, as well as his other works. 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.

    Read More

  • The Unemotional Meursault in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Albert Camus’ novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault is a character who has definite values and opinions concerning the society in which he lives.  His self-inflicted alienation from society and all its habits and customs is clear throughout the book.  The novel itself is an exercise in absurdity that challenges the reader to face the nagging questions concerning the meaning of human existence. Meursault is an existentialist character who views his life in an unemotional and noncommittal manner, which enhances his obvious opinion that in the end life is utterly meaningless.

    Read More

  • Motif of Violence in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The meaning of the suffering of Meursault from the angle of existentialist crisis

    2072 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ists, Meursault has his own values which are incompatible to the values of the world. Values that would be very significant for most people, such as love for someone or suffering at a parent’s death, do not matter to him, at least not on a sentimental level. He simply does not care that his mother is dead, or that Marie loves him:

    Read More

  • The Stranger by Albert Camus - Man or Monster?

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Albert Camus’ absurdist novel, The Stranger, Meursault’s detachment from society and his killing of the Arab reveal moral and ethical implications for him and his society. As is common in many absurdist novels, Camus discusses the estrangement - and later development - of an individual in a benign and indifferent universe, one in which conformity prevails. Camus not only satirizes the conformity of society, but religion and the legal system as well. By writing in the first person (from the standpoint of Meursault), he draws in the reader, making the evils of society more prevalent.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - The Stranger (The Outsider)

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Meursault kills an Arab. He is convicted for the murder. While in the courtroom Meursault is asked why he killed the Arab. The only response Meursault could give them was the sun. Meursault said, "I never intended to kill the Arab" (102). The judge replies and Meursault "blurted out that it was because of the sun" (103). Meursault did tell the truth, the sun did affect his judgment. Camus writes, "The sun was starting to burn my cheeks...it was burning, which I couldn't stand anymore, that made me move forward" (58-59). The Arab gets up and shows his knife. Because of the sun he is blinded in two ways. The first reason was because of the sweat in his eye. The second reason was because the knife was reflecting the light into Meursault's eyes.

    Read More

  • The Character of Meursault in The Stranger (The Outsider)

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Stranger By Albert Camus Essay

Open Document