The Stranger, by Albert Camus, depicts a man who is going through life with an existential viewpoint on things that he does. The protagonist, Meursault, insists on going through life as if nothing in his life matters at all, and the point of his existence continues to escape him on many different levels. Through the death of his mother; the relationship with Maria, and the killing of an Arab; Meursault still finds that the meaning of his life escapes him. While many people believe that Camus uses symbolism with the weather and various other devices, I believe he uses a different approach. In The Stranger, Camus shows through symbolism that the true meaning of life is found when facing one’s own death.
During the first major event shown in his life, Meursault shows his total lack of emotion coping with his mother’s death (pages 3-14). Meursault more or less appears very annoyed at the inconvenience of his mother passing when and where she did. He fails to really grasp the concept and ultimate fate that death brings to all of us. “The woman kept on crying… I wish I didn’t have to listen to her anymore,” (page 10) Meursault showed an incredible annoyance for the woman who was grieving over his own mother’s loss. Even if a distant family member dies, most people are at the very least struck with a
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Even when facing his trial, Meursault could not bring himself to understand life even a little bit more than he previously knew. Meursault felt the need to make an effort to defend himself, “Later on, though, I no longer saw any point to my reluctance (page 72).” Meursault could not find any sort of validation during his trial and incarceration. He even wanted to sit back and see how it would all play out. Even when facing consequences of actions, Camus shows that the thrill of getting caught is not the point of
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.
Meursault shows very little love or sorrow at the fact of his mother's death. A normal man would feel pain and regret for not being by her side while Meursault does not even care much about the date she passed away. Immediately on the first page in the novel, we confront the situation where Meursault's mother dies, and he does not care about it. "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: `Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday" (3). Meursault does not bother to call back and find information about his mother. Meursault shows no emotion or care for his mother because he sends her away for someone else to take care of her. During the last years of an elder person's life, they are invited to stay with the family in order to become closer with one another. Meursault could care less as he shows no sign of pain, and goes off to do something else. He resembles a figure where an issue as important as death does come as a priority. "We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw" (Lines 1-4).
In Camus’s “The Stranger” I will be discussing how the character Meursault utilizes all of the six existential themes: Freedom, Contingency, Individuality, Existence, Reflection, and Passion. I will also address how Meursault utilizes the existential givens of existence: Death, Freedom, Existential Isolation, and Meaning/Meaninglessness. I will then go on to discuss Meursault’s responsibility (guilt) throughout the novel. Finally I will discuss the interaction between Meursault and the Chaplain and it’s significance.
Meursault resists being typecast into an archetypal moral category in many of his deeds and actions. Many of his actions in Part One of the novel help contribute to the fuzzy picture of the character. For example, at his mother's funeral, Meursault does not cry or weep in the typical mourning fashion, but rather sleeps during the vigil and entices one of the other mourners present to smoke a cigarette with him. This would be typically considered "evil" behavior, in the context of the story. He could easily been seen as disrespectful and seditious toward his mother and the established procedures of mourning, which seem to be fairly definite at that era in France. However, this "evil" mold can easily be shaken if one considers that Meursault may be more shaken than anyone else present at the funeral. Considering the other events in the novel, it seems as though he does not have a large capacity for emotion. Based on this, it is not unreasonable to assume that the events leading up to and including his mother's death may have overtaxed his limited scope of emotion, and he was therefore nearly incapable of mourning in the "normal" or expected way for his mother, but rather had to resort to his own, more c...
Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger, Meursault the main character, narrates in the first person and thus, his perceptions are limited. The description of the other characters is entirely subjective, that is, he does not attempt to understand their thoughts and feelings. Meursault is detached from society which makes his descriptions of things going on around him removed. He also refuses to adhere to the accepted moral order of society and thus, society brands him an outsider. The internal world of his thoughts and the external world of he lives in both don’t retain any order. Events that usually have a lot of meaning to people, such as marriage proposals and death in the family, don’t seem to matter to Meursault, at least not emotionally. However, through Camus’s use of a first person narrative, we start to see and comprehend that Meursault is not immoral, but indifferent. He is a symbol of the universe, and the universe is seen as a place of moderate indifference.
What if the past has no meaning and the only point in time of our life that really matters is that point which is happening at present. To make matters worse, when life is over, the existence is also over; the hope of some sort of salvation from a God is pointless. Albert Camus illustrates this exact view in The Stranger. Camus feels that one exists only in the world physically and therefore the presence or absence of meaning in one's life is alone revealed through that event which he or she is experiencing at a particular moment. These thoughts are presented through Meursault, a man devoid of concern for social conventions found in the world in which he lives, and who finds his life deprived of physical pleasure--which he deems quite important--when unexpectedly put in prison.
because the author is saying that you need to repent and ask for forgiveness to
Throughout the short novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus contains symbolic references that are portrayed throughout the novel. Meursault, the protagonist of this story, is portrayed as a cold, emotionless, and strange being. He lacks emotion and sometimes seems to be afraid of it as well. The sun and the heat is a constant symbol throughout the novel. Meursault is constantly attacked by the sun and its heat. It can be brushed off as a lack of tolerance for heat or as a part of Meursault's strangeness. However, the sun is the only thing that seems to hinder Meursault. Perhaps the true antagonist of this novel is the sun and its unbearable heat. Despite the fact that everything else in the world cannot phase Meursault the sun can easily take
In the novel The Stranger, by Albert Camus, readers see Meursault as a product of a meaningless and hollow society, from the materialistic conditions to the incapacity for reflectiveness or desire. Readers find Meursault, in chapters three and four, to be lacking the consciousness of his own self and environment, demonstrating Meursault’s indifference to any larger sense of natural law. In the midst of the heat Meursault is found guilty of everything: his strange personality and apathetic nature along with his crime. The acknowledgement of the guilt occurs when the doorkeeper testifies, “… that [Meursault had] declined to see [his] Mother's body, [Meursault] smoked cigarettes and slept, and drunk cafe au lait. It was then [Meursault] felt a
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.
Meursault does not mourn terribly about his loss, and Camus depicts this through Meursault’s language. In the first chapter, he takes the time to describe his system of getting to the funeral instead of expressing his grief for his mother. When he receives the telegram from the home, after reading it, he states “that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday”(3). He is impassive by the known fact, and his response is not connected to the actual death of his mother, it is about when the death has probably taken place. He seems restrained and states that “it’s almost as if Maman weren’t dead”; however, he continues to state that “after the funeral, though, the case will be closed, and everything will have a more official feel to it” (3). Simply hearing the news of his mother is not enough for him to feel sorrow, he believes that after the events have been taken place, he might then feel mournful. However, after the funeral “[he] felt like having a smoke…[so he] offered the caretaker a cigarette and [they] smoked”(8). The language that Camus utilizes for Meursault is very unemotional, because while present in a funeral Meursault decides to smoke and he does not think anything of it. Furthermore, Meursault is reacting to this situation very robotically, without any specific feeling or emotion, he just responds as the situation
...everyone is surrounded by death. Camus explains that life isn’t about what is not envisioned, but it’s about what is evident. Meursault’s feeling of apathy is directly related to his conviction that life lacks necessary order and meaning, “As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope…I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world,” as he awaits his impending death, he finally recognizes that life is the most complex entity in the universe and one only has one life to live, so live it wisely (122). In the end, Meursault changed spiritually because he didn’t concentrate as much on the physical world because while he was in prison, he thought about life’s gifts and (although still atheist) realizes that faith in yourself and life is very important. There is also some irony here; he finally realizes the meaning of live just as he awaits his death.
Existentialism is defined as "a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will”. In other words, existentialism emphasizes individual freedom. Throughout The Stranger, the amount of existentialism is abundant. The use of Mersault’s experiences coveys the idea that human life has no meaning except for simple existence. The idea of existentialism in Albert Camus' The Stranger reflects through Mersault's life experiences with his relationship with Marie, the death of his mother Maman, the murdering of the Arab, and Mersault's trial and execution, all these events show that Mersault’s life of no meaning.
It is true that Meursault was different from the rest of society. However, he changes throughout the trial and eventually becomes an existentialist hero. This is because he finds meaning in life. It is ironic, though, that he learns to appreciate life after his is effectively over. His apathetic approach to life is made clear from the first page: “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” This foreshadows his approach to everything else in the book. His indifference to Maman’s death contrast’s significantly to Salamano’s distress at losing his dog. Many of the characters in this book also function to highlight his qualities through contrast.
Meursault was always indifferent. Meursault accepted death. Why? Meursault saw the purpose of life meaningless. That is “Absurdity”! Absurdity, how does that word sound? Pretty bad, eh? Absurdity when used like “that’s absurd!” gives the feeling of negative judgment and a sense of finality. The idea of the Absurd seems to attach itself with meaningless, pointless and other such words that express a destination but without the means to get there and vice versa means but no destination. So from there I inferred that Camus does not believe in God nor any high law or universal law that are associated with a divinity, which is a path in life (either the means or the destination). So what is Absurd? The Absurd is living, a quest to find the meaning of anything within a reality with no purpose. Reality has no purpose because there is no high law, a universal law nor a God. Therefore this reality must be randomness. I believe that Camus wants us to see this and begin questioning our existence. So he wants he wants us to see the Absurdity and to cope with the Absurdity.