How does a person really live when they feel there is no meaning in life and that the thought of seeking any value is absurd? Albert Camus’s novel “The Stranger” focuses on Meursault, a man who lives for the yearnings of the present moment and completely free of any values. Moreover, “Meursault refuses to conform to a social code that, in his mind, demands an excess of false words” (Taylor). Rather than behave with the social standards, Meursault tries to live as honestly as he can, doing what he wants to do and befriending those whom he likes. He also refuses to give off feelings that he does not truly feel. Consequently, he does not force himself to cry at his mother’s funeral or to mourn her death too deeply. Shortly after Meursault’s mother’s death he finds himself in jail after the murder of an Arab man. Meursault realizes he wants to live with the certainties of this life even if that means confronting death. Through plot, character, narration, and symbolism Camus illustrates that life has no meaning or purpose.
Camus uses Meursault’s feelings toward society and the world to illustrate that life has no meaning or purpose. Towards the end of the novel Meursault is beginning to realize he has similarities with the world he feels, “ As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself- so like a brother really” (Camus 122). Meursault is put into “blind rage” after the Chaplain meets with him and insists on his acceptance of God. Meursault finally accepts the absurdist beliefs. He realizes that the world’s indifference to human matters is similar to his own indifference to...
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...ll continue to be” (David 57). No matter how different a person is from everyone acceptance is the first step to happiness.
Works Cited
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Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Vintage International, 1946. Print.
David, Carroll. “ Rethinking the Absurd: Le Mythe de Sisyphe.” The Cambridge Companion to Camus. Edward Hughes. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. 53-62. Print.
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Preston, Gregor A. "Bundy/The Stranger Beside Me (Book Review)." Library Journal 105.15 (1980): 1748. Literary Reference Center. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
The emotionless anti-hero, Monsieur Meursault, embarks on a distinct philosophical journey through The Stranger. Confident in his ideas about the world, Meursault is an unemotional protagonist who survives without expectations or even aspirations. Because of his constant indifference and lack of opinions about the world, it can be denoted that he undergoes a psychological detachment from the world and society. It is through these characteristics that exist in Meursault that Camus expresses the absurd. Starting from the very first sentence of the book, “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) The indifferent tone from these short sentences convey a rather apathetic attitude from Meursault’s part. Not only does he not feel any sorrow, he also “felt like having a smoke.” (Camus 4) Communicating perfectly Meursault’s disinterest, “[he] hesitate, [he] didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there. [He] thought it over; it really didn’t matter.” (Camus 4) The death of his mother prompts an absurdist philosophy in which he experiences a psychological awakening and begins to place no real emphasis on emotions, but rather on the physical aspect of life.
Both Equus and The Stranger specifically contain judgment of the characters and consequently all people who do not fit the norm. By utilizing motifs, characterization, and physical actions, Shaffer and Camus take the judgment of their characters and apply it to everyone in society who feels they are outside looking in on all the normal people. Even though they clash with each other in the methods of deploying these techniques, Shaffer and Camus’ texts both bear the same message. These two postmodernist authors use their works as a tool to criticize and condemn society’s way of destroying the abnormal, the passionate, and the crazy.
- - -. “Isolation.” Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. .
...able option. Camus’s main character, Meursault, embodies this third option; by accepting his circumstances and being indifferent to them, Meursault is able to break free of all possible causes of anxiety and find happiness. Furthermore, Meursault’s rejection of religion as belief, his acceptance of the “benign indifference of the universe”, and his acceptance of his circumstances all leading to happiness personifies Camus’s take on Absurdism, the philosophy that Camus is trying to depict in The Stranger (76). By using foil characters to contrast Meursault in actions or personality, Camus creates several polarizing situations, making Meursault the extreme epitome of Absurdism in every contrasting relationship and thus, shining light on his ideology in the process.
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.
Nadelhaft, Ruth L. Joseph Conrad, Bloom's Major Short Story Writers. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2000. Print.
Bloom, Harold. "Bloom on Hamlet." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 9 Dec. 2013
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.
Bloom, Harold, ed. English Romantic Poets. . New York New Haven Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
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Bausch, Richard, and R. V. Cassill. "Heart of Darkness." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 126-86. Print.
In The Stranger, Albert Camus uses Meursault and his experiences to convey the philosophy that man is full of anxiety and despair with no meaning in his life except for simple existence. The concept of existentialism is reflected through Meursault’s experiences with his mother’s death, his relationship with Marie, his murder of the Arab, and his own trial and execution. For example, Meursault's relationship with his mother seemed to be very strange. He really did not have an emotional connection with her, or anyone in general. It seems that he really did not care that she was dead because he said, “ Maman used to spend her time following me with her eyes, not saying a thing” (Camus 5). This could be interpreted by saying they just did not connect
Camus’s The Stranger takes the reader on an emotionally stunted journey through a number of normally emotional moments in life including funerals, relationships, violence trials, and facing one’s one mortality. None of these things elicit strong emotion from Camus’s protagonist, Meursault, until he explodes in anger at the presumptuous chaplain in the moments before dawn on the day of his execution. In that moment, Meursault embraces the benign indifference of the universe and on the heels of his anger, feels the first real happiness of the story.
Within the Stranger, Albert Camus brought up many questions and a few answers. He created an outsider to society and showed us how he lived, Meursault.