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.
Camus introduces Raymond Sintes in chapter
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“Then he explained that was what he needed advice about. He stopped to adjust the lamp’s wick, which was smoking. I just listened. I’d drunk close to a liter of wine and my temples were burning.[…]What bothered him was that he ‘still has sexual feelings for her.’ But he wanted to punish her” (31). Raymond tries the make the setting more comfortable as he adjusts the lamp’s wick, and has Meursault slightly drunk. When someone is drunk, his judgment is impaired. Thus, Meursault easily agreed to whatever is coming next. Raymond re-appeals to Meursault physical desires by claiming he still has sexual feelings for the woman they are discussing. This scene is significant because it illustrates how Raymond understands that Meursault has existentialist traits, thus, cannot be easily wowed by emotional desires but rather by physical ones. As the dialogue progresses, Camus’ conflict builds: “But Raymond told me he didn’t think he could write the kind of letter it would take and that he’d thought of asking me to write for him. Since I didn’t say anything, he asked if I’d mind doing it right then and I said no” (32). “I tried my best to please Raymond because I didn’t have any reason not to please him” (32). Taking advantage of the ambiguous response, Raymond gives Meursault the supplies to write the letter, thus, achieving his objective. “He stopped calling me ‘monsieur.’ It was only when he announced …show more content…
“Next came Raymond, who was the last witness. He waved to me and all of the sudden blurted out that I was innocent” (95). This scene is ironic because prior this trial, Raymond doesn’t express any sense of loyalty. But in this scene, Raymond shows loyalty towards Meursault. He says that the Arabs hated him and Meursault was there by chance. This scene is important because it shows how everything that occurred was indirectly caused by Raymond and Meursault’s friendship under the pretense of “chance.”
In Camus’ The Stranger, the use of the minor character Raymond helps illustrate the absurd nature of Meursault. Through imagery, dialogue, and irony, the novel investigates the moral decisions Meursault makes under Raymond’s influence. The constant tactical bribery and other forms of manipulation steer Meursault’s writing of the letter that leads to him killing the Arab and ultimately receiving the death penalty. Camus uses Raymond to highlight the cultural and societal values. In addition, through Raymond’s help, Meursault ends up in jail where he finally realizes the theme that life is
Chapter 6 of part I of The Stranger concluded with Meursault’s conscious decision to shoot an Arab because of the physical discomfort the Arab’s knife caused him. The significance of the ending of part I is that it was the first demonstration of Meursault’s awareness of the possible consequences of the act that he committed. This awareness continues into the second part of the novel as he is arrested and trialed. The reason for Meursault’s trial is the murder of the Arab. His insensitivity towards Maman’s death and lack of a social conscientious are factors that contributed to support further investigations, but are not reasons to trial him because they have not ‘harmed’ society on a way that he could be arrested for. For example, if Meursault
Meursault is a fairly average individual who is distinctive more in his apathy and passive pessimism than in anything else. He rarely talks because he generally has nothing to say, and he does what is requested of him because he feels that resisting commands is more of a bother than it is worth. Meursault never did anything notable or distinctive in his life: a fact which makes the events of the book all the more intriguing.
Meursault’s actions throughout the novel lead to his regretless murder. Meursault surrounds himself around people of no spiritual faith to withdrawal himself from his mother and God. Reserved Meursault interacts with his neighbor Salamano on various occasions and observes him walking his dog everyday, repeatedly swearing at it. Meursault observes as Salamano yanks the dog while screaming, “’Filthy, stinking bastard!’” (Camus 27). This interaction illustrates the revolting and monstrous characteristics of Salamano through the eyes of society. Instead of cringing in repulsion as expected of most ordinary people, when Raymond “’asked me (Meursault) didn’t I think it was disgusting’” (Camus 28), Meursault replied no. Meursault’s response implies his lack of sentiment and places him in the same category as Salamano.
Since he cares little for the affairs of the world, claiming they do not mean anything, then justice—a major concern of the world—also means nothing to him. His actions both before and after his decision to kill a man without provocation demonstrate his apathetic view of the world, and his indifference to justice. Therefore Meursault’s search for justice, culminated by the court’s decision to execute him, remains an example to all of the inability of society to instill justice in criminals. Meursault’s perpetual refusal to acquire a sense of morality and emotion instigates skepticism in all who learn of his story of society’s true ability to instill justice in the
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.
Albert Camus has his own toolbox of literary devices when it comes to accentuating the theme of The Stranger, one of them being his unique sense and use of secondary characters. Whether major or minor, every character in the book serves a purpose, and corroborates the theme in some form of fashion. Camus describes his secondary characters as foiling Meursault in one aspect or another, and thus, shining light on Meursault’s characteristics. Whether through close connections like familial relationships (Maman) and friendships (Salamano, Raymond, and Marie), or through bonds as distant as people he briefly converses with (Chaplain), or even so much as complete strangers (Perez and unidentified lady at the restaurant), characters that Meursault encounters foil and therefore, emphasize many aspects of his nature. Furthermore, because Meursault aptly embodies Camus’s ideology of Absurdism, emphasizing Meursault through secondary characteristics simply highlights Camus’ doctrine and theme of the book.
...immediately gives an impression of a lack of emotion towards the demise of his mother. This lack of emotion highlights the existentialist ideal that we all die, so it doesn't matter what life we have while we are alive. We simply exist, as did Meursault. It becomes apparent, as the novella unfolds, that Meursault has acquired an animal like indifference towards society. His interactions with his neighbour Raymond are an example of his indifferences. It never dawns upon Meursault that society does not condone his interactions with the pimp, avoided by his community. Meursault simply acts to fill his time. Being a single man, he has a lot of time to fill, and finds the weekends passing particularly slowly.
In the opening of the novel, Meursault receives word that his mother has passed away. While keeping her vigil, he smokes a cigarette. He hesitates at first, because he doesn’t know if he should smoke with his mother right there, but, he says, “I thought about it, it didn’t matter.” He is not sad about her death. Therefore he sees no reason to act as if he is.
In The Stranger, Camus portrays women as unnecessary beings created purely to serve materialistically and satisfy males through the lack of a deep, meaningful, relationship between Meursault and females. Throughout the text, the main character, Meursault, creates closer, more meaningful relationships with other minor characters in the story. However, in his interactions with females in this book, Meursault’s thoughts and actions center on himself and his physical desires, observations, and feelings, rather than devoting his attention to the actual female. Living in Algiers in the 1960s, Meursault originates from a post-modernist time of the decline in emotion. Meursault simply defies the social expectations and societal ‘rules’, as post-modernists viewed the world. Rather than living as one gear in the ‘machine’ of society, Meursault defies this unwritten law in the lackluster relationships between he and other females, as well as his seemingly blissful eye to society itself. In The Stranger, males, not females, truly bring out the side of Meursault that has the capacity for compassion and a general, mutual feeling relationship. For example, Marie and Meursault’s relationship only demonstrate Meursault’s lack of an emotional appetite for her. Also, with the death of Maman, Meursault remains virtually unchanged in his thoughts and desires.
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.
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.
Every character that revolves around Meursault seems to be in direct contrast to him. Meursault is an amoral person who does not seem to care passionately about anything. He acts in accordance with physical desires. In other words, Meursault is a sensualist person. At this particular time in his life, his path crosses with his neighbor, Raymond, who feels as though his girlfriend is cheating on him. He decides to take revenge with minor aid form Meursault. Meursault helps him only because he thinks he has nothing to lose if he does. As things lead into one another, the first major violent act of the book is committed.
This ideal destroys the very purpose of the trial, which seeks to place a rational explanation on Meursault’s senseless killing of the Arab. However, because there is no rational explanation for Meursault’s murder, the defense and prosecution merely end up constructing their own explanations, which they each declare to be the truth, but are all based on false assumptions. Therefore, the prosecution itself is to be viewed as absurd. When the prosecutor asks Perez if “he had at least seen [Meursault] cry,” he tries to persuade the crowd that Meursault is without feeling (91). The prosecutor then further turns the crowd against Meursault when he asks him about his “liaison” with Marie right after his mother’s death. The prosecutor remarks “indifferently that if he was not mistaken, that was the day after Maman died” (93). Though the liaison with Marie and the lack of emotions at Maman’s funeral may seem unrelated to Meursault’s killing, the prosecutor effectively convinces the crowd that they are in fact intertwined. The jury convicts Meursault not because he killed a man, but because he didn't show the proper emotions after his mother died. Despite hearing Meursault’s own thoughts ...
The trial portrays the absurdist ideal that absolute truth does not exist. This ideal destroys the very purpose of the trial, which seeks to place a rational explanation on Meursault’s senseless killing of the Arab. However, because there is no rational explanation for Meursault’s murder, the defense and prosecution merely end up constructing their own explanations. They each declare their statements to be the truth, but are all based on false assumptions. The prosecution itself is viewed as absurd. The prosecutor tries to persuade the jury that Meursault has no feelings or morals by asking Perez if “he had at least seen [Meursault] cry” (91). The prosecutor then continues to turn the crowd against Meursault when he asks him about his “liaison” with Marie right after his mother’s death. Though Meursault’s relationship with Marie and his lack of emotions at his mother’s funeral may seem unrelated to his murder, the prosecutor still manages to convince the crowd that they are connected to one another. The jury ends up convicting Meursault not because he killed a man, but because he didn't show the proper emotions after his mother ...
Camus writes in a simple, direct, and uncomplicated style. The choice of language serves well to convey the thoughts of Meursault. The story is told in the first person and traces the development of the narrator's attitude toward himself and the rest of the world. Through this sort of simple grammatical structure, Camus gives the reader the opportunity to become part of the awareness of Meursault. In Part I, what Meursault decides to mention are just concrete facts. He describes objects and people, but makes no attempt to analyze them. Since he makes no effort to analyze things around him, that job is given to the reader. The reader therefore creates his own meaning for Meursault's actions. When he is forced to confront his past and reflect on his experiences, he attempts to understand the reasons for existence. At first, Meursault makes references to his inability to understand what's happening around him, but often what he tells us seems the result of his own indifference or detachment. He is frequently inattentive to his surroundings. His mind wanders in the middle of conversations. Rarely does he make judgments or express opinions about what he or other characters are doing. Meursault walks through life largely unaware of the effect of his actions on others.