Existentialism in The Stranger by Albert Camus

Yue Zhao History 22 Professor Amir Alexander Term Paper Discussion 1F May 25, 2014 Colonialism in “The Stranger” “The Stranger”, a novel by French novelist Albert Camus, depicts the life in French-ruled Algeria in 1940s. “The Stranger” begins with Meursault’s mother’s funeral. After funeral, Meursault cruelly killed an Arabic man and he is sentenced to death because he does not show his sorrow at his mother’s funeral rather than murder. “The Stranger” is always manifested as a classic of “Absurdism”, discussed by readers and writers. However, associating with the time that Albert wrote this novel and the history of that time, people cannot overlook the ideas about colonialism in “The Stranger”.

"The Stranger": Analysis Author: Albert Camus I. Biographical Insights A. Albert Camus' cultures consist of being a novelist, literature and short story writer of many books. He wrote an essay on the state of Muslims in Algeria, causing him to lose his job and he moved to Paris. Albert Camus also joined the French resistance against the Nazis and became an editor of "Combat", an underground newspaper. He was dissatisfied with the editorial of the Board and left the underground newspaper. B. Albert Camus, son of a working-class family, was born in Algeria in 1913, in an extreme poverty area.

Even the words of the trusted French author Emile Zola obliged a century of reflection before inspiring the adulation of President Jacques Chirac. Had Zola remained indifferent, another Frenchman may have taken up Dreyfus' cause. But if not, could France have remained shrouded by an injurious lie? What historical price do we pay when fear and prejudice mingle? My heart sank when I received an Instant Message three nights before Halloween from a high school friend who now attends Columbia University: Two Arab men were apprehended yesterday at a Costco in New Jersey after a suspicious employee phoned the police on the men who were attempting to buy $5,000 worth of candy.

Albert Camus’ The Stranger is a novel originally written in French about an Algerian clerk, Meursault, who is essentially numb to the outside world. The first few sentences of the book read, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” (Camus 3) Meursault handled his mothers passing different than most people would and that’s not hard to notice. He didn’t wish to see her dead body one last time and didn’t even shed a tear at her funeral. After this attention grabbing event at the start of the novel the reader begins to learn more about Meursault’s personal life.

To answer both questions, one must know the important aspects of the novel and observe how the characters act. First of all, "The Stranger" is a fictional novel written by Albert Camus and was first published in 1942. The story is based around Meursault who learns that his mother has passed away. From the start, the emotional news is sudden, and readers expect Meursault to be heartbroken and tearful but instead he is found in an emotionless state, almost as if he doesn't care. This displays emotional detachment from the world around him and there are multiple examples throughout the novel where significant moments do not have an emotional impact on Meursault.

Dr. Manette tries to stop it. The court case for Charles’s second trial goes very differently from the first one. Ernst Defarge produces a letter, written by Dr. Manette himself, which dooms Charles to death. Dr. Manette had written down the history of his own imprisonment and stowed it in a wall of the Bastille. The history tells a sordid tale of rape and murder, the crimes committed by Charles’s father and brother.

However, the search for the murderer has proved unsuccessful. A series of eleven eyewitnesses, an assorted mix of occupations and cultures re-tell the murders of Madame and Mademoiselle L’Espanaye. However, they concur on one point. They all heard an indistinguishable voice "that of a foreigner" (Poe, pg. 185) and one of an angered Frenchman at the time of the murder.

This leads him to a passiona... ... middle of paper ... ...g life that is left of him. He has desired to return to a life which he always had. It‘s a life that might forever be his had he not sentenced for what he believed to be a useless murder where one can either shoot the Arab or not. As he went in prison however, his search for former joys lasted only for a few months. Page | 19 In this absurd life, one life was as good as another; and he isn‘t dissatisfied with his.

His past catches up to him one day in the perfect Camelot. Thomas Coleman, the son of the young couple that was killed in the Dickinson’s home many years before, finds Sam. Thomas wants a sincere apology from Sam but Sam repeatedly says “it was an accident “(Clarke 28). Thomas does not believe him and tells Sam that he will pay for the crimes. Thomas tries to break up Sam and Ann Marie’s marriage because Thomas wants what Sam has, his wife, family, home and his life.

The author Mark Twain approached the suddenness of death in his story “A Private History of a Campaign that Failed”. Ambrose Bierce also captured the sharp essence of death in his tale of Peyton Farquhar in “An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge”. Ambrose Bierce displays the theme of “the suddenness of death” with such a clarity even though it does not truly appear until the very last sentence of his short story. His distortion of reality is not realized until readers have fought alongside and cheered for the main protagonist Farquhar. In the first section it is learned that a man is scheduled to be executed, fleeting moments of longing for his wife and children flash through his mind.