In the novel The Stranger, Camus involves death frequently throughout the novel. In the beginning, it starts off with Maman’s death, in the middle is the death of the Arab, and it ends with Meursault receiving the death penalty. The first and last death was quiet while the Arab’s death bloody. Just from this information, Camus saying that deaths can come in many forms. The first death was by natural cause, the second death was man vs. man, and the last death was by government. This proves that death is everywhere and it could happen at any time. Also, no matter what, one will always die no matter the circumstance. If one does not die now, they will eventually die later. It is also important to notice that people will always move from one’s …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, he does not seem to give much thought about it. This is proven at his mother’s funeral. During the event, he focused on his physical condition rather his emotions on his mother. It is understandable to think about the heat due to the fact it was so how; however, it was odd to not have a response or thought about his mother. Keep in mind that this is in first person. This does not mean that he is emotionless per say, but instead, he does not care about it. Another example on this thought is when Meursault kills the Arab, he has no reaction. During his trial, he forgets that he even killed the Arab. Meursault finds life and death to be pointless. One day or another one will die, “But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me. Yes, that was all I had” (Camus 120). This is when Meursault breaks down in front of the chaplain he dreaded to see. He confesses his thoughts on the whole aspect of death and choices of life. He questions the aspect of how choices can determine the outcome of a situation. This is one of the few times he shows his emotions without any subtlety. However, when the chaplain leaves and Meursault is left by himself, he reveals one final thought, “For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day
Meursault is an amoral person. He does not think about the choices he makes, but instead he tries to please people that interests him. He was committed to his actions and did not back out on any of them. He didn’t have second thoughts of what he has done. He has helped a thug.(add more here). He has killed an Arab and goes to jail for it. He says, “At first, I didn’t take him seriously. I was led into a curtained room; there was a single lamp on his desk which was shining on a chair where he had me sit while he remained standing in the shadows. I had read descriptions of scenes like this in books and it all seemed like a game to me”(Camus 78). Meursault does not take the interview seriously. He believes he has done nothing wrong. It proves difficult for him to view himself as a criminal because he truly believes in the simplicity of this case---he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was all a matter of absurd luck. He does not believe there is a God in this world. He is now sentenced with the death penalty. Before he died he says, “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—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish
This passage is set before Meursault’s execution with the chaplain entering the scene, and telling Meursault that his “heart is blind”, leading to Meursault to yell and delve into his rant, and moment of consciousness. The passage has a calm in the beginning as if Meursault catches his breath from yelling previously, and he starts to reassure himself that he is not wrong for expressing his views as it went against the public’s religious beliefs, and states that this moment was so important to him that it was if his life was merely leading up to it. Why this particular scene is important to Meursault is that this is an instance where he successfully detaches himself from the world, and begins to deconstruct the world’s ideals as his rant shifts on to focusing on how nothing in life mattered. Meursault describes his gripes with the chaplain’s words as he explains his reasoning as to why the concept of a god is flawed as Meursault saw that everyone was inherently the same, with equal privileges just how often people could express them separated them. The passage continues with Meursault arguing that everyone would be faced with judgment or punishment one day, and explains why his own situation was not significant as it was no different. After that explanation the passage ends with Meursault posing the concept of everything in the world being equal both in wrongdoing and life in general, evident in his example of saying “Sala¬mano's dog was worth just as much as his wife.” Although the passage shows Meursault challenging the ethics and morals that the world around him follows, it does have instances like the end in which we see that the rant is still expression of Meursault's complex emotions, as it is unclear whether it is fear or a...
He notes that it 's no big deal whether someone is remaining alive or dead since whatever one does before dying is irrelevant. Because of these words, he pushes the chaplain away who came to pray with him. This is an indication that he does not value what the chaplain is out to tell him or confess but instead contented with what he already has. Moreover, it is evident in the last parts of the novel that Meursault becomes free from hope and recognizes himself in a world with no meaning and hope as the novel end with him accepting his absurd position and concluding that he is happy. He believes that even those who lives behind will follow the same path. Moreover, he realizes that he is approaching his death just the same way he approached his life hence no
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
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.
When Meursault hears about his mother 's death, he shows no emotion and no sadness. The event has no affect on Meursault and he attends the funeral without showing any feeling (#7) of depression, sadness, or remorse. Meursault, even when recalling the event of his mother 's passing, does not remember the day she died even when it was only one day prior. Most people would remember a day they lost a loved one for the rest of their lives. Meursault, exhibiting sociopathic traits, has an ability to control other people using his calm. Meursault was able to convince Raymond to not shoot the Arab and put the gun down. (#16) Meanwhile, Meursault shows another trait of sociopathy that resulted in a radical action: a murder of one of the Arabs. Even after Meursault shot the Arab dead, he fired four more rounds into the Arab 's dead body. One may infer that Meursault thought to himself: the Arab was not anymore dead after the first round than the last four rounds. Once again, Meursault has no feeling of regret, remorse, or grief. At the end of his life, Meursault is condemned to death. Meursault accepts this and towards the very end, actually looks forward to death. It seems as if the only thing that made Meursault happy in his life, was awaiting his death. Meursault is like white noise in the background of life. The noise plays in the background, yet has no actual effect on anything. Meursault has no first name, without an age, without any features. He has no identity. Meursault, is indeed, The
“All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears. I stood there motionless” (Camus, 124). Meursault was at a party-like function, and once again he became disconnected to human interaction. The quote adds to the book as a whole because it shows one of the many times he becomes disconnected from normal human
In the experimental novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, he explores the concept of existentialism and the idea that humans are born into nothing and descend into nothingness after death. The novel takes place in the French colony of Algiers where the French-Algerians working-class colonists live in an urban setting where simple life pleasures are of the upmost importance in the lives of working class people like the protagonist of the novel Meursault. What is fascinating about this novel is that it opens up with a scene of perpetual misfortune for him through the death of his mother although he seems to express otherwise. The reader perceives this nonchalance as a lack of care. Maman’s death and its impact on Meursault appear in both the very beginning and very end of the two-part novel, suggesting a cyclical pattern in the structure. This cyclical pattern suggests not a change in the moral beliefs of Meursault but rather his registering society’s systems and beliefs and craft meaning in his own life despite the fact that he meets his demise in the end. Camus uses Maman’s funeral to characterise both Meursault and the society and customs created by the society Meursault lives in in order to contrast the two while at the same time reveal how while society changes, Meursault does not. Rather, Maman’s funeral becomes of unprecedented importance in Meursault’s life and allows him to find that nothing means anything in his meaningless world at the time of his death. He finds peace in that.
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.
In the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault, the main character of the novel, acts as a stranger to the people of his hometown through his actions like not crying at his mother’s funeral. Later in the Novel, Meursault puts himself into a bad situation by being friends with Raymond, who had a group of Arabs that have a grudge on Raymond for beating one of their members sister. The group of Arabs attack Raymond’s group and Meursault ends up killing one of the Arabs in self defense. Meursault is then punished by the justice system and sentenced to death. Even though Meursault had the choice of saving his life by telling the judge that he killed the Arab because the Arab attacked him, but Meursault decides to choose death. Some people believe that Meursault realizes the absurdity and meaningless of life after his sentence. I believe that Meursault knew all along that life is absurd and meaningless before his sentence.
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.
...according to him, a man who is morally guilty of killing his mother severs himself from society in the same way as a man who raises a murderous hand against the father who begat him.” This quote is telling how society input their feelings and ideas onto Meursault. The persecutor compares Meursault emotionless and lack on remorse for his killing the same as a person killing their own father. Society believes Meursault as an emotionless killer or a stranger to society’s morality, Meursault then can’t explain why he couldn’t feel any emotion, drives, or thoughts of remorse for his murder. Lastly, when the chaplain visits Meursault against his wishes, this scene showed how society expects everyone to ask for forgiveness from god when near death. Meursault then thinks it is absurd and refused to believe in him because he says it’s ridiculous and there’s no time at all.
...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.
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.
Meursault is distant from set plans, ambitions, desires, love, and emotions in general. He has a difficult time with emotions such as regret and compassion. The reader sees the nature of his personality in the first few lines of the novel: "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." When he hears of the death of his mother through a telegram, he is unattached, and can be considered uncaring.