Mortality in the Stranger by Albert Camus

In this quote ‘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.

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?

In the novel, DeLillo attempts to show that modern life ceaselessly endeavors to conceal death from people's view behind its magnanimity and decorum. This theme is best articulated in the characterizations of Jack and his ... ... middle of paper ... ...h; but his belief proves to be futile. In contrast to his proposition about Hitler, all of the characters are driven by the fear of death in the event of the airborne toxicity. In fact, Jack's perception of death is different from others'. Though different characters view death from different point of views and perspectives, their reactions to the pending death are natural.

Works Cited Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage International., 1989.

In the end everyone dies, but not everyone can accept that reality calmly. There are those, such as the Brigata in The Decameron, who let their fear of death consume them, only furthering the panicked mentality of the ten youth. Contrarily, Montaigne seems to have grasped the concept that to know that death is approaching only allows you to really live, citing his view of death as an adventure of sorts that will free him from the constraints of daily life. Montaigne uses his fear of dying without accomplishing anything to teach him how to live a fulfilling life, instead of using his creativity to stave his fear of death as the Brigata do in The Decameron, as he is no longer afraid to die as they are. Unlike in The Decameron, where the Brigata let their fear of death control the way that they live, Montaigne recognizes that death is inevitable and uses this knowledge to fuel the writing of his Essays.

Senator Sanchez who is facing death shows us that he wants to keep his life normal in some aspects while counting the days he has left. According to the article Understand the Meaning of Social Well-Being at the End of Life most people faced with death have the “need to be surrounded by family and participate with social activities … [giving] them a reason to live-a purpose to stay involved and live while they were dying” (367 Prince-Paul), Senator Sanchez continues on his campaign trail in order to stay involved in his life. He would not allow others to know about his death “he had decided to endure his secret all alone, with no change in his life,... ... middle of paper ... ...riage, death” (92) Senator Sanchez tries to defeat death almost by falling in love twice, yet based on his own marriage he is unable to marry again. In the end Senator Sanchez dies “weeping with rage at dying without her” again this goes with Vodolagin’s article in that death is tolerable, it is dying that is hard. Senator Sanchez figures this out when his own happy life is halted when confronted with the news he is dying.

Works Cited Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward. The Stranger. New york: Vintage International, 1989. Print.

God gives Death a charge to show Everyman who is outside of the law of God that they must come to him without escape or delay; this will be the day of reckoning for all. Death makes his journey to Everyman, and questioned him about why has he neglected God, “Everyman, stand still! Whither art thou going thus gaily? Hast thou thy Maker forgotten?”(Anonymous). Death distributes the bad news that his day of disaster for his sins has come and he must give account to God.

He simply will not compromise with the world, and he will pay whatever price that decision exacts from him, even though as his murderous career continues he becomes increasingly aware of what it is costing him. It seems clear that what his murder has cost him is the very thing that made him great in the first place. For no soon... ... middle of paper ... ...use he has any desire to win but because wants to take charge of the final event, his own death. The life he has created for himself leaves him with nothing else to do. This last point about Macbeth's bringing about his own death is an important element in his tragedy.

There is no guarantee of an afterlife for any human, only the guarantee of the life we currently have, so why not leave behind a legacy? Is what the misfit doing really wrong? These are the kinds of questions that O’ Connor leaves the reader to reflect on. The Misfit is only trying to leave his mark on the world just like everyone else, and killing just happens to be his way of doing it. O’ Connor wants the reader to consider that just maybe he is not a bad