The Outsider, by Albert Camus and The Assault, by Harry Mulisch

Camus and Mulisch present that the past and present are interrelated. The authors do this through the two characters, Meursault and Anton. Through Meursault, we see that his past actions affect the outcome of his trial. Through Anton, we see that his present situation constantly brings him back to his past despite him trying to escape it. Thus the authors stylistically link the past and present to demonstrate that they are inevitably related, where certain events are unavoidable or the past is undeniable.

In ‘The Outsider’, the society continually brings back Meursault’s past actions against his will, such as his behaviour at his mother’s funeral. Under the rule of the French Colonialists, the French Algerian court is a microcosm of the society with the Roman Catholic belief, in value as in determination. Because of this, Meursault, who alienates himself from the Roman Catholic expectation in society, was condemned for murdering the Arab. He was announced to have “no place in society whose most fundamental rules [he] ignored” , which was mostly based on his emotions and behaviour in the funeral rather than the actual murder.

Opposed to this, Camus uses Meursault as a construct to demonstrate his philosophy of absurdism. Absurdism is the belief that one cannot give rational sense or purpose to life, a belief based on the inevitability of death. Because people have difficulty accepting this notion, they constantly attempt to create rational structure and meaning in their lives. The term ‘absurdity’ describes humanity’s futile attempt to find rational order where none exists. Only at Meursalt’s epiphanic revelation before death does he realize this as his comes to know the absurd world.

‘The Assault’ retraces the consequenc...

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...ppy” , getting a sense of satisfaction for completely life the way he did and finds peace with himself and the society that persecutes him, finally dropping his fantasies of escaping execution.

In conclusion, both authors demonstrate that the past and present are intertwined, but in different ways. Camus shows how each person determines their present with their past actions and how in an absurd world, the society forces connections between the two which may disadvantage us. Mulisch demonstrates in a different way that we can never flee from or deny our past. It is the past that defines us and it will always catch up with us no matter how far we run from it. In my opinion, Camus’ stylistic representation of this idea is more convincing than that of Mulisch’s because we ourselves will have this experience, of society accusing us on the basis of our past actions.