What Is The Theme Of Meursault From Camus The Stranger?

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Many people search for the true meaning of life. These ambitious souls maximize their days to fully take advantage of their finite allocation of time and do their best to live to the fullest extent. This ambitious mindset does not resonate with Meursault from Camus’ The Stranger. Meursault is a depressing young lad from Algiers who believes that his life, and everyone else 's, serves no purpose at all. Life, according to Meursault, is a mandatory task. He spends every day the same way, following the same set routine he restricts himself to. He shows an unsettling amount of indifference and is disappointingly careless. This personality continues until he murders a man and has to go through the trials and tribulations of dealing with the judicial
Raymond and Salomano symbolize things that Meursault lacks: Raymond is a symbol for aggression and Salomano acts as a symbol for love. Raymond is an aggressive man who beats the woman he thinks is cheating on him. “I’d smack her around a little, but nice-like, you might say. She’d scream a little. I close the shutters and it always ended the same way. But this time, it’s for real. And if you ask me, she still hasn’t gotten what she has coming” (31). Raymond and Meursault are good friends, yet this anger never rubs off on Meursault. Raymond asked him what he thought about the whole situation, and rather than either supporting his friends or showing rational disgust, he responds: “I didn’t think anything but that it was interesting” (32). Meursault has trouble showing any emotion at all, he sees no point in showing emotion towards his best friend, and Raymond 's aggression is so extreme that it emphasizes just how passive Meursault is. Camus uses the same contrasting character technique when Salomano loses his dog. Old man Salomano had a scabby dog and although it was an abusive relationship, the old fellow was able to maintain a friendship with the pet. The dog goes missing and Salomano is crushed, realizing just how much his beaten up friend means to him. As Meursault consults him in his apartment, Salomano supposes that he must be very sad since Maman died. Meursault did not respond. Salomano is weeping and confessing his life to him over a missing dog, and Meursault is indifferent about his mother’s death. The actions of Raymond and Salomano show how apathetic Meursault is and how his view on life does not allow for

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