ipl-logo

Absurd Worldviews In Camus's The Outsider

1365 Words6 Pages

“Everything is true and yet nothing is true”: an analysis of the rational and absurd worldviews in Camus’ The Outsider

The Outsider is a novel that broadly explores the philosophy of the Absurd, which is the conflict between one’s attempt to search for a meaning of life, and one’s inability to find any. It is different from Nihilism in the aspect that, although one acknowledges that there is no meaning of life, they should not cease in the attempt of finding one. In the novel, this philosophy is explored through the worldview of the main character, Meursault, and is contrasted with other characters’ views, which look at the world from a more rational perspective.
The novel begins with the simple, impassive statement, “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know” (pg. 8), portraying the indifference of Meursault towards the death of his mother. This indifference is shocking because, as considered by the general society, the death of one’s mother should evoke grief, yet Meursault does not show …show more content…

The court, as does society, tries to find a rational explanation to events in what the absurd philosophy believes in is an irrational world; this is shown in the novel as the fact that the court concentrates on how Meursault lacked an emotional reaction to his mother’s death, rather that the motives for killing the Arab. Camus once again puts forward how it is impossible to find rationality, when the universe is irrational itself, and that the only solution is to accept the absurdist philosophy. As a response to how the court is unjustly looking at the situation, Meursault’s lawyer states, “Here we have the epitome of this trail. Everything is true and yet nothing is true!”, meaning that it is true that Meursault did not feel grief when his mother died, but that truth has nothing to do with the

Show More
Related
395 Words | 2 Pages

Meursault is eventually convicted and sentenced to death because of his inability to conform to the societal expectations of French Algeria in the 1940’s. 3. Characters: Meursault- the protagonist and narrator of the novel, Meursault is a young shipping clerk who has detached himself from the world around him. He is indifferent

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

One of the most important passages within the novel is when Meursault repeatedly defies the chaplain in the cell. It serves as a pinnacle for the entire story, and grants readers a look into the main characters state of mind. In this passage, Meursault comes to a dramatic realization of who he is through an existential epiphany, and with thorough analysis the overall significance of the passage to the story is revealed. In the passage the chaplain visits Meursault much to Meursault’s displeasure.

Read More
2595 Words | 11 Pages

Meursault constantly has varying thoughts dancing around his mind, one of which is the environment. The environment is behind all of Meursault’s struggles and problems in his mental world and interferes with his physical world as well, causing him to think that the world is irrational. Holden’s attitude toward the world is particularly similar to Meursault’s because nihilism and absurdism are quite similar. Both believe that the world is irrational and out to get them. The only difference between the two is that Meursault discovers that even though he believes that the world manipulated him and demanded to kill the

Read More
1353 Words | 6 Pages

Although she is buried in the beginning of the book, it does not stop Meursault and others around him to remember her. During part two of the book, Meursault 's relationship with his mother is scrutinized by the those against him midst his trial. The first chapters of the book introduce Meursault 's mother through those who were able to spend time with her before she died. The first lines of this book, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.”

Read More
869 Words | 4 Pages

Right away the death of Meursault’s mother joined with other very random occurrences seem to be everyday occurrences. Once again I noticed the similarities of the two main characters of the book, acting as if all the events in their lives seem to be normal. Meursault views life so simply, despite its irregularity. This can be seen in the quote in which he talks about life, “I said that people never change their lives, that in any case on life was as good as another and that I was not dissatisfied with mine her at all”. He really exerts no emotion towards anything in this life.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

Meursault is not an emotional person. Meursault often seems not to react to major events that happen to him. For example when his mom dies, he says, “Really, nothing had changed”(24). There is an obvious emotional disconnect. Either he was not close to his mother or her death had little to no effect on him.

Read More
283 Words | 2 Pages

With confidence, I am writing to express my strong interest in Southern Culture Foods Inc. I believe my experience to be an ideal fit with your company. With over 10 years of professional Broker, Consumer Products Goods, Retail, Foodservice Sales experience. My experience includes sales of Heinz foods such as frozen soups, ketchup, condiments and sauces to restaurants, school, and other food service organizations. In addition, my responsibilities include trade show experience and managing multimillion dollar accounts.

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, a majority of Meursault 's actions are based upon his attitude that his presence ultimately does not “matter”. “‘But,’ I reminded myself, ‘it’s common knowledge that life isn’t worth living, anyhow.’ And, on a wide view, I could see that it makes little difference whether one dies at the age of thirty or threescore and ten—since, in either case, other men and women will continue living, the world will go on as before,” (Camus 70-71). The aforestated quote captures the quintessence of Meursault’s character and illustrates the reason for his disinterest with the injustices around him. With purely factual considerations, it is true that each human life is proportionally negligible.

Read More
205 Words | 1 Pages

Meursault is an insignificant man living an insignificant life, with no purpose other than to come to peace with his insignificance and thus remove its power over him. He expresses little emotion even when faced with intensely emotional situations. In The Stranger, Albert Camus details a part of Meursault’s life, which, though short, is filled with drastic life events. We see his mother die, his girlfriend fall in love with him, his neighbor threatened and attacked, his own murder of his neighbors attackers, and eventually his conviction and death sentence. Yet in all these events, Meursault remains aloof and ambivalent, with little to no reaction at all.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

As Meursault perceives life contains no meaning, he is a hollow man who can not see the reality of life. He is much ignorant and lives in the present. “whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhumane and oppressive”(Camus 15).The sun represents the intimidating power of the natural worlds over human action. The sun is not repeated once, but many times during the funeral, which distracts Meursault’s attention and prevails the emotions, Meursault is unable to deal with himself. The sun is also the driving force, which makes Meursault murder the Arab man at the beach.

Read More
563 Words | 3 Pages

Absurdity is an overarching theme in all of Camus, but nowhere is it explicated more so than in the chapter ‘Absurd Reasoning’. Whatever your path in life we are all bound to come across the Absurd at some point. It is simply inevitable as at some point we each question the reasons for doing things as we do, for acting in certain ways, for being. The stage-sets collapse.

Read More
1196 Words | 5 Pages

(59) After long passages describing the painful violence of the sun, Camus’s transition into the murder is shockingly abrupt, provoking a sense of bewilderment at the unexpected randomness of the murder, conveying effectively the irrationality of Meursault’s murder of the man. However, during the trial, when Meursault reveals that he murdered the Arab only because of the sun, refusing to allow others impose their logical but false interpretations upon his life, “people laughed” (103) and even his own “lawyer threw up his hand” (103) as they are unable comprehend and accept such an irrational motivation. To protect themselves from this harsh reality of the universe, they can only fabricate and impose their own logical explanation for Meursault’s behavior. The prosecutor, for instance, is convinced Meursault murdered the man in cold blood, certain in the narrative he has constructed out of events completely unrelated to the murder, from Meursault’s “ignorance when asked Maman’s age” (99) to his association with a man of “doubtful morality” (99). In both cases, Meursault’s indifference for societal standards of morality has painted him as a man immoral and cold-hearted enough to premeditate the murder.

Read More
1437 Words | 6 Pages

Meursault notices that during the trial, “there was a lot said about [him], maybe more about [him] than about [his] crime” (98). By having Meursault 's personality be the focal point of the courtroom 's dialogue, Camus implies that Meursault 's persona plays a crucial role in his trial. Instead of focusing on the murder of the Arab, the prosecutor repeatedly mentions Meursault 's "dubious liaison"(94), his "insensitivity" (99) during Maman’s funeral, and his friendship with Raymond, who is a man "of doubtful morality" (99). Through the emphasis on Meursault 's -according to society- 'immoral ' ways, the prosecutor eliminates any sort of sympathy the jury has for Meursault. Following Marie 's testimony, the prosecutor once again exhibits his confidence that bias against Meursault will stem from hearing about his behaviour.

Read More
1491 Words | 6 Pages

Everything he will say; the magistrate will not believe him, he even feels there is no need for a lawyer because he thinks everything he does, is right and there is not something to question. He comes to understand that he trying to find meaning in his own life, make him impotent to society’s eyes, he only murdered an Arab and that is it. During the trial, there are investigators that learn that Meursault does not feel any remorse at his mother funeral. As Meursault does not have any evidence why he kills the Arab man, the lawyer thinks that it will be a strong argument if Meursault can come up with some answers for the questions. The investigator asks,” If I had felt any sadness that day” (Camus 65).

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

In his novel The Stranger, Albert Camus creates an emotionally incapable, narcissistic, and, at times, sociopathic character named Meursault to explore and expose his philosophies of Existentialism and Absurdism. Throughout the story Meursault follows a philosophical arc that, while somewhat extreme - from unemotional and passive to detached and reckless to self-reflective - both criticizes the dependent nature of human existence and shows the journey through the absurd that is our world. In the onset of The Stranger, following his mother’s death, Meursault acts with close to utter indifference and detachment. While the rest of “maman’s”(9) loved ones express their overwhelming grief, Meursault remains unphased and, at times, annoyed at their

Read More

More about Absurd Worldviews In Camus's The Outsider

Related Topics

Open Document