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Essay On Meursault In Albert Camus 'The Outsider'

1416 Words6 Pages

Throughout most stages of ‘The Outsider’, by Albert Camus, the readers create the label of Meursault as portraying an anti-heroine like personality as they may derive through the parts such as Meursault showing no emotion whatsoever in the light of his mother 's death, the killing of the Arab, etc.The often displayed apathetic nature of Meursault throughout the entire book simply illustrates Meursault’s somewhat introverted-self and throughout this essay, The quote, said by the chaplain in the final chapter, “I 'm on your side. But you can’t see that because your heart is blind. I shall pray for you.” suggests that Meursault is a cold and indifferent individual. I will be focusing on whether this particular quality is resisted or not solely in the final chapter of Part II and the ways in which Camus does this or not. This episode in which Meursault is surrounded in confinement is the focus and a significant point of Part II, Chapter 5 at it is the chapter where Camus expresses absurd hero traits within the character of Meursault which I found quite intriguing simply due to the fact that I’d always thought of Meursault to be portrayed as an anti-hero by Camus which was his role. The fundamental difference between Part I and II is that in Part II, the past is reflected upon as he is in his cell. During this …show more content…

By resenting all forms of religious authority (in this case, the chaplain), Camus portrays Meursault as an absurd hero as Meursault is known to be a firm believer of freedom; and by trying to alter his faith and prescribe his behaviour, the whole purpose of an absurd hero is defeated. A key aspect of this even is when Meursault loses his temper and begins to howl “cries of anger and cries of joy” which highlights the transition in attitude which is from indifferent and uninterested to remarkably

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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.

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