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
Meursault shows his lack of emotional attachment to people: "I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings"( page 41). Meursault shows the regrets of his nature but also, at the same time, explains that it’s not going to change. Rather than focusing on finding someone to spend his life with, Meursault would rather find someone who can always keep him pampered. Meursault again shows his regret for his actions when he says, "I wanted to try to explain to him that it was because of the sun, the sea, the light, in fact, everything, that I had simply loved him with no personal motive" (Page 68). Meursault shows his lack of care for those whom he loved, but at the same time shows that Meursault might not be able to fully control what he does, but rather does everything out of impulse, therefore making him regret his actions in some situations.
Flora Mehdi Albert Camus ' book The Stranger, is a first-person account of the life of Meursault, an emotionally detached and excessively blunt man living in the French Algiers in the 1940 's. He describes his endeavors realistically and directly with no mercy for others or himself. The novel begins with Meursault receiving a letter explaining his mother 's death, he immediately expresses that he finds the trip to her funeral as an "inconvenience". Rather than cry or grieve at the service he smokes a cigarette and is distracted by the heat. After the funeral, he goes swimming and meets Marie, a woman whom he then attends comedy movie with as if his mother hadn 't just died the day before.
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
Those who don’t know their purpose may feel that their daily lives are ridiculous. Camus’ The Stranger, portrays an inexplicably nonsensical character, Meursault, who winds up in a unanticipated situation. Similar to real life struggles, the character perpetually repeats insignificant actions not accordant to any essence.
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.
Monsieur Meursault not only shows the lack of love and emotion though his Maman but though Marie, shooting the Arab, and being judged as a criminal through the trials. In the beginning of the book the setting is in Marengo where Maman lived and the funeral was. After the funeral Monsieur Meursault goes back to Algiers. That day he gets back he goes to the beach and he meets his friend and used to be lover Marie.
Through the use of diction, Meursault perceives life is meaningless, which leads him to have the absence of strong bonding with acquaintance around him. He indicates that he lacks empathy from personal and social level. Meursault is a simple man who lives his life in a stickler type and changes annoy him. As the novel introduces Meursault mother being dead, he shows lack of concern and a burden to visit his mother for the last time. “Maman died today...
On a warm summer evening, I sat down in my room with a new book in my hand. My friend informed me of a book titled “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. Playing the role of the persuader, my friend Julie briefly summarized the story which follows the detached character known as Meursault. Within the first minute, I found my interest spark. When I opened the book and began reading, I found my attention secured after the opener, “Mother died today.
The Stranger has a similar plot as Meursault, the protagonist, is viewed negatively
In Camus’s book The Stranger, Meursault had found himself adrift from society, he thought he was in a meaningless, isolated society. He had lost all abstract and ethical foundation.
Meursault also strays from the morals society has imposed; he does not see a difference between bad and good; he merely observes without judging. However, when Meursault kills an Arab, he is brutally judged for the aspects that make him unique. In the second part of the novel, as the trial
The themes of death explored using absurdism in The Stranger is shown with a general disregard for death by Meursault and the strange way he sees life based on these existentialist views. The Stranger is a perfect example of an existentialist novel that was written for that time period, as during this time around the area of France and Europe there was an existentialist movement that Albert Camus, the author, was involved in.
As the French, absurdist philosopher Albert Camus once said, “Being different is not a bad thing. It means you are brave enough to be yourself.” That summed up with our topic, which is absurdity through human existence, a human being should tolerate the absurd condition of human existence. Albert Camus introduces Meursault the protagonist and narrator of the book The Stranger, who is a stranger through society eyes and the title point out his personality in the world of absurdity. Meursault is indifferent and alienates young man to others.
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