Meursault's 'Beyond The Populace In The Stranger'

Beyond the Populace

There are multiple conflicts between the individual and their corresponding society. As an example, Meursault, from The Stranger, is set apart from society for his actions. He has a bland conscience, little to no emotion about his environment, and has odd reasonings for his judgement. Meursault is an unconventional character and lives with a melancholy cloud above his head. Meursault 's psyche is different from that of society. He has nihilist outlooks and lack of sentiment, especially towards death and marriage, all serving as a challenge to society 's accepted values. Unlike the others around him, Meursault does not take emotion into consideration when making decisions, rather he relies purely on logic. He is

The external conflict in the novel can especially be seen towards the end when Meursault speaks to the Chaplain. The Chaplain suggests to him that he should believe in God and accept the spiritual idea of living and existence. In other words, the Chaplain wants him to look towards God for comfort. Meursault, however, gets angry at the Chaplain 's notions and continues to deny the existence of god. Meursault 's external conflict with society is presented through his nihilist outlooks. In society, the belief in God is prominent; however, in Meursault 's eyes, nothing is meaningful in life and the only factuality in existence is death. Another external conflict is that Meursault comes to the realization that death is inevitable rather than being regretful of the murder (he does not realize his wrong-doings). “Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why. So did he. Throughout the whole absurd life I 'd lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living. What did other people 's deaths or a mother 's love matter to me; what did his God or the lives people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me when we 're all elected by the same fate, me and billions of privileged people like him who also called themselves my brothers? Couldn 't he see, couldn 't he see that? Everybody was

Sisyphus succumbed to the external influences in place by the Gods to continue rolling the rock. These external forces created conflict amongst Sisyphus’s internal ones as he realized that what he was doing had little purpose and his life had no meaning left. Artists and writers are often looked to for solace in hard times. It is the artist’s who have the means to express conflicts and ideas without directly criticising higher powers. For example, in the novel “Animal Farm,” George Orwell creates a fictional society that resembles the likes of Communist Russia. Through his rhetoric, Orwell figuratively paints a portrait of the troubles that the society is enduring, which ultimately showcases the true corruption and troubles that existed during that time. Writers like Orwell, who are put in extreme situations, are influenced by external forces, such as corrupt governments, to send their message across. Camus states, “..the refusal to lie about what one knows and the resistance to oppression.” External forces of society are so powerful, that writers and artists are tempted to acknowledge the troubles through their