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Themes in the Stranger by Albert Camus
Themes in the Stranger by Albert Camus
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Themes in the Stranger by Albert Camus
Themes in the Stranger by Albert Camus
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Themes in the Stranger by Albert Camus
The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, It follows the story of our tragic hero, Meursault, shortly after his mother dies through the events that lead to him being sentenced to death. Camus uses the motif of weather to express Meursault’s emotions. The Stranger shows how even when a person does not explicitly express emotion they are shown in some way. How emotions are expressed is a window to a person's personality. I will first discuss how Meursault appears emotionless, than how Camus uses the motif of weather to express Meursault’s emotions for him and lastly what impact this makes.
16. Reread page 114 very carefully before answering the following question: Does Meursault care about dying at this point in his life? Yes, Meursault does care about his death while waiting to see if his appeal has been approved or not. This is evidenced by his thought process of rationalizing and coming to peace with the possibility of dying.
The use of rhetorical appeal in Oedipus the Colonus is prominent, as it paves the way for the plot of the story. In this portion of the play Oedipus tries to appeal to the audience’s emotions by forcing them to empathize with his past horrors and misfortunes. Oedipus states” I have suffered terribly, Theseus, wrongs on wrongs, no end”(ll. 670-671). Thus, evoking sadness and extreme grief those reading or watching the play.
Apathetic Demeanors Many people in today’s society view psychopaths and sociopaths as ruthless serial killers who are menaces to the peace of society. Albert Camus’s novella, The Stranger, provides another look at a psychopathic and sociopathic characteristics in a person. Meursault, the protagonist in Camus’s novella, exhibits psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies; although Meursault displays both, he is more closely aligned with a sociopath which eventually leads to his execution. Meursault’s psychopathic outbursts and feelings cause him to take radical action against an innocent man and expose feelings about his mother which eventually leads to Meursault’s trial.
The Stranger written by Albert Camus, gives the reader an insight in the life of Meursault and his family and friends, but also has a hidden moral behind it. In “The Stranger”, Camus uses metaphor to describe the relationship between Meursault and his mother. The assumptions people make has a chance of being right or wrong, but Camus uses Salamano and his dog as an extended metaphor to show that even though everyone believed that Meursault did not care about his mother, he in fact he did care about his mother, and it was the same situation with Salamano and his dog. Meursault had an estranged relationship with his mother. They did not have that tender mother-son relationship, because when they lived together they hardly had any communication between them, living completely separate lives while still living in the same house.
Through the use of diction and symbolism; Camus reveals Meursault’s is apathetic towards his bonding with others and unable
He viewed his everyday routine as repetitive and meaningless, and felt no empathy for anyone. This lack of empathy convinced the court of his guilt. Meursault could have defended himself by claiming self defense, but he saw no difference in dying now or dying later. Both Meursault’s story and Camus’ view on life display the depressing views of existentialism.
It is in these bizarre acts that the others deem Meursault a stranger. His disregard for social constructions presents the views of the existentialist philosophy. Love is known to be deception by existential theory due to one’s desire to have someone else love him or her. Also, as mentioned before, Meursault’s conviction in God’s nonexistence makes him detached not only concerning death, but also to love, morals (Meursault also befriends his neighbor, who is also thought to be a pimp by others), and other basic human conceptions. When new friend-the pimp- asks for his help to embarrass his ex-girlfriend, Meursault again with any consideration agrees to something that would have normally been thought of as insane, and does not contemplate that there may be consequences for this agreement.
However, both text function similarly by triggering the protagonists emotions, creating a sympathy towards them. In The Stranger, Meursault is perceived by society as being inhuman with no place in their society but through Meursault 's perspective, society
In The Stranger, Albert Camus’ protagonist, Meursault, serves as a symbol for existentialism, underscoring societies “absurd” tendency to enforce various delusions on reality in efforts to gain a semblance of meaning. Throughout the novel, Meursault was vilified by his peers for having been immoral. Any reader skimming The Stranger might agree with this sentiment as he did, infact, murder a man, fail to express grief in regards to the death of his mother, and admitted to having no affiliation to any religion or God. However, it is only when Camus’ elaborate metaphor is unfolded can the reader recognize that Meursault is hardly immoral, but rather amoral or even indifferent. Rather than, solidifying an identifiable personality, meursault presents
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.
Because Meursault shut himself away from any outside emotions and didn’t care what choice he took, it became the downfall of him. All of those choices, of him taking the easy way out, could have ended up taking a different route, but because Meursault is a stranger to himself and to his life, his inability own up to what he has done was his flaw. That one choice made an incredible difference in Meursault’s life and he did nothing to stop it, as if he weren’t really there, like he wasn’t in control of his actions or of his thoughts. In a way, Meursault’s character is very similar to that of Hamlet. Both of their fatal flaws is there overthinking about life and in Meursault’s case his emotionless approach on life.
As he stares out the skylight in his prison cell that shows him, that he has another tomorrow, Meursault realizes his actions and consequences from his life, giving him the reassurance that his beliefs were true all along. Through emotional indifference, symbolism and theme, Albert Camus believes absurdism is the way to live, he attenuates this by introducing a character whose perception on life, behavior, beliefs and himself, entirely, differs immensely from those of his peers. Emotional indifference means a lack of feeling, emotion, interest and concern. Meursault lives a life that is not understood by others. He goes about his days not feeling the necessary emotions that make us human.
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