Camus outlines this argument in The Stranger through the nihilistic anti-hero Meursault. Throughout the novel, Meursault exhibits very little emotion, which only filters into the protagonist’s stream of consciousness when he expresses physical discomfort or social frustration. The detachment from the world around him makes him a case study for one’s personal quest to find his/her own purpose. Camus’s secular approach deviated from contemporary understanding and challenged the existentialist and religious ideologies that preceded
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.
Camus portrays freedom and choice in The Stranger through Meursault's many acts against the society he lives in. He chooses to be an atheist and stray away from god. The magistrate converses with Mersault, “... drawing himself up to his full height and asking me if he believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly.
(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.
“You cannot make everyone think and feel as deeply as you do, this is your tragedy, because you understand them, but they do not understand you.” The novel, “The Stranger” is written by a man named Albert Camus. This novel's theme is based on the Camus philosophy of the existentialism and absurd. In the novel Meursault was charged with murder and his actions towards his mother's death was often questioned and used against him. Should his actions allow him to be viewed as a bad person?
Besides his inability to form proper relationships and lack of emotions, Meursault is unable to really formulate his own opinions or even act upon them. As it creates a generally passive character, Meursault is easily manipulated. That leads to him getting involved with Raymond and his situation with his mistress when he asked Meursault to write the letter to her, and he simply “didn’t have any reason not to please him(32).” Eventually, this led him to murder the Arab involved. If there was a reason for the murder, the result of the trial that ensued could have ended on better terms.
In “The Guest” by Albert Camus, setting is used to explore characterization and themes of alienation and individual choice. In the short story, Daru’s alienation is reflected in the environment where he lives. In this alienated condition, choice becomes an existential burden that the individual must bare. Setting is discussed and wielded as a tool of enhancement in many aspects of Albert Camus’ short story, “The Guest”.
Meursault knew he would cause conflict and even the death of someone if he kept pursuing the stream, yet he did. Meursault took another couple steps and the Arab pulled his knife and Meursault shot him, killed him, and shot then shot his lifeless body 4 more times. Clearly there is something wrong with Meursault if he is going to shoot someone for something as simple as getting to a stream because he's too hot. Meursault is showing his carelessness
This idea becomes challenged in The Stranger when Muersault has motive for killing the Arab. While listening to the prosecutor Muersault states that “the gist of what he was saying, if I understood him correctly, was that my crime was premeditated. At least that is what he tried to show” (Camus 99). While the prosecutor makes viable connections, they were completely incorrect. Muersualt himself doesn’t understand why he killed the Arab, but the
Nothing, nothing mattered…” (Camus 120-121). All the chaplain’s talk about God and life having higher purposes turned the reserved Meursault into a violent person full vehement words. By having Meursault physically attack the priest, Camus truly reveals how little of an impact believing in God has on him. This is the final act that Camus included in this story to show how ready Meursault is to give up, not pray for forgiveness from God, or believe in any sort of life after
Throughout the novel “The Stranger”, Albert Camus uses Meursault to illustrate nihilism and absurdism, ideas that his society conspicuously opposes. Nihilism embraces life as meaningless while absurdism acknowledges the death of hope. Camus introduces the theory of acceptance without resignation, which in his opinion, allows one to reach closest to freedom; he believes that without higher powers, one can only be truly free if one accepts absurdism. Meursault, highlighting insincerity, forces meaning upon chaos with hope. He denies faith, overwhelms hope, and gets furious and offended that anyone would go as far as to believe that people can change and save him.
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.
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.
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).
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
