The Stranger By Albert Camus Absurdism

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We live in a world where people have to find a reason for their actions. They need to understand that if someone they love dies and they are not crying, they need to find a reason why they are not weeping for that person. Some do find an answer, some accept that there is no need to cry. Because, everybody that knows that person will soon die too. It’s like an endless clock. Some people believe they have to find a purpose in their life before time stops. Others live their life as an absurdist. Absurdism is the belief that human beings live in a purposeless, chaotic world. Absurdists do not spend their counted days caring about other people’s emotions; they live their lives checking that unfaithful clock. In the book, The Stranger, by Albert …show more content…

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. His mother’s passing starts the book with a tragic event that would make anyone’s life melancholy besides Meursault, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday,” (Camus pg 1). This quote shows one of Meursault’s most important traits, his emotional indifference. He does not feel remorse upon learning that his mother has just