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What is the main point the novel the stranger
Existentialism in the book the Stranger
Existentialism in the book the Stranger
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Will Hartman Ms. Hogan English 4 March 10 Is Meursault a bad person? Is Meursault a bad person or just misunderstood? " The Stranger" by Albert Camus follows the life of a man named Meursault. This book was set in the 1940s. After careful consideration of Meurasult's actions and motives, it is obvious that he is an imperfect individual who is guilty of making very unethical decisions.
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.
In Albert Camus’s “The Stranger,” Camus presents his existentialistic absurdist views in multiple ways throughout the novel; however, in one instance Camus uses imagery dealing with the sun and sky to articulate his philosophy further. Moreover, if such detail were left out, the reader would be faced with a seemingly incomplete philosophy and a futile understanding of Camus’s thinking, thus, leaving “The Stranger,” thematically flat. As an absurdist, Camus believed that intrinsic meaning in life is impossible. Seemingly depressing; however, Camus would argue that suicide or implementation of say religion is a fallacy.
When both, Meursault and Marie, see the abuse of Raymond to his girlfriend and how they react to it shows how Meursault lacks a moral code by trying to avoid getting in the middle of it but earlier he was willing to write a letter for Raymond showing his hypocrisy to certain situations. Examples: • “Marie said it was terrible and I didn’t say anything (34).” Marie shows emotion and horror at the sight while Meursault looks at it with silence. • “She asked me to go find a policeman…
The mysterious Meursault While reading the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, I immediately noticed the main character Meursault’s and how odd he acted. His lack of emotion and desire towards physical aspects of life caught my attention. I never really heard or read about someone with such a meaningless attitude towards life. I began to think that it was my fault and I wasn’t interpreting the text right, but I wasn’t crazy after all. I understood that Meursault wasn’t your everyday character and I couldn’t quite understand why he was this way.
“As Meursault pulled the trigger, he could feel the heat from his cheek from the sandy bright beach.” In The Stranger, the author Albert Camus uses different methods of mood and atmosphere in the novel which heightened the understanding of the novel and contributed to the descriptive patterns of the book. From the heat symbolism that creates a certain atmosphere in the book, to the specific mood he portrays in the novel. This all goes into the pattern that Camus blatantly put in the book to show a specific mood and to add an atmosphere to the novel. To start off, when Meursault states in the book that he feels a certain way for example heat or temperature it gives way to the descriptive patterns and symbolism, for example, to quote from the novel itself, Meursault says...
[Camus 3]. First Meursault doesn’t know what date his mother died, showing him that he is submissive to find out which date she actually dies, he just doesn’t give effort in the things he does. Albert Camus shows Meursault’s insignificance feelings and actions to his mother and as he sends her away and when she dies, he doesn’t care and is disrupted by her and her presence. Another way Meursault shows the unimportance of women is Marie’s relationship. He shows is imbalanced relationship with Marie through his lack of love and emotion towards her.
Analysis of the Meursault’s Inhuman Characterization in Albert Camus’ The Stranger Vienna Wong- Ville 2G- IB English 11 Albert Camus’ The Stranger is a French novel that follows the narrative of Meursault, a withdrawn and indifferent individual, who is faced with a trial of murder. Camus uses components of nature, as well as natural instincts, to illustrate Meursault’s inhuman characterization. The natural motifs displaying or contributing to Meursault’s inhuman character include: weather’s influence, common human-based ideas, physical necessities, and his constant observation of tangible surroundings. In the novel, Camus strongest and most prominent example of Meursault’s influence by the weather is the usage of heat and the sun when
At the beginning of the novel, the reader gets a tone of emptiness from Meursault’s reaction to the death of his mother. People would offer him condolence, but his way of interacting with others made Meursault seem a bad guy and unusual. When he explained to his boss the reason of taking two days off, Meursault even said, “It’s not my fault.” (Camus 3). Meursault stating that shows the significance of the death of his mother to him.
He says the same thing to his boss earlier in the novel, and shows his lack of awareness for emotions. This also builds upon the idea that Meursault isn’t mentally stable enough to give an accurate recount of the events of the story, especially considering it potentially implicates him in a crime. Basically, Camus tackles the first-person point of view in The Stranger to create an unreliable narrator and incorporate this aspect into the storytelling. While this is done for plot advancement during the courthouse scenes, it is a continuous feature of the novel and almost makes it seem as if all the events Meursault describes are his
(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.
Existentialism is the stress on individual existence, subjectivity, and freedom of choice. Existentialist texts often present many different conflicting issues relating to the individual and the choices one can, or must, make. In the book The Stranger, it is clear that Meursault is involved in different situations in which he is faced with existential choices and conflicts. One recurring and important existentialist subject that troubles many characters is the belief in God or Atheism. Through symbols, dialogue, and character’s actions, Albert Camus successfully exhibits existentialism in terms of the belief in God versus Atheism.
'If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.' Psychology has been a part of my life indirectly for many years, from something as an impromptu counseling session for a friend with emotional trauma to self analyzing to just looking and observing people's behavior, I have always been fascinated by people and the way they behave, but it is only as I have grown older and become more aware of psychology that I have begun to question why people are the way they are, why they interact differently with other people and why we all take a different approach to certain situations. I also find it interesting how society, culture and the attitudes and opinions of other people can have such an impact on a person's behavior. During the first couple of years of high school I was somewhat reserved and barely spoke out in class.
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.
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).
