The Stranger Existentialism Essay

In the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus centers his theme around existentialism. Existentialism is how people determine their own path within their actions. Meursault, the main character in The Stranger believes highly in existentialism. He is a nonreligious man with the mindset of his own. For instance when his mother died he didn’t ask to see her body. Meursault shows how he is existential throughout the novel by emphasizing how heats symbolizes the indifference of the universe towards human. Meursault can be metaphorically connected to the sun, the sun generally disregards the human life-meaningless natural world for humanity, on page 18 the nurse states,”If you go too slowly there’s the risk of a heatstroke. But if you go too fast, you perspire, and the cold air in the church gives you a chill.” Meursault then says,”I saw her point:either way one was in for it.”(Camus, page 18). The nurse’s words describe how heat is a problem. The heat influence is inescapable. Meursault understands that a man is born into a life that can only end in death, so he

The Old Man puts his life in his own hands. He patiently waited 84 days to eventually kill a huge Marlin. The old man uses existentialism because he goes against society, does something dangerous to try to prove his status in the world and doesn’t wait around and go through the motions as if someone created a path for him.the sun would’ve killed the old man. It compares to Meursault in The Stranger because he doesn’t believe in God and he goes by his own moral code. For example. He denied all recognition of God to the Priest. In conclusion, throughout the book The Stranger, Meursault demonstrates existentialism through heat. Which also connects to The Scarlet Letter and The Old Man in the Sea. Existentialism plays a big role in all three books. The heat within all books compares to one another. Meursault is nothing but a robot in the shadows of a living