ipl-logo

The Stranger Research Paper

865 Words4 Pages

The sun’s heat has been portrayed as a warming presence that brings peace but in this case, it is portrayed as the exact opposite. In The Stranger, Albert Camus portrays the sun’s heat as a motivator for Meursault's actions by describing how it makes him feel, how it changes the environment around him and how he describes it as the reason that led to the murder of the Arab. First, one way that Meursault can relate to the sun’s heat is the way they feel about people. Meursault feels indifferent about what happens around him, just like how the sun can be indifferent on who it shines its light on. The sun’s heat provides discomfort for everyone, which can symbolize how nature pays no regard for human life. Second, heat can be seen as a major …show more content…

While walking to the beach, the hot sand underneath annoyed him while the blazing sun above him added great discomfort to his mental state. When Meursault attempted to go to the water to cool off, he ended up finding the Arab. When the Arab drew out the knife, Meursault ended up shooting him repeatedly. The quote, “The sun was the same as it had been the day I buried Maman, and like then, my forehead especially was hurting me, all the veins in it throbbing under the skin. It was this burning which I couldn’t handle anymore, that made me move forward.” (59) described how Meursault felt as he decided to confront the Arab instead of walking away. He compared that day to the funeral since the heat clouded his judgement in both scenarios. Meursault could have possibly also referenced death, as he talked about the sun looking “red” to him. Before killing the Arab, Meursault states that, “My eyes were blinded with the curtain of tears and salt. All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and, indistinctly, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me… being tensed I squeezed my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave” (59). This was another instance where he blames his actions on the sun. He said that the heat just caused the trigger to fire on its own since Meursault had no reason to murder someone. Once again, heat clouds his judgement and it ends up

Show More
Related

Examples Of Violence In How To Read Literature Like A Professor

249 Words | 1 Pages

During the beginning of the novel, Meursault goes to his neighbor Raymond’s house. The visit results into a physical fight due to insults made towards Meursault. Relating to aspects on violence, this scene was made to show simple

Read More

How Is Meursault A Bad Person

998 Words | 4 Pages

Meursault shows his lack of emotional attachment to people: "I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings"( page 41). Meursault shows the regrets of his nature but also, at the same time, explains that it’s not going to change. Rather than focusing on finding someone to spend his life with, Meursault would rather find someone who can always keep him pampered. Meursault again shows his regret for his actions when he says, "I wanted to try to explain to him that it was because of the sun, the sea, the light, in fact, everything, that I had simply loved him with no personal motive" (Page 68). Meursault shows his lack of care for those whom he loved, but at the same time shows that Meursault might not be able to fully control what he does, but rather does everything out of impulse, therefore making him regret his actions in some situations.

Read More

Meursault Color Red Quotes

675 Words | 3 Pages

These two most often will correlate with each other. The aspect of sun and heat in this novel is very important. The most noticeable reason is the fact Meursault blames the sun for his actions. The sun symbolically represents a higher being or great source of power. This connects perfectly with Meursault’s claim for shooting the Arab.

Read More

Nihilism In Holden Caulfield

2595 Words | 11 Pages

Meursault has an absurdist attitude toward his world inside of his mental and physical world. Meursault blames his rash actions on the world and environment. At Meursault’s trial, after he killed the Arab, he defended himself by saying, “it was because of the sun.” (Camus, 103) Meursault actually believed that the sun made him kill the Arab man. In The Stranger, the sun is the main antagonist.

Read More

Meursault's Emotions In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

724 Words | 3 Pages

Camus uses the motif of weather, most commonly sun and heat, to express Meursault’s emotions. Meursault often describes the weather and how it ‘affects’ him. This can symbolize his actual feelings he tries to hide. An example can be found when Meursault is walking to his mother’s funeral. On the outside he is calm and even seems a little annoyed.

Read More

The Stranger Research Paper

975 Words | 4 Pages

The Power of the Sun The novel The Stranger by Albert Camus has meanings and themes in it that are deeper then what is seen on the surface. One extremely important detail that has a crucial presence in the story would be the sun. The main character of the novel, Meursault has little emotion throughout the novel despite the intensity of the events he goes through.

Read More

Diction In The Stranger

932 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

The Stranger Figurative Language Essay

1019 Words | 5 Pages

This shows that Meursault killed the Arab for n reason and without any forethought. A series of small things resulted in killing the Arab and these seemingly indifferent things are distilled down into the tiniest details by Meursault. In addition, the sun can be seen as a metaphor to the society, as Meursault feels uncomfortable under the influence of both the sun and the society. You cannot escape the heat of the sun, just like you cannot escape the legal system of the society. Camus is also implying it was the society that forced Meursault to kill the Arab.

Read More

Meursault's Death Virtue

605 Words | 3 Pages

Meursault begins to take in everything that has been going on throughout his life and has realized the situations that lead his death sentence. After Meursault's trail, he only cared about escaping the machinery of justice, hoping there is a way to avoid this problem. He blames himself every time for not paying attention or being aware to accounts of executions. Mesursault believes he could of found a way to prevent himself from dying if he was more curious about it. Times at the cell he remembers a story Maman used to tell Meursault about his father how he watched a murder get executed.

Read More

Social Norms In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

1196 Words | 5 Pages

(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.

Read More

The Stranger Perspective

1824 Words | 8 Pages

Albert Camus writes his novel The Stranger using a first-person perspective as he narrates the life of Meursault: a man who remains detached, distant, and unemotional from the world around him. The novel is divided into two parts: Part One noting eighteen days in which events such as Meursault witnesses his mother’s funeral, a love affair, and a murder occur. This first part of the novel documents the moments of Meursault’s day-to-day normality, until he commits murder. In Part Two, Camus describes approximately a year in duration, focusing on the trial as an aftermath of Meursault’s crime. In doing so, the same eighteen days from Part One are recounted, but from various characters’ memories and points of view, whereby Meursault is targeted

Read More

Meursault's View Of Death

779 Words | 4 Pages

In a fit of irrationality, he non nonchalantly murders the Arab in cold blood. After the first shoot, he passively states,” "the trigger gave[…]" (59). With a lack of empathy for the injured Arab, he continues to shoot the body four additional times. In the aftermath of the slaying, the narrator does not focus on the immediate consequences of the murder; rather, once more detailing the oppressive heat, a source of the murder. Because of the heat and the light reflected off of the Arab’s knife, Meursault absurdly thought to shot the Arab.

Read More

The Importance Of Existence In The Stranger By Albert Camus

1491 Words | 6 Pages

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).

Read More

Underage Drinking Persuasive Speech

1114 Words | 5 Pages

It goes without saying that in the United States underage drinking is a major cause for concern. Yet many are unaware of just how significant a problem underage drinking is. The facts reveal that alcohol has become the drug of choice for the vast majority of youth in the United States and the pervasiveness of alcohol puts every state, community, and family at risk. The question that we ask ourselves today is alcohol really harming to our youth and if so what should we do about it as parents, siblings, and friends who are affected by the abuse of this drug by young adults we know.

Read More

Sartre's Idea Of Existence Analysis

742 Words | 3 Pages

For him, the sun becomes a symbol of evil, or an idea of bad views, which always brings sad news along with it. The sun represented everything that included violence. It represented a world that was devoid of any meaning and of any significance. Meursault paints such a picture of the sun through his narration that it appears that the sun has the power to slurp out everything worthwhile and meaningful from life, leaving it devoid and

Read More

More about The Stranger Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document