The Stranger By Albert Camus Essay

The Stranger by Albert Camus focuses largely on the concept of absurdism. Camus uses family and personal relationships, or the lack of it thereof, to show the isolation that the main character, Meursault, undergoes in the novel and it’s effect on him overall. Camus utilizes the protagonists’ character development as a tool to further his plot of the novel. The absence of family and personal relationships tied in with the particular recurring topics of the novel are crucial in both the development of the protagonists’ characters as well as the plot as it affects the portrayal of the main character.

The core idea of Albert Camus’ philosophy of absurdity centralizes upon the idea that humans exist in a meaningless universe, and follows that humans must simply accept this fact to live life to the fullest. In addition to this absurdist notion, Albert Camus also uses The Stranger to show how humans still strive to create superficial meaning to fulfill their own personal needs. Through the experiences and interactions in Meursault’s life, Camus illustrates that in spite of how events in life follow no rational order, society attempts to futilely create meaning to explain human existence.

In the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus, Camus uses a variety of literary devices in order to create a moment of inward reflection from readers, in which we reflect on just how absurd our existence is. Camus expresses his critique through one major character, Meursault, and a few minor characters as well. Camus’s use of irony pushed readers to look beyond the surface, and come to the conclusion of where the irony was displayed. Camus also made use of ironic moments in order to contrast the expectations of society, to how Meursault differs from that, all to gradually expose the hypocrisy of mankind. Camus generally uses this literary device in order make us evaluate our own selves and more importantly to display the fact that we as people can be truly happy, only if we accept our fate, instead of fighting it. In a way, he’s suggesting we be more like Meursault. Examples of this would be the funeral caretaker insisting that Meursault view his mother's body, and Meursault continuously refusing. Camus does this to make people think: what exactly is wrong with Meursault not wanting to see his dead mother? Through this technique camus shows societal expectations of how people are supposed to mourn lost, and certain responses to lost are deemed abnormal. Thus Meursault’s lack of grief automatically made him an outsider. Other uses of irony can be shown through Meursault's interactions with the chaplain, and the authority involved in his criminal case played out later on in the

During The Stranger interactive oral, we debated the progression of Meursault’s character throughout the novel, arguing over whether he moves from a nihilist to an absurdity standing or vice versa. We came to the conclusion that he transcends from nihilist to absurdist. Nihilism is essentially the degradation of traditional beliefs, values and customs, while absurdism states that the universe is irrational and one’s search for meaning presents challenges. When I first read “The Stranger”, I was confused by Meursault’s character. I didn’t understand why someone would be so void of emotion and treat his own mother and the woman who loves him with indifference. Meursault is seen as an outcast as he doesn’t behave in accordance with society;

In his book, The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the absurdist point of view to explore the concept of freedom and whether it is based on mental perceptions or physical conditions. More specifically, Camus examines his absurd character, Meursault, in prison and out of prison. In my opinion, Meursault is freer in prison. I think mental confines are stronger than physical confines and for a stranger like Meursault, society is extremely limiting. Meursault spends the majority of his life before prison as a nearly emotionless observer, who thinks more about others than himself.

The Stranger, Albert Camus' reader gluing book is all about an inane activities of Meursault the protagonist. The setting of this book is in Algiers; in the beginning of this wonderful novel we encounter the death of Maeursault's mother in Marengo. The author of this book wrote it in the first person style thus allowing the reader to view Meursault to be the sole individual that propels all the unfolding in the novel. For this matter, the author relays sequence of events that invokes Meursault to shoot a friend, he is imprisoned and his eventual death. With regard to all that Meursault does and does not do convicts the reader to call him an anti-hero. This paper seeks to discuss the ant-hero theme in The Stranger as written by Albert Camus'.

Many people often base their opinions on a person by judging his whole life in general and his attitude towards life without caring about who the person really is deep down inside. This unfair reasoning can occur in the courtroom when people are put on trial and the judge and the jury must delve into the life of the accused and determine if he is a hazard to society. Occasionally, the judge and jury are too concerned with the accused’s past that they become too biased and give an unfair conviction and sentencing. In his novel, The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the courtroom as a symbol to represent society that judges the main character, Meursalt, unfairly to illustrate how society forms opinions based on one’s past.

The novel The Stranger, by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward, follows the story of a man, Meursault, and how his emotionless way of living and his one grave mistake ends up killing him through a court of law. Throughout his journey, there is tension in him, and between him and other people and groups. This tension is represented throughout this novel with the motif is heat. And as tension can grow and is part of everyday life, it is part of Meursault’s as well. Furthermore, through tension and it growing, it can result in a conflict of multiple varieties. This motif comes up at scenes such as the trial in the courtroom, the conflict on the beach with the Arabs, and the magistrate and his heated argument. And due to Camus specific placement of the motif during these scenes, it also foreshadows conflict and trouble throughout the novel. Camus’ motif of heat shows a tension between opposing sides to foreshadow various types of conflict which demonstrate the theme that tension leads to conflict.

Widely recognized for philosophical writings as a French essayist and playwright, Albert Camus is a major contributor to exploring the absurd in modern Western literature. Characterized by highlighting the human condition, Camus’ writing style focuses on the everyday lives and inner psyche of individuals in both ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. Such a character-driven writing style is most notably displayed in his 1946 work, The Stranger, a tale of an emotionally-detached man known as Meursault, who lives in French-colonized Algiers during the intermission of the two World Wars. Consisting of two parts—The Stranger first explores his daily life as a free man, and in the second, delves more into the character’s own philosophy as Meursault contemplates during his remaining time in jail. At its core, the story explores the relationships and interactions of the odd Meursault through the character’s inner monologue and dialogue with those around him. The story itself is very ambiguous in its’ nature, and the idea of contemplating the meaning of life and purpose is prevalent throughout The Stranger. Evidently, Camus writes Meursault as a man who believes that life has no meaning, and therefore people are free to do as they please. To supplement the protagonist’s view, the author also presents Meursault alongside various personalities of key supporting characters, each with their own unique personality, and differing outlooks on life. Doing so thus enables Camus to get readers to contemplate about meaning through multiple perspectives. Stylistically, through many devices that emphasize diction, imagery, and story themes. Ultimately, The Stranger is a way for Camus to convey that there are multiple ways to perceive the meaning of life, using Meursault to directly project a different view than what readers are used to. Surely, with the intent of crafting a protagonist so strange, that Meursault becomes comparable to other characters; less so as a reflection of what the author personally believes the meaning of life is, but more of what such exploration of the idea could be.

Albert Camus authored the book The Stranger in 1942. This short fictional novel is authored from the viewpoint of absurdism, which is the idea that all things are meaningless. This paper seeks to prove the importance of the theme of the Camus worldview. Though Camus attempts to portray his view of absurdism, he reveals a great amount of uncertainty, which ultimately challenges his belief system.

In the novel, The Stranger, the author, Albert Camus, creates a world of ironic dynamics between characters, while challenge the non-conformist protagonist, Meursault, to live in the same world aware of said dynamics. Camus introduces the readers to characters like Raymond Sintes and old Salamano, who live these ironic dynamics to a great extent. They both physically punish their problems: for Raymond it is his ungrateful-cheating prostitute, and for Salamano, his dilapidated spaniel. Despite their apparent distaste and hatred for them, once they lose them, they seem to develop a need to have them back in their life, their routine. They essentially lose whatever power they have over them, and feel powerless without them. Camus also provides the reader with a very subtle example of irony in Maman's late relationship with her fiancé, Thomas Pérez. Living in a retirement home, Maman experienced many of her peers pass, or come close to their death, illuminating the mortality in the human condition: death is inevitable. By accepting death as inevitable Maman was able to take another chance at life, giving her a reason for taking on a fiancé near her end. After being imprisoned for murder, Meursault feels he did nothing wrong, even realizing he has been right his whole life about everything before his execution. Through the implementation of such ironic dynamics, of which contrasts with Meursault's own dynamics, Camus illustrates how others denounce Meursault for his

Albert Camus, born in colonized Algeria, a father to absurdism, and author of The Stranger confronts the philosophical themes of purpose, integrity, and passivity. The Stranger’s main character, Meursault, is a laconic man whose passive actions and brutal honesty lend to connections in his court trial. Those of which condemn him to execution. Meursault falls victim to his complete honesty, complete passivity, and disregard for the purpose of action. He is straightforward, and his actions usually follow his thoughts. Actions and decisions that most average people regard as serious, Meursault regards as arbitrary. Meursault’s exemplification of absurdism proves to not only lend to his characterization, but as a comfort in his death as well.

“Life has to be given a meaning because of the obvious fact that it has no meaning.” Henry Miller

was published, writer and philosopher Albert Camus had already firmly established his theory of the absurd. Camus portrays this theory in The Stranger

Albert Camus, one of the eminent French novelist, essayist and playwright is often considered as a nihilist, or extreme absurdist who believes that life is senseless and useless. ‘The Outsider’, Camus’s first novel is a representation of his absurd thinking about the world. The use of the term ‘absurd’ in literature is a vehicle for writers to explore and represent those elements in the world that do not make sense and ‘The Outsider’ is one of the beautiful representation of Camus’s revolt against the norms of the society.