Albert Camus Camus Research Paper

Absurdism “hinges on disillusionment as well as on an uncertainty about the purposefulness of life…” (Boles). Absurdist philosophy pokes fun at humanity's futile attempts to find meaning in a world as absurd as this one. Society needs a reason behind almost everything to make a rational conclusion from irrational actions. This can be best explained when Meursault is put on trial for the murder of the Arab man. The judge acts as if he is the God of the courtroom as he decides Meursault’s morality and fate. The jurors in turn act as representatives from the society that are casting their judgements on someone that they cannot understand. “And I can say that at the end of the eleven months that this investigation lasted, I was almost surprised that I had ever enjoyed anything other than those rare moments when the judge would lead me to the door of his office, slap me on the shoulder, and say to me cordially, "That’s all for today, Monsieur Antichrist." I would then be handed back over to the police (Camus 68). The judge like society hated the fact that Meursault wouldn’t repent or show remorse for his actions so the way he rationalized it was that Meursault was the antichrist and going to hell. The trial overall summarizes how society tries to find rationality in a world that sometimes doesn't seem to be rational at all. The importance of Meursault’s trial is that some things in life happen

Meursault experiences a philosophical triumph as his execution dates nears, due to his acceptance of the absurd, which confirms his identity; much like the absurd world, he doesn’t acknowledge human experiences and relationships. He is content with this, and welcomes the crowd, confident that nothing can take away his satisfaction. This shows that while he gains philosophical peace, he still is unable to grapple with interpersonal relationships and the role he was intended to play in society. Meursault does not overcome society’s judgment, but rather revels in the hatred. Through his conversation with the chaplain, Meursault discovers happiness in the fact that the absurd world mirrors his own indifference. Meursault compares his beliefs about life to those the chaplain holds, and comes to some finality in his thought process. He settled on a firm stance, “sure about [himself], about everything, surer than [the chaplain] could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death waiting for me” (Camus 108). Meursault becomes infatuated with the absurd world, rather than rejecting it in disgust or horror. He strongly identifies with the absurdity, “opening up to the gentle indifference of the world” (Camus

Combining the writings of “Queen” and Albert Camus Albert Camus was one of the most renowned authors during the early twentieth century. With writings such as The Stranger, and The Plague, Camus has struck the world of literature with amazing works that are analyzed to a great extent. This

Anusha Fatehpuria Harlin World Literature 3 March 2017 The Futile Search For Reason 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.

Meursault as well as Grendel can be considered an existentialist. He has all the characteristics of an existentialists. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice www.philosophybasics.com. Meursault is very detached and very perfunctory towards his surroundings. He believes that the world is meaningless, and has no hope for the future www.sparknotes.com. He cares very little, and doesn't really understand much to begin with about what goes on around him; he just lets things be, sort of with a mindset of ‘whatever happens,

The Stranger: Absurdity Through a Lens The theme of absurdity can be seen through three different lenses in The Stranger, by Albert Camus: life, decisions, and reflection. The first lens in which the reader can see absurdity in the novel is when the protagonist lives for the sensual pleasures of the

Meursault mirrors Sartre’s description of existentialism in his absurd view of the world and life in general, by demonstrating that nothing really matters, since everyone must live and die, what we do in between is irrelevant. The paramount description relating to Sartre’s existentialism and Camus portrayal of such justification, is when Marie asked if she could marry Meursault and his reply was, “I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to”. Therefore, he dons the choice onto Marie, however the true insignificance to Marie’s proposal is what is being upheld in his decision. Sartre states “You are free, therefore choose that is to say, invent. No rule of general morality can show you what you ought to do: no signs are vouchsafed in this world”. In other words, Meursault’s negligible response of insignificance and purposelessness is his choice and his expression of not caring regardless, but if she wanted to get married it was tolerable with him, may sound as a justification, and however becomes Meursault’s right choice. In abstract; David Drake states, in his article, “Sartre: Intellectual of the Twentieth Century” that, “I feel no solidarity with anything, not even myself: I do not need anybody or anything” (32). Meursault was content with his life, whether the rest of the world approved was a non-factor for him. After all, the choice was his.

Cronus had finally come to be the King of the Titans after overthrowing his father, Uranus. This godly power came at a price, however, as he was told of his fate to be overthrown by one of his own children. In order to combat this fate, Cronus swallowed all of

Being absurd is seen as being ridiculous or abnormal. It also focuses on not being able to find purpose(s) in life, “most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events” (Absurdist Fiction). Absurdism was a popular literary movement from the 1940s to 1989 that was mostly focused in European countries. The high emotions and the decrease of moral and political values during World War II helped to create the absurdist movement. Satire, dark humor, unusual

In Albert Camus’, The Stranger, it is very clear that the entire book is based off of existentialist ideologies; the main character, Meursault, goes through life without feeling any emotion. He is detached from society, and he goes through the motions each day without thinking twice about anything. It is clear that Meursault has not found himself. By the end of the novel, he overcomes many obstacles and realizes that there is in fact a point to life, but by the time he realizes this, his life is quickly coming to an end. In the middle of the novel, Meursault takes a walk on the beach with his friend, Raymond. They see a group of Arabs in the distance, and Raymond points out that one of the Arabs “has it out for him”. Meursault does not react much to this, especially since the Arab never pulls his knife on Raymond. Later on, however, Meursault walks back on the beach by himself, and he randomly decides to shoot the Arab, not once, not twice, but five times. “I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, and the exceptional silence of a beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a

In Part 1 of the novel, Meursault does not fully grasp the significance of life because of his absurdist way of life. Camus presents Meursault as a person who does not live life, but reacts to what life presents him. Meursault is incapable of understanding the metaphysics of the world due to his lack of emotions. The greatest understanding of Meursault is through his own mind; instead of being subjective, he is objective. “Behind them, an enormous mother, in a brown silk dress, and the father, a rather frail little man I know by sight” (22). His thoughts include “note-taking” details about his environment with an

The supporting characters in Albert Camus The Stranger fully provide the perfect examples for how The Absurd works as a philosophy. In this passage when the main character of the novel, Meursault is at his mother’s vigil with the residents of the old people’s home. “They were so lost in their thoughts that they weren’t even aware of it. I even had the impression that the dead woman lying in front of them didn’t mean anything to them,” (11). In this scene Meursault comments subconsciously on his frustration towards the old people’s ‘chewing on the insides of their cheeks,’ here by expressing one of the first emotions that Meursault’ll rarely express in the entirety of the novel. While the majority of the population would find how their responses quite normal and natural bring anxiety and dread to the patients. Truly is bringing up the questions. Why we cry when someone we don’t

Life is often interpreted by many as having meaning or purpose. For people who are like Meursault, the anti-hero protagonist of Albert Camus' The Stranger, written in 1942, the world is completely without either. Camus' story explores the world through the eyes of Meursault, who is quite literally

What is the absurd? Camus categorized as the “belief in the absurdity of existence must then dictate his conduct” (Camus, 6). What Camus means is feeling of absurdity goes hand in hand with having a meaningless life. We get so used to doing the same routine that, we as people don’t think we just act like a robot. Camus asks “Does its absurdity require one to escape it through hope or suicide? And does the absurd dictate death” (Camus, 9). Camus says, “An objective mind can always introduce into all problems have no place in this pursuit and this passion” (Camus, 9). The problem with this is if we were always based on facts then we would not be able to base our opinions on experiences. Camus also relates the feeling of absurdity to exile, we as people what to have meaning and or purpose in our own lives. The absurdity displaces us from having a meaning life. Camus says, “Mean who die by their own hand consequently follow to its conclusion their emotional inclination” (Camus, 9). Camus considers this an absurd reasoning because this feeling of exile can turn anyone crazy leading into suicide which both the absurd and suicide are linked together.

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.