Albert Camus Camus Research Paper

The existentialism of Albert Camus is based on his view of life as the Absurd. This sense of the Absurd derives from the realization that man is destined to die, as if being punished for a crime he never committed. There is no reprieve, and this makes life absurd (Peyre). There is no God in Camus’s conception, and those who hope for an afterlife are thus to be disappointed. Camus understood that the fact that there is no God also means that there is no meaning or purpose to life outside of living life to the fullest, and that there is a destined end. The one saving grace in the world seems to be the fact that while there is no God on which man can depend, man can live as if he can depend on his fellow man, even though he and they will all die (Sprintzen). This is another absurdity, but it is based on the fact that the

Camus uses many different aspects of existentialist philosophy throughout the entirety of the novel. One aspect of existentialist thought that is used in the novel, is that “existence is always particular and individual—always my existence, your existence,his existence” ( “Existentialism” ). This can be seen through various characters, but most importantly through the protagonist, Meursault. In one scene of the novel, Meursault says, “Then he asked me if I wasn’t interested in a change of life. I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfied with mine here at all” (Camus 40). In this scene Meursault is talking about how his boss offered him a new job in Paris in part because he thinks Meursault would enjoy the new change in life. This relates back to the existentialist thought that everyone's existence is particular to their own, because Meursault doesn’t really care to start over in a new city, whereas someone such as his boss believes that many young people would love to.

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,

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.

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

Meursault can simply be seen as a man who has created a sense of isolation for himself from the world. The lack of belongingness is ethnic and political, and it is also personal in the sense that Meursault lacks the ability to have meaningful relationships. He is a man who lives his life for himself and no one else, who can be seen as refusing to say more than what he knows, or in other words is a man of few words. He prefers to live within his own mind because that is the only reality that makes sense to him. Meursault can be explained by the existentialist view of psychology which basically has the idea that life has no meaning, it is accidental and there is no purpose behind

The first lens in which the reader can see absurdity in the novel is when the protagonist lives for the sensual pleasures of the present moment. Meursault is the protagonist who lives for the sensual pleasures of the present moment. He is free of any system of values in his life. And he would rather not behave in accordance with social norms. Meursault tries to live as honestly as he can. He does only what he wants to do and befriending those whom he likes. Although he is blunt with his relationships with people. He says things to his partner that a regular man or woman would choose not to say. It is shown to the reader that Meursault may not be capable of a loving

Absurdism is mentioned but you have not defined it yet, and your introduction only focuses on existentialism

Absurd as a word is defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous” as well as “having no rational or orderly relationship to human life.” Absurdism is characterized by the tenets of “life’s absence of meaning removes any reason for living,” and “life’s lack of purpose affords us freedom.” The absurd is the notion that anything and everything in existence is incorrigible and ludicrous, leaving inhibitors of reality with the choices of coping with existence, revolting against existence, or escaping

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

At one point, he declines a job offer to go to Paris. Despite the fact that he'd be able to leave colonial Algeria for Paris, which would seem like a good life choice for many, he doesn't care for the offer. Meursault said that “people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that [he] wasn't dissatisfied with [his] here at all” (41). Meursault shows himself not only be indifferent to things or people around him, but that he's also indifferent to his future as everything is the same to him. In his relationship with Marie, Meursault was indifferent to the idea of getting married to her. When asked about marriage and if he really loved Marie, he responded that “it didn't mean anything but that [he] probably didn't love her . . . that it didn't really matter and that if she wanted to, [they] could get married” (ibid). Here he was, saying that he didn't care if he got married. By doing this, he discarded his own ability to decide his future, and instead put it in the hands of someone else. In this respect, Meursault is also like the world, in that his future is decided by others, but unlike the world, Meursault has the ability to decide his future, but never takes the chance, because, like the world, he doesn't care.

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

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.