Albert Camus Research Paper

The Stranger by Albert Camus is a novel about a man named Meursault who sees the world as a place of no hope for the living human being. The setting of the story takes place in 1940s Through Meursault’s selfish behavior, he goes through a series of events that are formed by his nonchalant attitude. On one day in particular, when he's out with a couple of friends he decides to shoot an Arabian man and soon after being charged guilty of murder. Camus is an Existentialist philosopher, but also an Absurdist as well. Existentialism focuses on free will and expressing the individual to be oneself to choose their own actions. Existentialist’s tend to back out with the belief

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

Everyone will die. Meursault’s awareness of death contributes to his nonchalant attitude toward every death he witness or must endure in The Stranger. Death fails to upset Meursault. In The Stranger, Albert Camus emphasizes mortality in order to expose the ignorance humanity has towards the inevitable or unknown end.

My purpose on earth is to bring peace and happiness. As of 2015, this world is the opposite of peaceful. Many people are being killed just to get education, kids are in poverty, and a plethora of international terrorism’s Martin

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.

In his novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward, irony within the protagonist’s ( Meursault ) contrasting perception of the human condition is used to illustrate and invoke the reader to question the contradictory nature of societal expectations. His indifferent and unprecedented reactions to experiences - relative to the characters that Camus laid before him - aid in displaying the absurdity of a world constrained by the chains of conventional wisdom. The contrasting nature of Meursault's demeanor in defying conventional wisdom in experiences such as love and death not only reveals the underlying hypocrisy of the human condition but further illustrates the arbitrary essence of defining a human life.

Flat characters play a significant role in all novels. For instance, the brother of Raymond’s mistress is a key flat character. The Arab never grows throughout the novel; rather, he remains a stalker, stalking his prey, tempting a fight. Without the role of the Arab, Meursault, would never have gone to prison, and never be tried for murder.

Authors have inspired and created some of the most remarkable ideas that can change just one life or many; however, these authors must have had inspiration themselves. An author’s life influences who they are and what they do, writing. Edgar Allan Poe was a unique author who wrote numerous dark, mysterious works, such as “The Tell Tale Heart,” that were inspired by his life full of sorrow and despair. Comparable to Poe, S.E. Hinton’s writing was affected by her life of being different from the world and even her friends, which led to her writing about a unique character who stands out in The Outsiders. Lastly, Elie Wiesel is alike to the previous authors. His life, burdened by ceaseless pain that he bore through, reflects in his writing in Night. Anybody’s life can change from just one significant moment that they have lived, no matter who they are or what they do. Edgar Allan Poe, S.E. Hinton, and Elie Wiesel had been just average people who have challenged events in their lives which who used those events to write.

In The Stranger, author Albert Camus involves the sun throughout the novel in order to display mans vulnerability. He presents the sun as a powerful, unfortunate influence on main character, Meursault and describes him as a simple minded, easily influenced, mellow individual. The Main influence in Meursaults’ life is the sun. Meursault is bothered by it however he does not make much of an attempt to stop or ignore it. He simply permits the suns heat, accepting it and affirms his personality. Becoming vulnerable is basic however with a more vigorous charisma, persuasion can be avoided. However an able source such as the sun, Camus establishes is a little more difficult to avoid.

In the novel, The Stranger, author Albert Camus confronts some important issues of the time, and uses the singular viewpoint of the narrator Meursault to develop his philosophy and effectively weave together themes of absurdity, colonialism, and free will. Through the progressive disruption of Meursault’s life and his characterization, Camus presents the absurdity of the human condition along with the understanding that a person can actually be happy in the face of the absurd. Camus also intentionally sets the story in the colonized country of Algeria, and hints at the racial tensions that exist between French-Algerians and Arabs.

The Fall, a 1957 novel written by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus, is a story

“The Guest,” by Albert Camus, is about an alleged murderer who is handed over to a solitary schoolmaster who lives in his schoolhouse on top of a plateau in the Atlas Mountains. Daru, the schoolmaster, is ordered by an old acquaintance to deliver a supposed murderer, the Arab, to the police in a nearby town where he will most likely be sentenced to death for killing his cousin. The problem Daru has with this order is that he believes that it is dishonorable to kill murderers, even though the Arab’s crime “revolted him.” Eventually Daru decides to not make any decision and gives the decision of the Arab’s life over to the Arab, who decides to go towards Tinguit and the police. Set in the middle of World War II, Camus’ story centers around morality

Socrates, a Greek philosopher, once said that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology 38b). Like Socrates, Albert Camus believed that a man needs to live meaningfully.

The novel, The Plague, written by Albert Camus, will be the focal point of the Multicultural essay. Further delving into Albert Camus and his life, he was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. At a young age, he lost his father due to an injury suffered during World War I, and was raised under the domineering hand of his grandmother alongside his mother (Lottman 52). Camus did exemplary in school and through his political engagement led him to join the Communist Party. Deeply advocating for individual rights, he became opposed to French colonization and argued for the empowerment of his people in politics and labor, leading him to later joining the French anarchist movement. Camus introduced and elaborated on elements of absurdism

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.