Camus Vs Kafka

Meursault's character is the determining factor in his conviction and sentencing. His social rebellion is deemed immoral and abominable. The reader and the novel's characters both try to rationalize Meursault's actions in order to give his life meaning. But according to Meursault, life is meaningless and consequently needs no justification.

It engenders21 a sense of hope within viewers, since unscrupulous22 people become aware that what they have done is not acceptable. However, the courtroom scene in The Stranger further emphasizes that truth is simply an illusion, for truth is relative and what might be truth to one person can be false to another. For example, in society, it is truth that a “morally good person” is one that is benevolent23 and genial24. Meursault was anything but benevolent and genial, and it is possible to consider him as a good person, depending on one’s perspective. The prosecutor was trying to make Meursault seem like a criminal, since he did not adhere to society’s standards or fit society’s description of a “good” person. When the warden of the Home in which Meursault’s mother resided in was up for questioning during Meursault’s trial, he had been “surprised by Meursault’s ‘calmness’” and further explained that Meursault “hadn’t wanted to see Mother’s body, or shed a single tear” (Camus 55). This reaction to his own mother’s death is quite unusual and is drastically different from the reaction society expects. Through this, the Prosecutor was trying to show that there must be something wrong with Meursault, so it must be true that he premeditated the shooting of the Arab. In Meursault’s perspective and mine, his indifference did not provide evidence or truth of his crime, but again, “truth” can be

In “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, the juxtaposition between Chaplain’s morals and the Meursault's are symbolic of the acceptance and rejection of social constructs like religion, showing how adhering to one’s own values are ultimately more rewarding. Throughout the novel, Meursault is defined his actions driven from prioritizing his physical needs first. This mentality lands Meursault in jail for killing an Arab because he was distracted by the sun. As he is about to approach his death sentence, the Chaplain attempts to get him to convert to religion and become a believer in his final moments, as “he was expressing his certainty that my appeal would be granted, but I was carrying the burden of sin from which I had to free myself. According

In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the murder committed by Meursault is questionably done with no reason. Although the entirety of the second part is spent in society’s attempts to find a cause, Meursault has a durable existential mentality that proves that even he knows that there is no true reason for the crime. Through the use of light and heat imagery and diction in The Stranger, Albert Camus comments on the duality of society trying to find a cause for the murder and Meursault defying this because of his existential mentality. These elements heighten Meursault’s negative outlook on life by

In The Stranger, Albert Camus describes the life of the protagonist, Meursault, through life changing events. The passage chosen illustrates Meursault’s view during his time in prison for killing the Arab. In prison, one can see the shifts in Meursault’s character and the acceptance of this new lifestyle. Camus manipulates diction to indicate the changes in Meursault caused by time thinking of memories in prison and realization of his pointless life. Because Camus published this book at the beginning of World War II, people at this time period also questions life and death similar to how Meursault does.

After only a few days of trial, the jury in The Stranger declares that the main character, Meursault, is to be executed by guillotine in the town square. The trial and its verdict are one of the important parts of the novel, as Albert Camus uses them as a metaphor to summarize the two main tenets of absurdism. Camus uses the trial and persecution of Meursault to express his belief that the justice system is flawed because of his absurdist ideals that truth does not exist, and human life is precious. In order to reform the justice system, Albert Camus believes that capital punishment needs to be abolished.

The novel The Trial identifies a citizen with no constitutional rights. The government of his country was weak and oppressive. Joseph K the protagonist in the novel struggled with depression, loneliness, frustration and anxiety after his arrest and trying to deal with the coming interrogations, court sessions and a lengthy trial. Citizens in the United States of America with a democratic government, constitutional rights are guaranteed under the United States Constitution, which is the Supreme Law of The Land. “US Constitution”.

Justice held by humans can be corrupt, but true justice serves righteous. This shows true in Franz Kafka’s story of brutality and injustice, “In the Penal Colony”. An officer who wills to be just, who’s decision to give cruel justice with prejudice, results in his realization of wrongdoing. A traveller from outside the unmodernized island colony brings him this realization. Since the officer is motivated by his will to be just, his decision to sustain old ways, creates his demise by the end of the story.

Today’s society is run by and thrives off capitalism, ruled by our government. Many things are kept surreptitious from us. The government feeds us lies to silence us and to force us conform to society’s customs, this is evident in the novel ‘The Trial.’ It depicts the way in which society is ruled by an autocratic hierarchy, which is kept secret from the working class. This is a metaphor for the Marxist ideology of the bourgeoisie exploiting the proletariat in a capitalist society. ‘The Trial’ by Franz Kafka was published in 1945 and follows the injustice of the main character Josef, who is arrested by two wardens, and prosecuted on unnamed charges. "Without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning." The nature of his crime is kept confined from him and the reader. Throughout the novel, Josef struggles ineffectively against an oppressive and autocratic court system, only to be abruptly executed, at the end of the novel. This essay will be exploring Josef’s character and the ways in which ‘The Trial’ is written in a Marxist perspective in depth, analysing how Josef struggles against the oppressive court system, adamant not to compromise his beliefs to conform to and suit society’s norms.

In The Trial by Franz Kafka, the protagonist K. is going through what is often thought of as one of the most dehumanizing aspects of society. Even in the United States many criticize the justice system for being dehumanizing. People are forced to wear the same thing, act the same way, and are given numbers instead of names. In The Trial Kafka emphasizes the dehumanizing aspects of this process by exacerbating the bureaucratic steps that must be accomplished and adds more uncertainty and secrecy to the steps. Kafka’s writing shows the lack of information that K. is given, and the symbolic dehumanization that occurs during the whipping and with K. lacking a last name.

Meursault was introduced as a young man whom recently found out his mother, Maman, died. He was not the most emotional person, but he dealt with his feelings the best he knew how. Meursault lived his life on the verge of truth and honesty. He was honest within every aspect of life, from women to freedom. He was never certain about anything in life ,but one thing he was sure of, death was inevitable. After murdering an Arab, he was on trial in front of many people being interrogated with many questions about why he did what he did, but also to evaluate his psyche about the situation. Unlike others, Meursault did not hide from the truth and that is what others could not cope with. Living his life the way others were afraid to, Meursault was the outcast in his society.

Although Meursault, who is portrayed as a stoic individual, is not attuned to the expectancies of society. The events following his mother's funeral, exemplify an existential outlook on Meursault’s character that Camus is trying to convey. To others his actions is viewed as an emotionless individual detached from the structures of society. As Meursault is awaiting his trial for killing an Arab, he has an epiphany on what it means to live life rather than how it should be lived. He states “Well, so I’m going to die.”

The opening establishes and embodies the world of the justice system, “the man’s world”, accompanied by its seriousness, organisation and harshness in its outlook on reality, the depiction of a typical arrest, identification and trial of a convicted criminal. However, this “world”, according to Wood is threatened, stating that it is somewhat disrupted by the protagonist’s “frivolousness, selfishness, and triviality” (272).

This easy-going, pleasant hedonism is interrupted permanently by Meursault's murder of the Arab on the beach. Not only is he incarcerated, but also he must examine the reality behind the illusion of his trial and, ultimately, of his life. Introspection has not been his metier. It takes him a while to realize that the judge, the jury, the journalists, even his own lawyer, do not wish him well. Meursault finally realizes that he is going to be convicted, not because he killed an Arab but because he did not mourn his mother's death.

The Trial has an immediate ability to engage the emotions of the reader because the protagonist, Josef K., is an everyman.  Not especially ambitious, Josef K. is an ordinary man, a successful bank clerk whose everyday