How Does Albert Camus As An Existentialist

Consequently, Meursault was put in jail and given a lawyer, but before given a lawyer he states how “I admitted I hadn’t hired an attorney and inquired whether it was really necessary to have one” which explains how indifferent this situation was to him (Camus 36). While if he felt any sadness the day Maman died, Meursault answers with “I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything” therefore upsetting his lawyer because his answer was too truthful (Camus 65). After that answer it was apparent that his lawyer was upset and even asks Meursault if “he held back his natural feeling” which Meursault said no too, making the lawyer seem disgusted with Monsieur Meursault. This little dispute made Meursault conclude that “I made him feel uncomfortable” which isn’t unusual with Meursault and his way of communicating with others (Camus 66). After Meursault’s trial for cold blooded murder, he is sentenced to an execution, and that is when he realizes he can finally

When Meursault’s mother passes away, he says “It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed”(Chapter 1 page 1). Meursault implies that he has no sympathy toward anything, only thinking about himself and acting like his mother’s death does not significantly mean anything. When Meursault is greeted by a soldier he says “A soldier smiled at me and asked if I’d been traveling long. I said, "Yes," just so I wouldn’t have to say anything else.” (Chapter 2 page 29).

In his relationship with Marie, Meursault remains indifferent to both love and marriage. His indifference should not however be accepted as an innate, uncontrollable response, rather a radical refuse of both social and religious affairs which authority impresses upon society. This indirect refusal to authority is also a present in Meursaults relationship with his boss. Meursault is offered a job in Paris and to his bosses’ surprise is indifferent to the situation stating that while “it was all the same”(41) that his life was content and “people never change their lives” in fact, “one life was as good as another”(41). Later however discussing the opportunity with Marie instead of displaying indifference describes Paris as “dirty”(42) with “lots of pigeons and dark courtyards”(42) and where “everybody’s pale”(42). Thus, despite his unemotional reaction to the boss, later displays resentment towards the situation. Meursaults relationship with Raymond is also down played in Meursaults narration. Helping Raymond write a knowingly manipulative letter because “he didn’t have any reason not to please him”(32) seems contradictory to his previously apathetic attitude that he “didn’t mind being his pal”(33). When Marie suggest that Meursault call the police he responds that he does not like police, thereby displaying an emotional

During Meursault’s trial for the killing of an Arab, the reader can see how Meursault’s indifferent attitude and moral ambiguity is at odds with society's behavior expectations after the prosecutor and witnesses describe Meursault's behavior during his mother's waking and funeral as “calm.” (85). The courtroom itself is a symbol of society’s judgement on those who do not follow society's behavioral expectations and this is why the prosecutor is able to successfully paint Meursault as cold-hearted in the eyes of the jury who are judging based on society's standards and not Meursault’s philosophy. To society, a normal personal is to outwardly love and cherish their mother and the death of one's mother should bring noticeable pain and anguish and anything lesser than this is viewed as heartless. When the prosecutor made it known that Meursault put his mother in a home, this was meant to be the first evidence used to prove that Meursault was so cold blooded that he did not even care about his mother's elderly condition. The prosecutor brought the Director of

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.

Starting on the first line of the book “Maman died today. Or yesterday, I don't know.” the very first idea that comes to mind is the very fact that he didn't even know when his mother had passed away and doesn't seem to give too much thought to it either. On page 4 Meursault is taking to the caretaker of the elderly home “Madame Meursault came to us three years ago. You were her sole support… You don't have to justify yourself my dear boy, I've read your mother's file. You weren't able to provide for her.” As in the book Meursault starts to feel like he is being criticized by the caretaker about not being able to care for her, he shows no sign of guilt or remorse as it must have been hard for him to put his mother into home but Meursault does show any emotion in that regard. A couple pages later Meursault is asked if he wants to see his

Meursault stops being passive; through his actions and words, he makes a choice to yell at the chaplain and then to go forward into his death. His actions might not be radical, but he is aware of them now and is conscious. Another time where Meursault has to think about him and actions is when, he is being questioned and forced to analyze his life in the court room in front of society. However, his thinking begins to broaden once he is sentenced to death. After his encounter with the chaplain, Meursault realizes that the universe is, like him, totally indifferent to human life.

Beginning with the death of the Arab, Meursault starts to become aware of his choices and actions. Although he had no clear reason to kill the Arab, in the death scene, Meursault realizes that he can either shoot or not shoot, and he chooses the former. This is the first time in the novel Meursault makes a conscious choice. In Part 1 of the novel, Meursault is simply skimming the surface of his life with no real emotions or strong feelings. He lives in a daily routine until the murder of the Arab drastically awakes him. After the death scene, Meursault becomes more aware of the importance of his choices and how to give his life meaning. He begins to reminisce over memories that give his life meaning and evaluates his relationship with his mother, Marie, and religion. To Meursault, the sound of the bullet leaving the gun marks a new beginning, characterized by consciousness and awareness. Much like Sisyphus, in The Myth of Sisyphus, Meursault is now aware of his burden and his existence as a result of shooting the Arab. The death scene is the start of Meursault gaining awareness of the world around

What is equally absurd is that Meursault remains passive and detached over the course of a year of interrogations, and despite the pessimistic nature of his situation, he is able to feel a sense of comfort and belonging within the system trying to condemn him. Ironically, those witness testimonies that sought to free him prove to be the most damaging, and the religious people who surround him and purport to love all men unconditionally persecute him for his lack of belief. Everyone is astonished that Meursault has no emotions about the murder --no sense of remorse or desire to repent. Most men in his position find

significant event in Meursault’s life is going to engage him into a kind of introspective mindset. However,

The story begins with “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (3). The lines introduce Meursault’s key personality trait, his indifference. He simply states the facts and has little emotional expression when talking about his mother’s passing. At his mother's funeral, he felt others expected him to talk and show emotion and it made him uncomfortable.

In the book, The Stranger by Albert Camus, it is about a man who instead, has a very, down and depressing look on life. The book first starts out with the death of the main character, Meursault's mother. Then the author takes us on a crazy ride through Meursault’s lonely and depressing life. Throughout this book, there are many possible themes, like the reaction to violence or death, guilt and remorse, meaninglessness and hopelessness and many more possibilities, but the theme that stands out the most in this book is the theme of meaninglessness and hopelessness and how Meursault believes that nothing means anything and that there is no hope for anyone because we all have the same ending and it doesn’t matter what you do until that day. The way that the author conveys this theme is through tone, characterization, and Meursault’s reactions to the events that took place in the book.

The torrid heat of the courtroom forces Meursault to abandon his testimony to what actually happened during the murder, and to let his physical needs take over. During the course of the courtroom hearing Meursault believes that the information being shared and assumptions being made by the

At the beginning of the novel, Meursault experiences what most would see as a great and sad loss, the death of his mother. His mother, who he calls “manam” lives away from Meursault causing him to travel to her funeral. This movement and change of routine for Meursault seems to stress him and almost

Camus’ novel The Stranger exemplifies his philosophy of absurdism. At first glance, it appears to be similar, if not the same, to Jean Paul Sartre’s philosophy of existentialism. However, the two are, in fact, significantly different in thought. While existentialism suggests that a person can create their own meaning in life, absurdism states that the search for significance is foolish because there is none to begin with, but people should still accept (and indirectly reject) what life has to offer. The apparent absurdity in life is represented by Meursault’s life-changing events, which expose the possibility that there are underlying values that exist that can make life more satisfying. Through his depiction of events that most others