In the novel ‘The Stranger’, the stranger is Meursault, the narrator and protagonist of the novel. He suffers alienation from himself and the world. His narrative is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the routine affairs of Meursault, except for two key events. The story of the first key event begins with the death of Meursault’s mother. Since he is an average man who earns barely enough for himself, Meursault sent his mother away to a Home for the Aged in Marengo, an action that brought him criticism. He attends the funeral of his mother, where he finds that he does not feel much grief or loss of his mother that his mother is no more with him; neither is he concerned about observing the social formalities and the responsibilities of
In the novel The Meursault Investigation, Kamel Daoud weaves a sister story for Albert Camus’s The Stranger, and has a dialogue of sorts with Camus. At times Daoud’s novel is very critical of Camus, standing in opposition to the attitudes and themes in The Stranger. The existence of The Meursault Investigation and the character of Musa is a criticism of the incomplete picture that Camus paints in his story, and the namelessness of “The Arab” that Meursault killed. Daoud gives a name to Meursault’s victim beyond that of “The Arab.” At other times, Daoud’s book parallels a lot of the ideas put forth by Camus. This can be seen as Harun slowly comes to resemble the man who killed his brother after committing a murder
Part 1, Section 1: We are first introduced to Meursault, the novel’s narrator and protagonist, where he is presented with his mother’s death. He doesn’t know exactly when she died, but just knows that she has passed. This then leads to his journey there, from asking for the day off from his boss, catching the bus, attending the night vigil for his other, and finally walking her to the funeral. Throughout this section he is very emotionless, almost distant about the whole situation. He doesn’t really have an explanation for not wanting to see his mother's coffin, or how he doesn’t know her exact age. Here we get a little glimpse of how amoral Meursault is, and we see a bit of foreshadow for what is to come.
In the book, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault finds an old newspaper article in his jail cell about a Czechoslovakian man who is murdered by his mother and sister. This article relates to his own trial by providing himself peace as well as the missing pieces found in both. The Czech man’s story expands the themes mentioned throughout the book, as well as supporting Camus philosophy of the absurd.
Rubin’s dissection of Meursault in The Stranger details that he “is a man condemned to death not so much for a criminal act as for his attitude.” In regard to this statement, the reader is presented with the idea that he is being put to death as a result of his “attitude,” which is that of an outsider, or someone “removed” from society, and his motives were based on an absurdist mentality that leads one to think of death as “just another thing” because of the pointlessness of life, as there is no hope. We are lead to believe that Meursault is some “sick and twisted” person without realizing his indifference to the emotional expectations of society. The murkiness of his conscience is like a black and white film over his eyes that open to the
In The Stranger, Camus portrays women as unnecessary beings created purely to serve materialistically and satisfy males through the lack of a deep, meaningful, relationship between Meursault and females. Throughout the text, the main character, Meursault, creates closer, more meaningful relationships with other minor characters in the story. However, in his interactions with females in this book, Meursault’s thoughts and actions center on himself and his physical desires, observations, and feelings, rather than devoting his attention to the actual female. Living in Algiers in the 1960s, Meursault originates from a post-modernist time of the decline in emotion. Meursault simply defies the social expectations and societal ‘rules’, as
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.
In The Stranger, Camus portrays women as unnecessary beings created purely to serve materialistically and satisfy males through the lack of a deep, meaningful, relationship between Meursault and females. Throughout the text, the main character, Meursault, creates closer, more meaningful relationships with other minor characters in the story. However, in his interactions with females in this book, Meursault’s thoughts and actions center on himself and his physical desires, observations, and feelings, rather than devoting his attention to the actual female. Living in Algiers in the 1960s, Meursault originates from a post-modernist time of the decline in emotion. Meursault simply defies the social expectations and societal ‘rules’, as
In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault is seen as a very unique character, but not in a good way. Throughout the novel, he continually fails to show normal human emotions to things like his mother’s death, Marie’s love, and the man he killed. Most people in his town, along with the reader at first, are not able to reason out his actions but as the final events of the novel unfold, the reader begins to see Meursault in a different light.
Individuals are generally perceived to be productions of their upbringings and socialization. Latin author, Gabriel García Márquez and Algerian writer Albert Camus, introduce how their characters conflict with socialization as a result of their cultivation in Love in the Time of Cholera and The Stranger respectively. In Márquez’s novel, the key female role is assigned to Fermina Daza, a middle class Latina in the 1800s-1900s, expected to hold prestige and marry wealthy by her father and societal pressures. In The Stranger, Meursault, the protagonist, develops a niche for logic rather than influence which provides the Christian based society with a reason to have a heinous perception of him when he fails to express emotion at his mother’s
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
The Stranger by Albert Camus follows the story of a man named Meursault, who received notice that his mother had passed away. Meursault was not emotionally connected to his mother, and his reaction is not what the reader would expect, as he did not seem to care at all. Therefore, the day after attending his mother’s funeral, Meursault goes to the beach and meets up with his girlfriend, Marie. After the beach, Meursault and Marie go to a movie and spend the night together. When he returns home from work the next day, Meursault runs into his neighbor, Raymond, who beats his mistress. Later in the story, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond go to a beach house, which is owned by Raymond’s friend, Masson. At the beach, Masson, Raymond, and Meursault
Meursault begins The Stranger devoid of human sympathy and emotions. He demonstrates such blank indifference in the situation when Raymond brutally beats his girlfriend. Marie “asked [Meursault] to go find a policeman, but [he] told her [he] didn 't like cops.” (Camus, 36) When encountering cruel domestic violence, he shows no feelings of sympathy or disgust. He has no motivation to act, allowing a mere dislike of police to trump his ability to end senseless conflict. Meursault also murders a man in cold blood. Not only does he whimsically allow the mere shine of sunlight to give him justification to end a man’s life, he further illustrates a lack of human emotion, calmly firing “four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” (Camus, 59) He remains the same blank slate, without any regret or sadness for what he has done nor fear of the consequences. Although Meursault looks human, he is clearly monstrous and lacks all emotions commonplace to people.
A loved one dying is typically one of the most emotionally distressing events a person may face,especially when that person is one who has had a great influence on a one’s life, a parent. In most societies,Showing an indifference to a parent's passing would be considered taboo. However, in The Stranger, readers first meet the protagonist at his mother's funeral, where he shows an indifference to the passing of a seemingly important person in his life . This impassive action foreshadows the lack of emotion and detachment that the main character, Meursault, exhibits throughout the novel. An indifference mistaken for immorality, for which Meursault is eventually prosecuted and condemned.
In The Stranger, Albert Camus suggests the question of whether Meursault’s peculiar behaviour is demeaning and dehumanizing in an Algerian society with many cultural and social expectations. Albert Camus portrays Meursault’s story with the lack of emotion. In doing so, Camus forces the reader and the judicial system to find Meursault peculiar and immoral. Meursault’s lack of emotion is perceived as a lack of humanity by the Algerian society. In this thought provoking novel, Albert Camus uses the recurring idea of versatility and indifference to elucidate the perplexing behaviour of the protagonist. Meursault’s emotional detachment from society ultimately results in his dehumanization, followed by his condemnation.
While this is the purpose of first person narration in Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Camus also uses it as a tool to help in juxtaposing Meursault against the norms in society, especially religious norms in the novel. Through interactions with characters and through exposure of Meursault’s thoughts to the reader, Camus is able to focus on a variety of absurdities present in the religious systems and constructs of Algeria in the 1940s. Such absurdities including the strict observance of the Sabbath by the Christian faith, the large role emotion plays in religion, and the necessity of one to belong to a religious group in order to belong in