Essay on Indifference in Albert Camus' The Stranger

The Stranger by Albert Camus focuses largely on the concept of absurdism. Camus uses family and personal relationships, or the lack of it thereof, to show the isolation that the main character, Meursault, undergoes in the novel and it’s effect on him overall. Camus utilizes the protagonists’ character development as a tool to further his plot of the novel. The absence of family and personal relationships tied in with the particular recurring topics of the novel are crucial in both the development of the protagonists’ characters as well as the plot as it affects the portrayal of the main character.

Albert Camus’s story the stranger is about a young man named Meursault who feels nothing after his mother’s death and ends up being sentenced to death by the end of the story. What should be taken from the stranger is the character development of Meursault presented throughout the story and how the settings effects the mood of the story. Albert Camus shows Meursault’s character development throughout the story by first making presenting Meursault as uncaring only to later present Meursault as content with dying. Albert Camus also changes the mood of the story by placing Meursault in many different settings.

In the book The Outsider, the author Albert Camus presents his philosophy Absurdism through the indifferent character of Meursault. Meursault is passive and relationally unemotional because he observes the world without engaging it. Meursault shows this indifference from the beginning of the story when he attends his mother’s funeral without showing emotion. Similarly, Meursault is passive in his relationship with his girlfriend Marie, his friendship with Salamano and Raymond, and his attitude towards religion at the end of the story. Meursault seeks to live passively and without emotion in order to avoid being emotionally hurt.

Albert Camus’ The Stranger: Isolation within a Literary Classic In Albert Camus’ Nobel Prize winning novel The Stranger, we are introduced to a dynamic character named Monsieur Meursault. The way Camus writes the novel is by starting with a character that really doesn’t make decisions or give importance to any one or to any of the things happening around him; he is an isolated man. All the feelings or thoughts that he has are very passive; he gets over them very quickly. But going on an unexpected long get-away with his friend Reymond and girlfriend Marie, started to change the type of man he use to be. Finding one of Reymond’s old enemies, an Arab and his gang, made Monsieur, the once innocent man, a murderer.

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.

In many works of literature, a character conquers great obstacles to achieve a worthy goal. This goal can be pointless or have a powerful meaning and help reader analyze the novel. In addition, these goal can be personal or based on the attitudes and beliefs of others. In the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, the protagonist Meursault has several goals that portray and contribute to an overall meaning in the novel. The novel is written by an author who some called an existentialist, and some called an absurdist. The author believed that life has a lesser meaning and that people have to choose the life they want to live

he novel The Stranger written by The French author Albert Camus was published in 1942. The author wrote about what he felt and his views on the world and society. He had very unconventional ideas about morality and believed that life has no rational meaning. These ideas and thoughts are what make this book absurd and very eccentric. Camus' philosophy led to what was later known as Absurdism. Absurdism is the need to look for a meaning to life and their inability to find one

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.

The language in The Stranger (The Outsider) is strikingly simple. The sentences are molded to fit their function. They state what Meursault, the narrator believes. More importantly, their structure conveys Meursault’s feelings. His feelings are a prominent focal point of the novel. With all of the varying emotions and feelings he has throughout the story, there is one general term that can be applied to them all: indifferent. Meursault delights in simple pleasures, but never fully indulges himself into any of his endeavors. He is always reserved, taciturn, lacking an abundance of emotion. The only passionate surge that emanates from his mind and body comes in the form of his

Life is often interpreted by many as having meaning or purpose. For people who are like Meursault, the anti-hero protagonist of Albert Camus' The Stranger, written in 1942, the world is completely without either. Camus' story explores the world through the eyes of Meursault, who is quite literally a stranger to society in his indifference to meaning, values, and morals. In this novel, this protagonist lives on through life with this indifference, and is prosecuted and sentenced to die for it. Through Meursault and his ventures in The Stranger, Camus expresses to the reader the idea that the world is fundamentally absurd, but that people will react to absurdity by attaching meaning to it in vain, despite the fact that the world, like

“She then wanted to know if I loved her. I replied as I had done once already, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t.” Meursault does not take either love, or marriage seriously, because he believes that they do not really matter. Marie’s view, however, is diametrically opposed to that of Meursault, as she, like most of society, believed in the religious and judicial systems. She has faith in love and in all probability some form of God. Basically she conforms to society, she obeys it and “fits in”. While Meursault is by no means an anarchist, he does what he wants, and feels and expresses these feelings as he wishes. Meursault is not punished for failing to love Marie, but through the issue and discussion of love, the audience is able to grasp how vastly he differs from society, and that is what Meursault is essentially punished for.

The fact that he does not love her is not a problem. I just found the way that he told her he did not was an absurd way to answer. By him saying that her questions is irrelevant shows that he Meursault does not care about the way she feels. What is even more absurd is the facts that Meursault agrees to marry Marie after he made it clear that he does not love her. Meursault disregards for Marie's feelings is not the only cruel thing that he has done to a woman. Meursault and his neighbor come of with a plan to flat out disrespect Raymond's ex-girlfriend. What they planned to do was to right a nasty, inappropriate letter to her, so that Raymond could sleep with her again. Raymond planned to have sex with her, then to spit in her face right after and kick her out. I can understand that Raymond is mad because she cheated but that does not make what they did okay. And what I found to be the most absurd thing about the entire situation was that it has nothing to do with Meursault. He did that for no reason and it was unnecessary.

The way Meursault views life, along with his lack of typical emotional responses and judgment, oppose the very core of society. When he conveys with a factual and calm tone that "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home… That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday" (3), he contradicts the common knowledge of society of such a circumstance being greeted with a display of grief and pain, so the lack of effect on Meursault is abnormal and looked down upon. Another instance where Meursault lacks the expected reaction is when he travels to Marengo for the funeral. At the vigil, his mother's friend bursts into tears; an act which he disapproves of, but knows he shouldn't speak out against. After a while, he harshly conveys how "The woman's sighs and sobs were quieting down. She sniffled a lot. Then finally she shut up" (11). Meursault's silent complaining about the display of emotions at his mother's funeral is a belief criticized in society for its absence of morals,

The Outsider by Albert Camus is a very complex novel. It is concerning the protagonist, Meursault, his life, his approach and perspective on life as well. Meursault is a very controversial character that sparks a lot of interest in many readers. His atypical behavior and peculiar manner of interacting with his environment and the people around him is also quite interesting. Meursault is a lonely character that has trouble fitting into society and following through with society’s code of conduct. His personality is far from what we would deem as “normal”. Meursault is a character that is influenced by the physical elements such as time, place and setting, which compel him to commit certain actions and make specific decisions.

As noted by Solomon, The Outsider is ‘an odd novel’ which features ‘a character who has no character’ and narrates a story in which the narrator ‘thinks virtually not at all’ (Solomon 2006). This description of Meursault fits perfectly, as it is obvious that the protagonist is almost unable to think for himself, as he acts reactively to whatever situation occurs. One clear example is the question Marie poses to him, when she asks to marry him. Not only does he agree with no real emotion, but he states that he would marry any other woman ‘if I were involved with her in the same way’ (Camus 1942:38), showing a complete disregard for Marie’s emotions and a disregard for social norms regarding marriage. His brutal honesty would have been one reason for his alienation during the later parts of the novel.