Meursault Conformity

Camus’ Outlook on Ostracized Individuals and Foreign Friendships Within The Stranger, various characters suffer unavoidable ostracization due to their development of individual principles and beliefs, conflicting with the accepted societal standards set by the general public. In addition, many friendships within the novel appear as unrealistic, differing from mainstream and idealized relationships. A particular example within The Stranger includes the association between Meursault and Raymond, the absurd protagonist alongside his neighboring pimp. Within The Stranger, Albert Camus illustrates the deranged relationship between Meursault and Raymond, Raymond’s manipulative persona, and Meursault’s lack of genuine care towards their companionship.

In our world, there are certainly expected manners of behavior ranging from emotional reactions to obeying laws. However, in The Stranger, Mersault lives his life detached from these societal constraints. Even though he lives an unusual life, he doesn’t completely alienate himself from society until he shoots a man. Later when he is in prison, violence erupts when he opposes the Chaplain’s Christian beliefs. Meursault’s rebellious actions in both of these scenes illuminate how society condemns people who refuse to conform to societal constructs.

During the trial his lawyer asks, “Is he being accused of burying his mother or of killing a man?” (Camus 93). This question showing how the court or society was judging him based on “exposing the dark workings of this criminal soul” (Camus 96), as opposed to the arbitrary shooting. The murder was not malicious. He only killed the man as a response to “a red hot blade gnawing at [his] eyelashes” (Camus 60). Although Meursault speaks the truth he is judged by a system which does not recognise his moral code. This system views murder as immoral regardless of the intention, whilst Meursault sees no shame in his action as it wasn’t borne from malice. In effect he is convicted for not conforming. In the Afterword Camus says “the hero of the book is condemned because he doesn’t play the game” (Camus 118). Meursault pulled the trigger out of tension from the heat and was not out of revenge or hatred towards the Arab.

In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault the protagonist, becomes drawn into a “senseless” murder that has to face the absurdity of life and because of his actions, Meursault is presented as a danger due to his lack of “morality” to society. Meursault who is not able to take control of his life but respond to what life offers him believes in the simplicity of life. He tries to understand the living through logic and objectivity, which ultimately turns futile, as he himself cannot maintain proper control over his thoughts and emotions. From the interactions between Marie, to the murder of the Arab, and the meeting with the Chaplain, Meursault overcomes his indifferent views to form an opinion about what life really means. The central theme presented by Camus is how the threat of mortality becomes a catalyst for understanding the significance of life.

In part two of The Stranger written by Albert Camus, the society’s actions regarding Meursault’s trial symbolizes the irrationality of the universe. Earlier in the novel it was established that Meursault remained emotionless and he had a sense of detachment to the society. Because the killing of the Arabs had no meaning or explanation, the trial in part two of the novel represented the societies attempt to reveal the absurdity. The purpose of this essay is to prove that through the usage of symbolism, Albert Camus rationalizes how the society was influential in how Meursault reformed as a person.

In “The Stranger” by Camus, Meursault’s actions throughout the story can be summed up in one word, absurd.

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

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

When beginning to read this novel,we do not have much information about Meursault and his life, it is hard for us to judge his personality and his actions. When Meursault heard of the passing of his mother through a telegram, whom he had placed into home

Meursault suffers throughout the novel, and fails to overcome the negative events in his life. When Meursault’s mother dies many people who were close to her-for example Monsieur Pérez-were very solemn, but Meursault did not show much emotion; “... Pérez’s face… Big tears of frustration and exhaustion were streaming down his cheeks… Then there was the church and red geraniums on the graves in the cemetery… the incessant drone of the motor, and my joy when the bus entered the nest of lights that was Algiers” (18). Meursault speaks about Pérez’s pain in short sentences, and then quickly describes the environment around him. He emotes joy when the bus comes, even though it is still the day of his mother’s funeral. Camus’ style of short sentences shows Meursault’s lack of emotion which prohibits him from finding meaning in his suffering; “But, in the first place, it isn’t my fault if they buried Maman yesterday instead of today, and second, I would have had Saturday and Sunday off anyway. Obviously, that still doesn’t keep me from understanding my boss’s point of view” (19). He will not speak about any pain or negative emotions resulting from this event. As the novel continues, he commits a murder, is put on trial, and then sent to be executed. Meursault is constantly suffering, but he continues to stay unattached to his emotions and suffering. When he is about to be executed, he states that the only thing he has left is the end of

Meursault’s thoughts and actions provide the reader with a rational main character, contrary to the typical main characters present in most novels, and shows how society responds to him. In most works of literature, the main character

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.”

A frequent theme in literature is commentary on the pursuit of justice, and in Albert Camus’ The Stranger, he examines the theme of justice through the eyes of Meursault, a shipping clerk living in 1940s Algiers. Meursault, the protagonist, is a character who places no value in religion and the importance on right and wrong; as a result, his amoral nature influences Meursault to do things such as behave cold and distant at his mother’s funeral and help his neighbor, Raymond Sintes, in beating his ex-mistress and attack Arabs. These actions makes Meursault a stranger to the society that later in the novel condemns him for the murder of an Arab. When Meursault embarks on his search for justice, he comes to understand that he is unfairly sentenced

In The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault exemplifies Camus principles of absurdism. In light of the two quotes from Camus Resistance, Rebellion and Death, the reader is better able to understand why Meursault reacts furiously to the chaplains reply to him. This reaction comes from the realization that has accumulated in him concerning the indifference of the world and the ephemeral nature of death that is what ultimately left him to be executed for his crime. In The Stranger, Camus introduces us to Meursault who is only concerned with the practicalities of life.

In the novel The Stranger, the author Albert Camus emphasizes the absurdities of life and he does this by conveying the existentialist philosophy through Meursault’s blunt nature and his indifference to life. The novel explores existentialist ideology which represents the philosophy of life essentially being “pointless”. Since the message of existentialism can have a powerful negative connotation it’s surprising to understand how Meursault could be considered anything close to free especially, considering the freedom he gained occurred after he committed murder, but considering the sequence of events he goes from trapped to free. His freedom is gained after since his routine hindered him from the enlightenment he gained from being captured.