Philisophical Background of The Stranger Essay

While reading The Stranger I noticed that traits that Albert Camus character depicts in the book are closely related to the theories of Sigmund Freud on moral human behavior. Albert Camus portrays his character of Meursault as a numb, emotionless person that seems to mindlessly play out his role in society, acting in a manner that he sees as the way he’s supposed to act, always living in the moment with his instincts driving him, and if the right circumstance presents itself the primal deep seeded animal will come out. I believe that most of the character’s traits fall under Freud’s notion of the Id and Ego mental apparatus, and don’t believe that his idea of the super-ego is represented in this book.

In the story “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, the belief that the themes of loss and retrieval are at the core of Mersault’s mythology, and that they illumine the notion of exile to which he returns so often is widely discussed. I however do not believe that either one of those themes has anything to do with the Mersault and the exile to which he returns to so often, rather I believe that Mersault’s own attitude is the reason for the exile he experiences in the story.

The Stranger The Stranger exhibits a society that has confined itself with a specific set of social standards that dictate the manner in which people are supposed to act. This ideology determines the level of morality, and how much emphasis should placed on following this certain "ethical" structure. Albert Camus's main character, Meursault, is depicted as a nonconformist that is unwilling to play society's game. Through Meursault's failure to comply with society's values and conform to the norm, he is rejected and also condemned to death by society.

Camus’s belief, as exemplified in the The Stranger, is that human life has no redeeming purpose. The only certainty in life is that eventually all human beings will die and therefore all lives are all equally meaningless.

Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked upon by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that show true humanity which tends to have been ignored due to the fact of how typical it has become. Camus incorporates abominable personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate.

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

The Stranger acknowledges a different approach to life and reality, one with certainty and emphasis on the individual. In Melissa Payne’s “Discussion of the Absurd in Albert Camus’ Novels, Essays and Journals,” she describes that “Camus desires that man reads this novel and becomes disorientated and divorced from any reality of which he knows. He must recognize that reality means that life exists and death is approaching; Camus believes that these are the only truths, and abstractions no longer exist” (Payne 15). In the novel, Meursault knows that his “death is approaching” in the form of his execution for the murder of the Arab. His crisis arises while questioning his past actions, an exercise out of character with his belief that life is only about present choices and the dawn of the next day. Meursault does not seek to absolve himself by turning to God or asking for forgiveness, but instead, accepts the life he has chosen, freed by the certainty that death was inevitable one way or

mother. He does physically attend her funeral though oddly, he does not request to see the body at the wake, rather he decides to imagine the effects of heat and humidity on the rate of a body's decay and have a smoke. Through understanding the first-person perspective of Meursault it’s appropriate to conclude that he is heavily if not totally unaffected or phased by his own mother's death, as if it had no factor in his life. In other words, her death has little to no real relevance to him. The emotion that Meursault displays, or rather lack of, goes against common social norms seen throughout society. Camus uses the character of Meursault to depict an individual who is not of the social customs of French Algiers and it is because of this

In the novel “The Stranger” By Albert Camus, Camus presents us with a Philosophical Fiction in which he revolves around the Theme of Existentialism. The Protagonist Meursault believes in no higher power of existence in which that life has no meaning thus opposing religion. The readers experience this in the beginning of the Novel, where Meursault attends his mother’s funeral and express no emotion at a sorrowful gathering which he is demanded to do socially and because of society’s standards and manners. The behavior of Meursault is constant and rarely changes throughout the novel. However his love partner makes Meursault question his views of Existentialism but does not result to change his personality. This transition continues through part

The Stranger by Albert Camus is an analysis of the human psychosis if it was isolated and apathetic. Throughout the story, our protagonist, Meursault, tells the story of his life after his mother’s death and his experiences with everyday routines. Meursault explains to the reader only the surface of what he is feeling; despite that, as a reader, one is able to view his mind directly and closely. Meursault has all the power in this book because it is his life and mind. He is able to put things in his own perspective, not one’s. As the reader vicariously moves through Meursault’s world, we see how he interacts with others, despite his indifference with interacting with society. Being around characters such as Marie or

Philosophies work to guide behaviors and beliefs of a person and can be found in different forms of literature to develop understanding of a character. In The Stranger, Albert Camus’ narrative style establishes various philosophical principles that influence the reader’s perception of ideas in the novel. While multiple principles are evident, the ideas of living in the moment and creating personal meaning are accentuated through Meursault’s narration. This style, in terms of tense and first-person perspective, helps to underscore these philosophical ideas in The Stranger as they influence Meursault's character.

My artwork that came out of the book, The Stranger, by Albert Camus shows how throughout the book that life is meaningless. There are many circumstances where death or a near death experience is occurring, such as, Monsieur Meursault’s mother dying, Raymond almost beating his ex-girlfriend to death, Salamano losing his dog, him taking the Arab man’s life, and him even getting sentenced to execution for the murder. In vivid description, Monsieur Meursault describe these many events as they were taking place in the story as if he had a rush or it made him feel alive, in a serial killer way. He also has very little emotion to go along with all the tragedy he is surrounded by, as if it never affects him in any way. He seems very heartless. Even

The Stranger is a novel by Albert Camus. Albert Camus, a French, Noble prize winning author, journalist and philosopher, was born on the seventh of November 1913. He died on the fourth of January 1960. He was instrumental in bringing the philosophical views of absurdism to public attention. The Stranger was published in 1942 and is an example of the outlook and themes of Camus’s philosophy of the absurd.

In Albert Camus’ existential novel The Stranger, the pointlessness of life and existence is exposed and expounded upon in such a manner that the entire foundation of spirituality is shaken. The concept that drives this novel is one coined by Albert Camus himself, the “absurd”. Under the absurd, life is pointless and holds no meaning. One lives merely to fulfill the obligation of living. Also, every possible action conceivable is governed by the static tools of chance and coincidence. The dynamic character, Meursault, is the primary outlet that Camus uses

I have not written you a letter in a few years. So I figured there is no better day than the present. What has changed in your life since we last talked? Are you still working the same job? There has been a few things that have changed in my life. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in engineering. Also I have switched careers and I am now in the information technology field. The reason why I am writing this letter is because I just finished reading a book that I found to be additively interesting. I figured I could give you a brief summary of the book called The Stranger. It is a strange book as cliché as that sounds, but that being said, it sounds like it would be up your alley of the category of books you read.