The Death Of A Free Man

Meursault's character is the determining factor in his conviction and sentencing. His social rebellion is deemed immoral and abominable. The reader and the novel's characters both try to rationalize Meursault's actions in order to give his life meaning. But according to Meursault, life is meaningless and consequently needs no justification.

He has no initial reaction to the news of her death, and at her funeral service he did not bother to even see her before she was buried. His lack of emotion is evident in the very first lines of the book, “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.” This shows that Meursault is hardly caring for his mother. Society’s standards would result in him to be in absolute mourning and wanting to go as fast as possible to her body. This is not the only example of Meursault’s lack of emotion and care for factors in his life. He does not care for love and marriage after having intercourse with someone; the society standard at this time was to get married if two partners had intercourse. He does not care for promotion and career advancement when his boss offers him a better job opportunity; the standard at that time and right now is to pursue the best career possible. In these scenarios Meursault is living free from the chains, and does whatever he thinks is right to do. Eventually, society rejects him and his ways, and he gets in trouble with the law. He is judged by society and his ways are ridiculed, making Meursault appear to be a monster.

Not also that but Meursault is also constantly stubborn with others opinions and beliefs. It's not just the life of the main character, but it also views our lives as well. It can be cruel, unusual and rebellious if it’s not to society's laws and the absurdity of the human behavior has us doing these type of actions. The world and the point of being alive may not be entirely meaningless but conventional. Throughout the whole book, he is brutally honest about everything and his interpretation of virtues falls right into Camus’s category of his absurd ideology. Even though the author was an Existentialist, hes has more of an Absurdist thought put into his novel. Both of these beliefs are different yet the same because both relate to the point of being yourself. However, one rejects humanity and the other goes along with individual experiences and actions that are basically making your own

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

In Albert Camus novel, The Stranger (The Outsider), the main character Meursault displays a unique indifference to his surroundings and the world around him. It takes him a degree of time to come to terms with his indifference, but when he does he feels truly free from society's constricting bonds. He leads an apathetic lifestyle that is characterized by his constant lack of a definitive personality. Meursault wanders through life as if in a drunken stupor, living the life of a pleasure seeker. When he accepts his death he is relieved of the pressure of dealing with guilt and with relationships towards other people.

By the end of the novel and during his trial, Meursault admits to himself he truly had no reason to kill the man on the beach. Perhaps it’s the over emotional society that causes him not to care or perhaps he truly, sincerely believes that it doesn’t matter. Either way, there is no doubt that the sensitivity of the culture around Meursault has molded him into the statue he depicts. To him, it was decision that had just so happened to end with the loss of a life. A heinous crime committed without reasoning, resulting in a debut in which he must pay for with his life, a price he doesn’t mind paying. Despite the unmissable fact that he had killed a man pushing him even further the boundaries of the cultural norms, it opened yet another door of indifference for Meursault: religion. In the process leading up to his execution, he is asked by the Chaplain if he believes in God. To which he replies with the same ambiguous statement, “It doesn’t matter” Baffled and confused, the Chaplain refuses to believe this answer, however Meursault withstands his position, no need for an explanation, it all just doesn’t matter to him. Nonetheless, the reasoning behind Meursault's strong disdain can be found within the culture around him. It is filled with people who rely wholeheartedly on the expression of emotions

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

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 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.

Although Meursault is the title character and narrator of Albert Camus’ short novel The Stranger, he is also a somewhat flat character. His apparent indifferent demeanor may be a convenience to Camus, who mainly wanted to display his ideas of absurdism. And as a flat character, Meursault is not fully delineated: he lacks deep thought and significant change. His purpose is that of a first-person narrator whose actions embody the absurd, even before he has any awareness of the fact. Since Meursault is embodied absurdism, it is not necessary that he be hyperaware of his thoughts and intentions. His truth has already been built into his character by the

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.

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

When he returns home to Algiers, Meursault carries on with life as normal. Over dinner one evening, his neighbor Raymond tells of his desire to punish his mistress for infidelity, and asks Meursault to write a letter to the mistress for him. Meursault agrees, saying "I tried my best to please Raymond because I didn’t have any reason not to please him" (32). While Raymond is a man of questionable morals, he acts with purpose. Meursault, on the other hand, acts with mostly passive indifference, doing things simply because he doesn’t have a reason not to do them.

His isolation from nature, women, and cigarettes tormented him at first, but he eventually accepted the fact that he can live without them. As time passed, he does not notice their absence. Throughout the day, he manages to keep his mind occupied, and he sleeps most of each day. At the day of Meursault’s murder trial, spectators and members of the press filled the courtroom. The subject of the trial quickly shifts away from the murder to a general discussion of Meursault’s character, and of his reaction to his mother’s death in particular.

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.