The Philosophy Of Existentialism In The Stranger By Albert Camus

Albert Camus’ The Stranger explores the philosophic ideology of existentialism in the character Meursault. Meursault is a man in the 1920s in French Algeria going through life seeing and acting through the lens of an existentialist. Without explicitly stating that he lives existentially, his life hits on many key characteristics of an existentialist. Perhaps the most defining of these key characteristics is that he does what he wants, because he can. He also does this because in existentialism there is emphasis on individual choice and freedom based on the assertion that there is no universal right and wrong. Meursault doesn’t always take into consideration what would be polite, or kind, but rather only

Albert Camus is considered one of the greatest existentialist writers of all time. However, although he was considered an existentialist writer, Camus never labeled himself as an existentialist. “No, I am not an existentialist”  (Albert Camus: Lyrical and Critical Essays, Vintage (1970)) Camus rejected in an 1945 interview, however in some of his literary works, some find that his writings are one of a true existentialistic thinker. Although many contrast these thoughts and believe that Camus was anything but a thinker of this philosophy, Camus is one of the main authors that people turn to research and read to understand the thinking of existentialism. One of his most famous books, The Plague, illustrates the need for a human to become an

In The Stranger, author Albert Camus involves the sun throughout the novel in order to display mans vulnerability. He presents the sun as a powerful, unfortunate influence on main character, Meursault and describes him as a simple minded, easily influenced, mellow individual. The Main influence in Meursaults’ life is the sun. Meursault is bothered by it however he does not make much of an attempt to stop or ignore it. He simply permits the suns heat, accepting it and affirms his personality. Becoming vulnerable is basic however with a more vigorous charisma, persuasion can be avoided. However an able source such as the sun, Camus establishes is a little more difficult to avoid.

The French philosopher Roland Barthes once said, “Literature is the question minus the answer” (Barthes 2). This statement hold true for most works of literature that explore a central question. According to Barthes, literature often raises a question, but leaves it up to the reader to determine the answer. The Stranger by Albert Camus is an excellent example of how a central question, “Is there value and meaning to human life?” is raised and left unanswered, resulting in different interpretations of the answer, depending on the viewpoint of the reader. Although the question is never explicitly answered, Camus offers perspectives on what French society regarded the answers to be, such as connections with others, elusion to freedom, and faith in religion and God.

A mother died; the son seemingly unchanged. The main character in The Strangeroften emanates an emotionless aura. In Albert Camus's work The Stranger, Meursault does not display complete emotional neutrality. Although Camus portrays this existential character as emotionally bare, he connotes otherwise via characterization. Camus depicts Meursault without love, sympathy, contentment, nor forlornness, yet alludes to more discrete emotions.

In the novel The stranger by Albert Camus is about a young man named Meursault living in Algiers who loses his mother. Throughout her death and her funeral he shows no emotions over her nor grieve and ends up hanging out with a “pimp” that causes him to get into problems. He ends up killing an Arab and goes to court for his trial but during his trial the prosecutor focuses on him not being sentimental about his mother's death instead of him murdering someone. In the end he gets sentenced to death and Meursault starts to feel sorts of emotions by saying “I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate”(page 123). This means that his life would have some meaning

Existentialism is shown frequently throughout the novel, The Stranger. The definition of existentialism is the freedom to choose and the choices you make should be made without the assistance of another person or standard. Existentialist believe that you are responsible for your actions and the consequences. They must accept death whenever it comes because it is inevitable and existentialist do not question life. “I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else.

In the novel, The Stranger, author Albert Camus confronts some important issues of the time, and uses the singular viewpoint of the narrator Meursault to develop his philosophy and effectively weave together themes of absurdity, colonialism, and free will. Through the progressive disruption of Meursault’s life and his characterization, Camus presents the absurdity of the human condition along with the understanding that a person can actually be happy in the face of the absurd. Camus also intentionally sets the story in the colonized country of Algeria, and hints at the racial tensions that exist between French-Algerians and Arabs.

Albert Camus introduces the novel The Stranger in an absurd way. He purposely lets the reader know that the main character Meursault has no care for life. To him the only thing that derives from life is death, so what does, or does not happen is of no concern to Meursault. Not only does he not care about the life of others, he especially does not care about his own. This state of mind ultimately leads him to his own demise and death, which is ironic but yet revealing of Albert Camus's message.

I believe that god exists and god created us humans, and we will be judged for our actions in our afterlife. I believe there are consequences for the things that we do. The theme that is used here is Alienation. Meursault is alienated from god and other people around him, he doesn’t act the way other people

When I hear the word existentialist a few people pop into my mind. However, one of those people is someone I know personally and someone I respect as an individual. That person is Isaiah Jackson. Isaiah is a close friend who I met freshman year and have gotten to know him more and more each year. At this point I know how he thinks, why he thinks that way and what he thinks about. Knowing his mentality has allowed me to understand that he is an existentialist. An existentialist, in simple terms, is a person who does not care about life and goes with the flow. This term seems to define Meursault from “The stranger,” by Albert Camus and my fellow comrade Isaiah Jackson.

To the human eye, there are many things witnessed that make us believe those things are strange. Whether it is a person you see, a food you eat, or even a novel you read, you might get the feeling it is unlike anything you experienced. In The Stranger, by Albert Camus and translated by Matthew Ward, Camus enforces strangeness as one of the foundations of the plot. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, they define strange as “something that has not been known, heard, or seen before” (“Strange”). Camus’ plot has many of these reactions and interpretations that surround the characters and the setting. The storyline is also very strange. Many of Meursault’s actions are considered strange to the reader as well as characters in the novel. But the only thing that can differentiate whether something is strange is the perspective of a person. Through the motif of strangeness, Camus illustrates a difference in perspectives to contrast what we see as familiar and absurd based on our experiences.

Many people often base their opinions on a person by judging his whole life in general and his attitude towards life without caring about who the person really is deep down inside. This unfair reasoning can occur in the courtroom when people are put on trial and the judge and the jury must delve into the life of the accused and determine if he is a hazard to society. Occasionally, the judge and jury are too concerned with the accused’s past that they become too biased and give an unfair conviction and sentencing. In his novel, The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the courtroom as a symbol to represent society that judges the main character, Meursalt, unfairly to illustrate how society forms opinions based on one’s past.

The novel The Stranger, by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward, follows the story of a man, Meursault, and how his emotionless way of living and his one grave mistake ends up killing him through a court of law. Throughout his journey, there is tension in him, and between him and other people and groups. This tension is represented throughout this novel with the motif is heat. And as tension can grow and is part of everyday life, it is part of Meursault’s as well. Furthermore, through tension and it growing, it can result in a conflict of multiple varieties. This motif comes up at scenes such as the trial in the courtroom, the conflict on the beach with the Arabs, and the magistrate and his heated argument. And due to Camus specific placement of the motif during these scenes, it also foreshadows conflict and trouble throughout the novel. Camus’ motif of heat shows a tension between opposing sides to foreshadow various types of conflict which demonstrate the theme that tension leads to conflict.

Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus' The Outsider, both feature protagonists in situations out of which arise existentialist values. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. In The Metamorphosis the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, realizes his existentialism towards the end of the novella. In contrast, Monsieur Meursault, the protagonist in The Outsider, knows of his existentialism, only realizing his life's lack of meaning