The Stranger, By Albert Camus

In “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, the juxtaposition between Chaplain’s morals and the Meursault's are symbolic of the acceptance and rejection of social constructs like religion, showing how adhering to one’s own values are ultimately more rewarding. Throughout the novel, Meursault is defined his actions driven from prioritizing his physical needs first. This mentality lands Meursault in jail for killing an Arab because he was distracted by the sun. As he is about to approach his death sentence, the Chaplain attempts to get him to convert to religion and become a believer in his final moments, as “he was expressing his certainty that my appeal would be granted, but I was carrying the burden of sin from which I had to free myself. According

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.

Meursault often acts without any real reason, yet society, represented by the judge, jury, and prosecution, attempt to come up with rational explanations to behaviors that are ultimately irrational. The theme of the meaninglessness of human life is a concept that Meursault wrestles with throughout the novel and finally comes to terms with after his last conversation with the chaplain. Eventually everyone will die and the lives of everyone on Earth will go on just as they had before; therefore, our lives are essentially meaningless. This is a story of indifference in a world where any misstep outside of society’s moral standards is

Thurmur, the principal of Holden’s high school of which he got kicked out of, Pencey,

The world is a simple place, but often at times, it seems more complicated than it really is. People exist in a world where others do not know about them because the world is so big. Existentialism is the belief that a person creates one’s self with the influence of external factors. However, more importantly, it is how a person is able to cope with these factors that allow a person to live their life. Existentialism is a key factor that is prominent throughout the story. The main characters in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, are all influenced by outside factors that include a pregnancy substitute to make babies and pre-plan their futures, living in a controlled environment and by making the citizens live in a constant hallucination of “happiness”.

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.

This semester we have studied five works that all communicate different themes and views of existentialism through each protagonist's point of view. From reading, watching, and analyzing each piece of work, we have come to know existentialists as having a very interesting outlook on life. Almost all the existentialists in the five works we studied believe in freedom of choice. That humans define their own meaning in life and try their best to make rational decisions in spite of existing in what they consider an “unreasonable universe”. The protagonists in each short story and movie we have watched, have similar qualities between each other and quite a few differences. The two pieces of work that will be focused on are, ‘The Wall’ by Jean-Paul Sartre and ‘The Guest’ by Albert Camus.

  Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz

The mood of the passage when Meursault is alone on the beach is established on the first line, “There was the same dazzling red glare” (Camus 57). Immediately, the sun is placed at the center of attention as it is the origin of the glare that Meursault was referring to. This makes the mood feel arduous due to the intensity of the sun’s “dazzling red glare” in addition to the fact that the sun stays up for a significant period of time during the day (Camus 57). As a result, it creates no expectations that the sun will cease its effect on Meursault soon and a precedent is created that the persistent effect of the sun will have a significant impact on his future decisions.

Throughout the novel, death remains present. The novel begins with the death of Meursault’s mother, develops with the murder of the Arab, and closes with Meursault’s impending execution. Through these instances, Camus articulates that everyone will die eventually, it is just a matter of when. He suggests that the universe, or a greater being as the chaplain insists, does not care what anyone does during his or her lifetime. Once someone is dead, whatever that person did no longer matters because he or she ceases to exist. The novel’s careless tone once again comes into play here. Like Meursault neglects to care about relationships or consequences, the universe does not care about a person’s life on Earth. This is what Meursault believes and

This quote is filled with examples of Mersault actions being a result of the strong sun. The imagery depicts a vivid scene, a scene that will change his life forever. Also the use of metaphors show a deeper meaning than one could think. It is not just a metaphor with empty meaning, it shows Mersaults feeling towards the weather. for any one

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.

In addition, Meursault cannot find a solid place in society. He lives alone due to the death of his mother. Society cannot accept the manner in which Meursault addresses his mother’s death. Since he thinks that “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, [he doesn’t] know” (Camus 3), society believes that he does not care that his mother dies. Everyone judges him because he does not relate to the rest of the people. Meursault receives immense criticism at his trial concerning his murdering another man. At his trial, Meursault can “feel how much all these people [the jury] hated” (Camus 90) him. The jury does not commend him or even regard him with understanding about his mother’s death. Some people react to death without actually reacting to it; Meursault subconsciously chooses to do so but receives condemnation. Both characters experience isolation from society.

The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.

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.