The Stranger By Albert Camus

The Word existence comes from the Latin root “ex” out, and sistere from stare, which means to stand (rise up). Existentialism literally means pertaining to existence or in logic, predicating existence. Philosophically existentialism applies to a vision of the condition and existence or lack of one, with God. According to Kierkegaard, Christian existentialism is all meaning and serenity which comes through one’s relationship with God by putting our selves in his hands and finding freedom from tensions and discontent and also praying to him in order to be bless and find peace within our selves. Jean Paul is the hierophant of modern atheistic existentialism and believes that fate is determined by human action, meaning that the individual

The sun is a huge of how he sees things differently than others because numerous times throughout the novel Meursault almost feels as if the sun is somehow against him. As Meursault is on the beach he says to himself, "The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes. That's when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire,” (59) is a absolute perfect example of Camus description of how Meursault feels bombarded by the sun. Throughout the novel not only is the sun out to get him but so are the people of Algiers towards the end of the novel. While riding through the streets Meursault says, “For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, 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,” demonstrates that he wants people to hate him. No one in their right mind wants as many people as possible to fill the streets shouting cries of hate towards

From page fifty-eight to fifty-seven of Albert Camus’s The Stranger he uses the relentless Algerian sun as a motif for the awareness of reality that pursues the main character, Meursault, throughout the passage. When each motif appears in the novel such as this passage, Meursault’s actions change. This exemplifies that the light, heat, and sun trigger him to become debilitated or furious. Albert Camus sets up this motif in the passage to indicate to the reader that this motif shows the major themes of this novel. This motif shows Meursault’s emotion, how the imagery of weaponry affects Meursault’s actions, how the sun is a representation of society, and how the sun weakens Meursault.

The sun in Albert Camus’s The Stranger is an important repeated motif. The state of the sun controls the moods and actions, both good and bad, of Meursault. Metaphorically, The sun sheds light on Meursault’s character as the plot progresses. Most importantly, the sun symbolizes an absurdist philosophy in which everyone is at the mercy of an absurd world.

In Albert Camus' novel The Stranger, the motif of weather plays a critical role to the progression of the story to a great extent. This motif splits up into two symbols: the sun and the heat. They both affect Meursault substantially and attack him with a vicious manner, which eventually leads up to the climax--the killing of the Arab. Because the Algerian weather manifests scorching and blazing qualities, it inhumanely torments Meursault to the point when the weather effectively controls all of his actions. It also corroborates the philosophy of absurdism that the author portrays throughout the novel.

Albert Camus took readers into the mind of a sociopath with the novel The Stranger. In the first sentence of the novel, the reader found out that the protagonist’s mother had passed away. The son, Meursault, was first viewed as shocked of the tragic death, but as the novel progressed Meursault’s reactions were actually a result of his emotionless nature. Throughout the novel, the reader is captivated and horrified by Meursault's disconnected temperament. In the course of going through his Mother’s death, helping his friend attack a helpless woman, and feeling like he does not have anything to live for creates a tone for the entire novel that was felt right away in the first sentence on the first page of Camus’ text.

Sitting across from a petite Chinese woman, a reparative therapist my mother found for me, I confided in her that I did not see any point to my existence. I explained to her that according to my church and family my purpose on this terrestrial ball was to serve God and that instead my “lifestyle” was serving Satan. Pouring out my heart, I told her that I did not want to live anymore if just being alive sentenced me to hell. She candidly responded, “Well enjoy your life the way you want and then go to hell.” Heart-broken I smiled, said thank-you, and left her office. Later that night, I went to the garage and tried to hang myself. Soon after, I began a journey to search for the meaning of my existence.

In the fictional novel, The Stranger, the heat and sun have an effect on Meursault's mood and behavior. The motif is dispersed and mentioned throughout the entire novel. The heat and sun can put Meursault in a pleasant mood, and at times a unpleasant mood. The two elements also have an effect his behavior. They are also a strong influence on the events and thoughts of Meursault in the novel. Heat symbolizes the indifference of the universe towards human life. The heat and the sun have a positive and negative effect on Meursault's mood and behavior in the novel.

The sweat blinding Meursault enables him from thinking clearly and reflects how powerful the sun is to throw him off of his usual train of thought. All Meursault can think about is the sunlight affecting his body and mood. All he can feel is “cymbals of sunlight crashing on [his] forehead” (59). Camus specifically describes where the particles of sun encounter his main character and how severely it bothers him. Still on the beach, his attention is on the “warm thick film” in his eyes (59). The sun throws off Meursaults’ focus on more than one occasion.

When Meursault is his momś room, he reacts to the light negatively, saying if the lights can be dimmed down. When told no, he begins to lose his train of thought, no longer paying attention. Whenever presented with light, he says it blinding and tries to go back to darkness. At one point, he says how the brightness makes everything seem brighter and have a sharper definition that he is usually used to. This could connect to how he lives most of his days, wandering around his apartment without a real purpose, everything faded because of this very same reason. He when presented with heat, he acknowledges its presence but does not go farther than that. For example, when he goes into the restaurant, he says that it's hot but he does not go farther

“It was this burning, which I could not stand anymore, that made me move forward”(Camus 59). This does not make much sense to the naked eye. To the reader, it is just another example of Mersaults different perspectives. He is so focused on the weather , he does not take the time to think about anything else. The suns power contributes`to the tragic crime her later committed.

In the novel The stranger by Albert Camus the body is used to explore the theory of existentialism through two main characters. Existentialism is a philosophy of free creation where one believes that you create your own destiny. Salamano, and Raymond both exemplify characters that pursue legitimacy of their existence through the exploration of the body. From abusing a woman to acting cruelly towards a pet; both of these characters attempt to obtain control of their own lives. Camus conveys the idea that human existence is without order, throughout his work we see a culture that seeks to find meaning in an insignificant word.

The end of the first half of the Stranger by Albert Camus, is where the greatest point of conflict takes place. Meursault decides to go the beach with his girlfriend Marie, Masson, Masson’s wife and Raymond. On their way to the beach, they notice a group of Arabs staring at them. This meeting with the Arabs before the beach, serves as a foreshadowing of future conflicts Meursault and his group will face at the beach. While at the beach, Meursault, Raymond and Masson notices two Arabs following them.

In the beach scene with Meursault, Masson and Raymond, and their fight with the Arabs, Camus’ motif of heat represents tension and foreshadows conflict between the two groups to show that tension leads to conflict and to build suspense. During this scene, the motif of heat specifically symbolizes cultural tension as well as foreshadowing physical conflict. When walking with Masson and Raymond in the beach scene, Meursault noticed that the “the sand was starting to get hot underfoot” (Camus 50) and it was “hard to breathe in the rocky heat rising from the ground” (Camus 50, 52). Camus uses the diction of underfoot to show that the heat is not there yet, but it is about to come. Furthermore, the diction of "rocky heat rising off the ground" shows that the heat is no longer under them, but now something that they are in. By using this kind of diction, Camus shows a transition in the state of heat which parallels the growth in tension in the Pied-Noir of the approaching Arabs. Due to its placement previous to conflict, it shows that tension leads to conflict. Another example of this theme is the inclusion of “the blazing sand looked red to me now” right before Raymond and Masson attack the Arabs with

Even surrounded by death, Meursault finds the beauty in the light surrounding him. He thinks to himself, “The room was filled with beautiful late-afternoon sunlight.” (Camus 7). In the presence of death, one would expect a man who just lost his mother to recognize the bad in his surroundings, to depict a gloomy scene. Such instances are part of a constant theme in the book, Meursault being comforted or finding content in the sun. The fact that Camus uses this quote here is to introduce this theme that will be present in the rest of the book. Camus’ ample descriptive style involving the sun in contrast to the short sentences surrounding the quote in this paragraph clearly display the importance of the sun and light in the story. By him even describing the light as beautiful and late-afternoon, the reader gets a feeling for Camus’ purpose here. The highly descriptive words used to depict the light created by the sun in the room create a warmth of sorts in the reader’s mind, a warmth that mirrors Meursault’s comfort, even in a situation where many would not be. The showing of the importance of light in the beginning of the book sets up the rest of the book to follow this theme as well as how important a symbol light will