The Stranger Essay

When reading Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger one understands the protagonist, known as Meursault, to be central to the understanding of the novel. To the reader, Meursault detaches himself from his own emotions and from others making him unable to experience normal human connections. He fails to forge bonds with other characters because of his discomfort and confusion. “Yet in the early chapters of the work, during which Meursault’s personality emerges, the other characters in the novel give no indication that they perceive his behavior other than normal.” (Strange 1) This shows that Meursault has very weird bonds with people and they don’t completely understand that he is a withdrawn sociopath. Upon reading the first sentence of the book one instantly believes that the character has something wrong with him. “Today, maman died. Or perhaps yesterday, I don't know. I have received a telegram from the nursing home. ‘Mother deceased. Burial tomorrow. Sincerely yours.’ That doesn't mean anything. It was perhaps yesterday” (Camus 1) Nathan A. Scott remarks, “the lifeless monotone of the speaker [Meursault] intimates that the issue is of no consequence to him” (Scott 34). This is showing that Meursault has ultimately no recognition of what should be hurting him. He feels that

The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault alienates himself from the rest of society due to a multitude of reasons. Meursault is unlike the rest of the characters in the book because he does not express his emotion to anyone. In the beginning of the novel, he alienated himself from the rest of society because it was felt more comfortable and it required the least amount of effort. However, by the end of the novel, he realizes that he has the ability to choose his own destiny, which is a part of Camus’s philosophy of existentialism. Meursault accepts the theory of the absurd and realizes that life is meaningless. He also is completely alienated by society when he commits the murder. There

The book The Stranger thematically coveys that society is the real sociopath that uses manipulation to always prove it’s right in the face of the individual’s different truth. People will always side with society over the individual due to society “never” being wrong. Throughout Meursault’s trial he sits there in the hot courtroom listening to the prosecutor talk about everything but his crime. He’s on trial for murder and it is expected of the prosecutor to paint Meursault as this horrible monster and Meursault knows that but he still isn’t able to take it.

Meursault is a psychologically detached man on trial for murder. However, it is ultimately his psychological detachment, not the murder of another man, that proves to be most damaging to his reputation and judicial case. Deemed a monster by society for his lack of emotion and general indifference, Meursault is sentenced to public execution by guillotine. The Stranger, a philosophical novel by Albert Camus, explores the concept of alienation as a result of failing to adhere to society’s accepted moral standards. Camus begins with the idea of extreme indifference in a world that expects deep human emotions and feelings, continues with the murder of the Arab man, and ends with the concept of human life ultimately having no grand meaning or importance

The cultural values of The Stranger’s main character, Meursault, bring about controversial viewpoints from all audiences. Echoing the title of the book Meursault lives his life as a stranger, detached from the world around him. In this novel, Albert Camus creates a society dependent on emotional and materialistic needs. However, Meursault, as a character, illustrates a point of view that is independent of emotion. Thus, he does not live his life in agreement with the cultural values demonstrated by the people surrounding him. His impulsive decision to kill a man is the pivotal point between his acceptance within his society and the malice he faces for violating the human right to life. Ultimately, Camus shows how the popular resentment of this murder is based on society’s ideals of justice, love, and a life of purpose, all virtues that Meursault does not possess.

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 Camus’s The Stranger, Meursault is a detached man who shows the reader from his own perspective his experiences of living outside of society’s expectations. Although Meursault finds comfort in living with his own standards, he finds that it is impossible for him to be treated fairly by those who live in accordance with society’s expectations. Thus, Meursault suffers from society's judgment and eventually loses his life.

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

When Marie brings up the possibility of marriage following Meursault’s possible acquittal, her hopeful exclamation of, “You’ll get out and then we’ll get married!” (Camus 75) elicits a simple, “You think so?” (Camus 75) from Meursault.In this case, Camus’ choice to keep Meursault’s response short createsa “less is more” situation.The lack of contemplation regarding Marie’s question exhibits how Meursault has absolutely no intention of committing to a relationship with Marie. Meursault is aware of thisfact and therefore feels no need for further thought on the matter.Additionally,it is significant that Camushad Marie pose the question. Thesocial expectation is that it is the man 's duty to propose and that only in unique situations would the roles be switched. The fact that Marie raises the question implies that she is unaware of Meursault 's indignation towards commitment.This demonstratesa Meursault 's ability to feign compassion, yet another psychopathic trait.At this point it becomes painfully obvious that Meursault has no intention of committing either physically or emotionally to Marie because the fact of the matter is that he views her as a means to an end rather than as a humanbeing.Despite multiple opportunities and countless conversations with Marie, Meursault not only abstains from expressing emotion, but he also exhibits the psychopathic

Camus' novel The Stranger presents the character of Meursault who, after killing an Arab, is sentenced to death. This conflict portrays the stark contrast between the morals of society and Meursault's evident lack of them; he is condemned to death, less for the Arab's murder, than for refusing to conform to society's standards.

Meursault doesn’t care about anything enough to stay alive. The question is brought up: Is he depressed? He can’t be, because if he were, then he would have to care about something enough to be depressed about it. We’ve all had periods in life where we’ve felt down and didn’t care one way or the other for the world around us, but the degree of Meursault’s view on life is extreme. He feels nothing for anyone, not even himself. The inability to feel, care, and remorse is not relatable and is inhumane to the normal society. The reader can’t help but try to understand some of the reasoning he has because it is so obscure to us. The meaninglessness he feels towards one’s actions draws the reader’s interest, causing us to be more understanding of Meursault’s morbid perspective on life. The message brilliantly conveyed by Camus makes sense and holds weight. The story is a

Albert Camus’s novel “The Stranger” revolves around a young man estranged from society. This man, Monsieur Meursault, lives the majority of his life fulfilling his own physical needs and social obligations, but has little emotional connection to the world around him. Throughout the book Meursault attends his mother’s funeral, begins a serious relationship with his former co-worker Marie, kills a man without motive, goes through trial, and is sentenced for execution. His lack of emotional response to these major life events causes a general mistrust from the people around him. In part one, before he commits murder, the impression he makes on others does not affect him much, but this is not true for the second half of the book. Though he was

The Stranger focuses on the character of Meursault, a man whose perspective cannot be understood by those around him. His neutral character is created by Albert Camus to reveal many themes and paradoxes within the text. The title itself has its own significant meaning, and the characters and themes within the text can reveal its meaning to the novel. The title The Stranger reveals Meursault’s strange character stemming from absurdism after being isolated from everyone, as well the stranger within those who judge him throughout the novel.

In 1942, French-Algerian author Albert Camus wrote the world renowned novel, The Stranger. It depicts an emotionless and unsentimental antagonist, Mersault. In The Stranger, Mersault is a single man who lives a mundane and routine life, like that of an existentialist. Existentialism is a theory that has kept philosophers debating for the past seventy years on whether Mersault and Camus both exhibit the qualities of one, in a question that will be put to rest by credible and informative articles. The Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature, written and published by the Gale Virtual Reference Library highlights Albert Camus’ use of absurdity and existentialism in his writing due to his upbringing and early life.

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.