The Topic of Defiance of Societal Rules in The Stranger Through Absurdism

The Stranger by Albert Camus focuses largely on the concept of absurdism. Camus uses family and personal relationships, or the lack of it thereof, to show the isolation that the main character, Meursault, undergoes in the novel and it’s effect on him overall. Camus utilizes the protagonists’ character development as a tool to further his plot of the novel. The absence of family and personal relationships tied in with the particular recurring topics of the novel are crucial in both the development of the protagonists’ characters as well as the plot as it affects the portrayal of the main character.

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.

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.

Meursault’s thoughts and actions provide the reader with a rational main character, contrary to the typical main characters present in most novels, and shows how society responds to him. In most works of literature, the main character

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.

During The Stranger interactive oral, we debated the progression of Meursault’s character throughout the novel, arguing over whether he moves from a nihilist to an absurdity standing or vice versa. We came to the conclusion that he transcends from nihilist to absurdist. Nihilism is essentially the degradation of traditional beliefs, values and customs, while absurdism states that the universe is irrational and one’s search for meaning presents challenges. When I first read “The Stranger”, I was confused by Meursault’s character. I didn’t understand why someone would be so void of emotion and treat his own mother and the woman who loves him with indifference. Meursault is seen as an outcast as he doesn’t behave in accordance with society;

Conversing with his boss, “You’re young and it seems to me it’s the kind of life that would appeal to you” …really it was all the same… I said people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfied with mine here at all” (Camus 41). As a young person in the workforce people would expect him to be ambitious about his career, pouncing on any opportunity that would arise to better themselves. Meursault shows no ambition as a young man, he was content with his life and says there’s no reason to change the lifestyle he was currently living. His boss offered him a job that most people would consider an upgrade and appealing job offer from his current status. However, in ‘absurd’ fashion Meursault declined changing his life. This could be viewed as ‘absurd’ because his mother just recently passed away and most people would be mourning and consider drastically changing their life if an offer like this came up, to help ease the process of mourning over their mother’s death. However, through Camus characterization of Meursault as an absurdist he is continuously viewed as an outcast to society, which furthermore supports how society as a whole judged on his ‘absurd’ character rather than his actual

The Stranger by Albert Camus is inspired by the Holocaust. After World War II ended, philosophies such as absurdism were created as a result. The title The Stranger signifies Meursault’s alienation from society by his beliefs in both absurdism and existentialism. The Stranger took place during World War II where thousands died and the death toll was off the charts. This influenced Camus’s writing a great deal.

Raymond typifies the beast-character in Camus' The Stranger (The Outsider). He is like Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire (T. Williams), emotional and manly. Physical solutions come naturally to him, as we see when he mistreats his ex-girlfriend. Ideally, society is exactly the opposite; law and order attempt to solve things fairly and justly. I propose that Meursault is somewhere between these two extremes and that this is the reason why he is a societal outcast. This metaphor explains his major actions in the book: as he struggles to keep his identity, his personality comes in conflict with the norms of society and he is shut down.

“Meursault is punished, not for his crime of killing another human being but for refusing to play the game.” This statement is of great relevance to the novel The Outsider, by Albert Camus. Society as a whole enforces its ideas and values, upon all individuals, but particularly on those who differ from the “norm”. Through Meursault’s view of the world, contrasted with that of both the religious and judicial system this notion is foregrounded.

Through our class discussion on Camus’ The Stranger, my understanding of the culture and absurdist perspective of this book was furthered amplified. During our dialogue we discussed the French existentialist movement occurring in the 1940’s and how this directly influenced both Camus’ The Stranger and his essay on Sisyphus about absurdism. It was important to note the culture and setting in which Camus wrote this novel to further understand the character Meursault’s feelings of physical and emotional detachment to the world and the meaningless of life that this displayed.

The indifference of Meursault was devastating to the structure of societal conformity making it a habit of ostracizing him throughout the novel and only when the sun rises the truth is revealed. Since the beginning of the novel it was evident that Meursault was uncertain about the world he lives in, his attitude showed that he was detached from the world that he didn't even know when his mother died. "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." (Camus 3). However, when exposed to the sun, Meursault grew more irritated and indifferent than he already was. It was obvious that Meursault had trouble with adjusting to the heat and bright lights. As the sun and the heat grew stronger and more overpowering, it became more manipulative. "But today with the sun bearing down, making the whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhuman and oppressive. (Camus 15). Meursault was walking in the sun when going to bury his mother. All the heat and all the light-bearing off the

In 'The Outsider, Camus utilizes Meursault to investigate Absurdist reasoning (and some Existentialist rationality), and difference it with Christian convictions. The sun and hotness are regularly used to delineate Meursault's life and his perspective on the universe. He doesn't have a reason to his life in the typical sense, so he seeks after physical solace and little joys. The sun and high temperature are the primary things that focus his physical solace and it is clear that they are vital to him, in light of the fact that despite the fact that he regularly gives no insights about his feelings, he specifies the sun and/or warm in every part except one. Notwithstanding, it is frequently misty whether Camus has utilized sun and hotness to demonstrate a few components of absurdism, and talk about whether Meursault is controlled by his surroundings, or if Meursault discusses the earth on the grounds that he doesn't know how to express his feelings.

Conformity is the mental process where an individual changes his own ideals that differ from society’s in order to match the culture and mentality of the civilization around him. Psychologically it is a healthy mental process it elucidates the need to fit in,which confirms the theory that humans are social animals, conformity is considered a norm. A psychological question that’s been asked is why do certain people not conform, and why is that peculiar? Meursault is a character that is utterly careless about peoples ideas and opinions, he is honest to a fault, can’t vividly perceive reality as it is, which is why he refuses to conform to match his society’s ideals which creates conflict between him and society and is the major cause as to why