The Stranger By Albert Camus

364 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: American literature after World War 2

In our interactive oral we discussed several topics, including Camus’ reason for writing The Stranger and how the French occupation of Algeria impacted the content, s well as Camus’ extensive use of absurdism. The Interactive Oral helped me gain a deeper knowledge of Camus’ perspective. He wrote The Stranger during World War II, a period of time in which many people were questioning their beliefs and religions because they could not reconcile their ideas of a higher power with the atrocities they were experiencing and witnessing. The illogical and unnecessary death of the Arab highlights Camus’ belief that if there truly were a higher power, Meursault would have done the Arab a favor, but if there isn’t, as Camus and Meursault believe, then

Show More
Related

  • Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Parallels Within

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - Indifference in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    Albert Camus’ novel, The Stranger, examines what happens to a passive man when mixed in a murder.  During the trial of the main character, Meursault, the prosecutor examines Meursault’s normal behavior as callous and cold.  In order for the prosecutor to have a case in the reader’s mind, Camus must create the past that the trial calls for.  Camus shows a passive man, and the way that he deals with normal life occurrences.  Camus must create a portrait of indifference.

    Read More

  • The Stranger Injustice Analysis

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    Albert Camus’ The Stranger offers one man’s incite into the justice of society. Monsieur Meursault, the main protagonist in the novel, believes that morals and the concept of right and wrong possess no importance. This idea influences him to act distinctively in situations that require emotion and just decision, including feeling sadness over his mother’s death, the abuse of a woman, and his killing of an innocent man. In these situations Meursault apathetically devoids himself of all emotion and abstains from dealing with the reality in front of him. When confronted by the court over his murder, he reiterates his habitual motto on life that nothing matters anyways, so why care? His uncaring response inflames the people working within the

    Read More

  • Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): The Gentle Meursault

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Meursault, the protagonist, could be seen as immoral if he were judged on the basis of his actions alone. However, through Camus’s use of a first person narrative, we begin to understand Meursault as not an immoral man, but simply an indifferent one. Meursault is a symbol of the universe, and so in understanding him we understand that the universe is also not evil, but instead a place of gentle indifference.

    Read More

  • Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novella, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses diction, imagery and syntax to create a mood of mystery in the scene where Marlow, the narrator, begins his journey up the coast. The reader gets caught up in a sense of wonderment, as Conrad’s vivid descriptions of this coast raise more questions than provide answers.

    Read More

  • Unnerving Silence Of The World By Arthur Scchopenhauer And Albert Camus

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    For all our lives we deal with the thought of becoming consumed by the impossible which is also known as the absurd. What creates the absurd is human confrontation with the unnerving silence of the world; that silence representing the idea of death. Since humans try to combat the absurd with meaning it is safe to claim that our lives are absurd without some form of ultimate meaning. This search for an ultimate meaning also allows us to live a meaningful life in spite of this absurdity. Philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Albert Camus strongly believe that both of these claims are undoubtedly truthful and greatly intertwined.

    Read More

  • Eyes in the Stranger by Albert Camus

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Stranger, Albert Camus personifies eyes as a source of knowledge. Characters come upon knowledge through many different sources from touch to hearing. The knowledge gained through eyes can range from, self discovery to understanding events taking place. Eyes and knowledge all seem to be related to Meursault. Meursault’s ability to understand events and circumstances depends on his clarity of vision. Unlike other characters, Meursault’s eyes do not provide knowledge, thus leaving characters misunderstanding him. Characters who have blue eyes help Meursault realize a truth about himself.

    Read More

  • The Stranger: Changes in Meursault

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Stranger, Albert Camus describes the life of the protagonist, Meursault, through life changing events. The passage chosen illustrates Meursault’s view during his time in prison for killing the Arab. In prison, one can see the shifts in Meursault’s character and the acceptance of this new lifestyle. Camus manipulates diction to indicate the changes in Meursault caused by time thinking of memories in prison and realization of his pointless life. Because Camus published this book at the beginning of World War II, people at this time period also questions life and death similar to how Meursault does.

    Read More

  • Meursault's Indifference in The Stranger, by Albert Camus

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Stranger, Albert Camus allows the main character to tell the story in order to give the reader an experience of his own. Obviously, with a novel also comes language, which Camus incorporates cleverly as a way to indirectly illustrate Meursault’s thoughts about certain situations. Although the novel represents a postmodern setting, the author shifts the overall meaning. In The Stranger, Camus applies a unique literary style as a power that deflects blame from Meursault, the antiheroic character. In order to disclaim the fault of Meursault, Camus incorporates several instances in which he leaves a greater sense of authority to nonliving objects, while further drawing attention away from the main character. Based on the implication of personification, the addition of simple sentence structure versus more complex sentences, and the integration of passive voice, Camus demonstrates the importance of this passage of the novel to the reader, while also comparing it to the rest of the book.

    Read More

  • The Unemotional Meursault in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Albert Camus’ novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault is a character who has definite values and opinions concerning the society in which he lives.  His self-inflicted alienation from society and all its habits and customs is clear throughout the book.  The novel itself is an exercise in absurdity that challenges the reader to face the nagging questions concerning the meaning of human existence. Meursault is an existentialist character who views his life in an unemotional and noncommittal manner, which enhances his obvious opinion that in the end life is utterly meaningless.

    Read More

  • Motif of Violence in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Stranger written by Albert Camus is an absurdist novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault. A major motif in the novel is violence. There are various places where violence takes place and they lead to the major violent act, which relates directly to the theme of the book. The major violent act of killing an Arab committed by Meursault leads to the complete metamorphosis of his character and he realizes the absurdity of life.

    Read More

  • The Absurd, Chaotic World in The Stranger, by Albert Camus

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is no meaning in the world besides the meaning we humans give to it. The world is an absurd, chaotic place in which it is up to the individual to decide what to make of it. In The Stranger, Meursault, the main character, struggles to sort out the chaos of the world and resist the pulls of society. Meursault continuously disobeys the standards of society which reminds the reader about human fidelity and social divisions. Thus, his display of human absurdity reveals how all people are all equal. The Magistrate, who visits Meursault while he is in prison, acts as a juxtaposition of Meursault’s character to prove how the individual, not society, is responsible for his own purpose in life. Throughout The Stranger, by Albert Camus, the use of diction and irony reveals how the main character’s lack of emotion, critiques of society and religion and ending epiphany are existential, all of which suggest that Camus strongly disapproved of the French presence in Algeria.

    Read More

  • Albert Camus and his Idea of Religion

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    The thought of Albert Camus creating a character like Meursault is absurd because ‘The Outsider’ was published in 1942, midway through the Second World War. Also with economies falling and poverty reigning, people turned to God for hope and it took everything they had to hold onto that faith. Amidst thi...

    Read More

  • The Stranger

    2612 Words  | 6 Pages

    Author and Era: Albert Camus wrote The Stranger as a fictional expression of not only his philosophical concept of the absurd, but also to underscore the relationship between man and nature. World War I had left the world ravaged and displayed the hostility of the world to the people. Camus had experienced the loss of his father due to World War I (Bloom, “The Story Behind the Story”). With the advent of World War II in such a short time between World War I, Camus felt the indifference of the universe first hand, as did many other citizens of the world. Witnessing the Nazi-occupation of France along with the atrocities committed by the Nazis, Camus felt the need to address the palpable human despair in

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Guest by Albert Camus

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes reading fiction not only makes us pleasure but also brings many knowledge about history and philosophy of life. ‘The Guest’ by the French writer Albert Camus is a short story and reflects the political situation in French North Africa in 1950s. According to this story, we know the issues between the France and the Arab in Algeria, and the protagonist, Daru, refuses to take sides in the colonial conflict in Algeria. This is not a boring story, because Camus uses a suspenseful way to show the character, conflicts and symbol and irony.

    Read More

More about The Stranger By Albert Camus

Open Document