Biography of Albert Camus (1913–1960) Albert Camus, the second son of Lucien and Catherine Camus was born in Mondovi, French Algeria on November 7, 1913. In school, Camus was a bright and excellent student. He also actively participated in sports like football, swimming and boxing. His intelligence was recognized by his teacher, Louis Germain who was then willingly helped Camus to obtain a scholarship to further his studies. With the help of scholarship, Camus was able to complete school and attended the University of Algiers as a philosophy student. However in 1930, he deteriorated from the attack of tuberculosis and had to stop his study. After recovered, he began his study and by1936, he received his degrees of undergraduate and graduate …show more content…
Some of his famous novels that have the elements of absurdism and existentialism are The Stranger (1942), The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) and The Plague (1947). Camus brought different ideas to French Literature as he was a French-Algerian writer. He also actively involved in theater as early as he was at his university until his later …show more content…
This novel started when a memo, supposed to bring sad news was sent to Mersault to inform his mother’s death. Mersault attended his mother’s funeral and he being extraordinarily calmed startled everyone in the room. He also declined the offer to look at his mother’s face for the last time. After he returned, Mersault lived his life like a normal person that had never confronted any heartbreaking occurrence. He also met a new girlfriend that day and the whole day with her. The story goes on when Mersault was on a vacation at the beach with his friends. Then, they met with two Arabs and Mersault, enraged with aggression, killed one of the Arab. There was no explicit reason of why he killed the Arab, the only thing that has been said was how hot that day was but no clarification about his crime. From the crime that he had done earlier, Mersault was charged to a trial. But strangely, the court was not there to judge his crime but they were more entranced over his attitude towards his mother’s death. He was sentenced to death not because of his crime but he was found guilty as a remorseless, unusual and recluse
Chapter 6 of part I of The Stranger concluded with Meursault’s conscious decision to shoot an Arab because of the physical discomfort the Arab’s knife caused him. The significance of the ending of part I is that it was the first demonstration of Meursault’s awareness of the possible consequences of the act that he committed. This awareness continues into the second part of the novel as he is arrested and trialed. The reason for Meursault’s trial is the murder of the Arab. His insensitivity towards Maman’s death and lack of a social conscientious are factors that contributed to support further investigations, but are not reasons to trial him because they have not ‘harmed’ society on a way that he could be arrested for. For example, if Meursault
Albert Camus is a skillful writer noted for showing aspects of culture and society through the depiction of his characters. In The Stranger, Camus illustrates the existentialism culture and how that comes into play in the life of the protagonist Meursault. The Stranger, as suggested by the title, is a novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault, who is a stranger to the French-Algerian society as he challenges its values. Camus vividly portrays Meursault’s journey through the use of imagery, irony, and symbolism. In The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the minor character, Raymond Sintes, to illustrate the contrasting nature of Meursault and how his friendship with Raymond leads to his downfall.
The magistrates all over France were searching for “Jack the Ripper of the Southeast”, the first notable magistrate was notified of “the murder of the little shepherd”. This crime is what proved to be Vacher’s downfall, as it resulted in a pattern being formed of the many murders that he had committed. The connection was first made by the investigating magistrate, Émile Fourquet, of the town of Belley. Vacher had committed a murder in the town some two years earlier, the connection was made by the similarities to the way the two victims were killed. The help of other magistrates was needed in order to gather information to connect the two murders, this is when the Magistrate of Dijon, Louis-Albert Fonfréde, who sent over seven other murders that shared many of the same elements.
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.
Stranger Things is an eight-episode masterwork of television available only on Netflix. For its pleasures, in large part from the trait of disbelief. The plot revolves around a small group of children set in the 1980s trying to save a friend who may or may not have fallen into a terrifying and monstrous alternate dimension. Stranger Thing offers something more profound, and more profound, and more profoundly essential- a real meditation on faith and its meaning in modern, skeptical times.
Johannes portrays to Arthur that he should be in fear of him, offering the idea that he believed he held power over this individual, in this case, to take the innocent man’s life. The judge involved in the case d...
The story of “Killings” by Andre Dubus looked into the themes of crime, revenge and morality. The crime committed in the story depicted the father’s love for his son and the desire to avenge his son’s death. However, his own crime led to his own destruction as he was faced with questions of morality. The character found himself in a difficult position after taking his revenge. He failed to anticipate the guilt associated with the crime he committed. Feelings of anger and righteousness are illustrated by the character throughout the story.
Camus starts the beginning of his novel by stating the death of the narrator’s mother through a first person point of view. Meursault, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, begins by contemplating the day of his mother’s death and is unable t...
Albert Camus is one of the most renowned authors in the twentieth century. With works such as Caligula, The Stranger, Nuptials, and The Plague, he has impacted the world of literature to a great extent. This great success was not just "given" to him "on a silver platter" however. He endured many hardships and was plagued with great illness in his short life. Camus is a great role model and idol for us all.
The trial portrays the absurdist ideal that absolute truth does not exist. This ideal destroys the very purpose of the trial, which seeks to place a rational explanation on Meursault’s senseless killing of the Arab. However, because there is no rational explanation for Meursault’s murder, the defense and prosecution merely end up constructing their own explanations. They each declare their statements to be the truth, but are all based on false assumptions. The prosecution itself is viewed as absurd. The prosecutor tries to persuade the jury that Meursault has no feelings or morals by asking Perez if “he had at least seen [Meursault] cry” (91). The prosecutor then continues to turn the crowd against Meursault when he asks him about his “liaison” with Marie right after his mother’s death. Though Meursault’s relationship with Marie and his lack of emotions at his mother’s funeral may seem unrelated to his murder, the prosecutor still manages to convince the crowd that they are connected to one another. The jury ends up convicting Meursault not because he killed a man, but because he didn't show the proper emotions after his mother ...
Existentialism is defined as "a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will”. In other words, existentialism emphasizes individual freedom. Throughout The Stranger, the amount of existentialism is abundant. The use of Mersault’s experiences coveys the idea that human life has no meaning except for simple existence. The idea of existentialism in Albert Camus' The Stranger reflects through Mersault's life experiences with his relationship with Marie, the death of his mother Maman, the murdering of the Arab, and Mersault's trial and execution, all these events show that Mersault’s life of no meaning.
Existentialism is a 20th century philosophical belief that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. It was first brought to public attention, through Jean Paul Sartre’s book L’existentalisme est un humanisme in the mid 1940’s. The philosophy allows humans to define what the true meaning of life is, to make their own rational decisions despite living in an irrational world. It deals with the absurdity of life and emphasizes action, freedom and decision as a fundamental. And the only way to rise above the essentially absurd condition of humanity (which is typically categorized as suffering and death) is by exercising personal freedom and choice. The philosophy of Existentialism and the Absurd is presented through the literary works
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism is Humanism.” Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman. Meridian Publishing
This paper focuses on the use of absurdism in post-World War II literature and its influence on contemporary society. Specifically, this paper first introduces the origin of absurdism, where the paper connects nihilism and existentialism and briefly compares the difference between these similar concepts. After clarifing the concept of absurdism, the second part of this paper examines some representative post-World War II literature that is famous for its utilization of absurdity, such as Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The American Dream by Edward Albee, The Outsider by Albert Camus, and so on. In this process, this paper introduces the representative genres of absurdism with regard to certain individual literature, categorize these genres, and explore a general understanding which is possible. In the third section, this paper extends the general genres in details, looks at the exact words and sentences in which the author applies absurdity, and analyzes the intention and effect of absurdism in corresponding literature.
An Essay on. The Stranger; The Absurd One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all.