Absurdity of the Main Character in The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger by Albert Camus is a novel told through the eyes of a man named Meursault, living in French occupied Algeria during the height of colonial rule. Meursault, the existential protagonist who is psychologically detached from the world around him, is ruled by his base instincts rather than sentimental feelings leading to a perceived irrationality of his character. This novel explores the theme of absurdity and the actions of a seemingly absurd man perceiving his world as dysfunctional. Camus’ use of first person narrative limits the reader’s understanding of the events in the novel. The absurdity of Meursault’s viewpoints that is rooted in Camus’ existential perception of reality forces the reader to rationalize his actions and thought processes throughout the book.

The first instance in which we see Meursault’s detachment is in Part One of the book with the death of his mother. Camus starts off the novel by saying, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know”(1). Meursault’s casual and nonchalant attitude throughout his mother’s funeral creates an emotional wedge between him and the reader insofar as their inability to justify his behavior. The fact that the structure of the novel explicitly demonstrates Meursault’s indifferent attitude makes it so that reader is at odds with the protagonist from the onset of the novel. The reader begins to search for a reason why Meursault is acting this way and causes them to have a feeling of absurdity. As they entered the village for Maman’s funeral service, a nurse spoke to Meursault, and said, “If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.” Meursault’s takeaway from her comment was that, “...

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... truly be interested in? If I ever got out of this prison, I would go and watch every execution there was” (110). The main theme in this book is existentialism and this quote represents Camus’ full existentialist viewpoint. Camus thinks that there is no real reason to do anything because everyone will eventually die, which is my Meursault says that he would “go watch every execution there was.” He is finally accepting the fact that the world is random and nothing has no real purpose or reason.

. Throughout the book he uses Meursault as a vessel to transfer his thoughts and viewpoints into the reader. This causes the reader to become alienated from the main character not understanding what or why they are doing what they are doing, something that most readers aren’t used to. Meursault’s lack of caring and amoral attitude about life eventually leads to his demise.