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Existentialism in albert camus the outsider
Existentialism in albert camus the outsider
Concept of free will
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In Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Meursault’s journey through the death of his Mother and the instantaneous murder of the Arab man create one of the most renowned and influential existentialist novels. The fundamental concept of existentialism is that humans exist to use their free will in order to determine their own development and understanding of their existence. Despite his claim that he was not an existentialist, Albert Camus has become one of the most influential writers of the existentialism literary movement because of his unique style and use of point of view, sensory imagery and many other literary devices. The existentialist perception that individuals exist to use their free will in order to determine their own unique purpose in life is echoed throughout Albert Camus’s The Stranger and has therefore been alluded to in modern literature and pop culture as a result of its substantial impact on literature. As seen by the major success and praise of Albert Camus’s The …show more content…
In an interesting New York Times article that was published in 1946, only four years after the publication of The Stranger, Charles Poore was able to recognize the new movement in literature that Camus was introducing. Poore writes, “The post-war generation here has not yet formed its ranks to express itself and harass its touchy elders…While most European countries had not yet experienced any literary shakeups in the post-World War II period, France was booming with edgy and unique movements” (Poore). It may come as a surprise to many modern day Americans that France was actually the place of origin for post-war literary movements that would later encourage protest and dissent in the US over issues such as Vietnam. As this shows, Camus was able to impact readers on a world wide scale and literally start a movement with his profound
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.
In the experimental novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, he explores the concept of existentialism and the idea that humans are born into nothing and descend into nothingness after death. The novel takes place in the French colony of Algiers where the French-Algerians working-class colonists live in an urban setting where simple life pleasures are of the upmost importance in the lives of working class people like the protagonist of the novel Meursault. What is fascinating about this novel is that it opens up with a scene of perpetual misfortune for him through the death of his mother although he seems to express otherwise. The reader perceives this nonchalance as a lack of care. Maman’s death and its impact on Meursault appear in both the very beginning and very end of the two-part novel, suggesting a cyclical pattern in the structure. This cyclical pattern suggests not a change in the moral beliefs of Meursault but rather his registering society’s systems and beliefs and craft meaning in his own life despite the fact that he meets his demise in the end. Camus uses Maman’s funeral to characterise both Meursault and the society and customs created by the society Meursault lives in in order to contrast the two while at the same time reveal how while society changes, Meursault does not. Rather, Maman’s funeral becomes of unprecedented importance in Meursault’s life and allows him to find that nothing means anything in his meaningless world at the time of his death. He finds peace in that.
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.
...able option. Camus’s main character, Meursault, embodies this third option; by accepting his circumstances and being indifferent to them, Meursault is able to break free of all possible causes of anxiety and find happiness. Furthermore, Meursault’s rejection of religion as belief, his acceptance of the “benign indifference of the universe”, and his acceptance of his circumstances all leading to happiness personifies Camus’s take on Absurdism, the philosophy that Camus is trying to depict in The Stranger (76). By using foil characters to contrast Meursault in actions or personality, Camus creates several polarizing situations, making Meursault the extreme epitome of Absurdism in every contrasting relationship and thus, shining light on his ideology in the process.
classicmoviescripts/script/seventhseal.txt. Internet. 4 May 2004. Blackham, H. J. Six Existentialist Thinkers. New York: Harper, 1952. Choron, Jacques. Death and Western Thought. New York: Collier Books, 1963.
As his writing career began to grow, Camus moved to France in 1938. Where in 1942 at the age of 29 Camus he wrote his famous book, The Stranger. Connections between the protagonist, Meursault, and Camus can be seen because of small, similar details between both of the main characters and authors. When Camus was one year old his father died in the Battle of Marne during World War I; a reflection of this is seen in the novel as Meursault's father is not mentioned.... ...
I, Albert Camus, am a famous French author who had written The Stranger in 1942. I was born in Algeria, and my experiences there had deeply influenced my thoughts, my work, and my philosophies. The Stranger strongly represents my philosophy involving the absurd and existentialism. When I was twenty-five, I moved to France and joined the resistance movement during World War II. After the liberation from Nazi Germany, I became a political journalist and a columnist for Combat, a French newspaper. In 1947, I retired from my journalist career and continued to write fiction and playwrights for the theatre (Simpson). Although I primarily consider myself a writer instead of a philosopher and I deny being an existentialist, the philosophy I most agree with is indeed existentialism. As one will find in my novel, The Stranger, the main character Meursault views the world and situations through an outside perspective, extreme detachment, and a lack of empathy. His characters tend to view the world as an outsider because I personally grew up in many groups
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus' The Stranger, both feature protagonists in situations out of which arise existentialist values. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts . In The Metamorphosis the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, realizes his existentialism towards the end of the novella. In contrast, Monsieur Meursault, the protagonist in The Stranger, knows of his existentialism, only realizing his life's lack of meaning moments after he is sentenced to death. Despite the somewhat absurd nature of The Metamorphosis, and the realistic nature of The Stranger, similar values are communicated to the reader. The easiest to pick out being that it is up to the individual to create his/her own life, and that the inhuman behaviour presented by both protagonists will eventually lead to very bad things; namely death in both novellas. These deaths are, however, very different, as are the methods through which Kafka and Camus have made each novel nothing but `a philosophy put into images' .
Albert Camus was an existentialist. He was also not a religious person and even though he was born and raised a Catholic; he soon quit his religious faith and turned into an atheist, believing that religion was “philosophical suicide”. He described his attitude toward religion in the lines “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is.” Yet, it is seen that even though he denied being an existentialist, he is seen to have ‘brooded over such questions as the meaning of life in the face of death.’ “Men are convinced of your arguments, your sincerity, and the seriousness of your efforts only by your death.” This quote shows that Camus believed death was what created people in society and brought their life into the spotlight.
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.
Existentialism is the epitome of the unknown. There is no straightforward explanation of what exactly it is, there is only certain characteristics and behaviors that describe existentialist views. Throughout today’s world, there are examples of it everywhere, it’s found in movies, books, songs, and just people in general. Existentialists are known to think and do for themselves only. They believe that to understand what it means to be human requires understanding of themselves first. Some very well known pieces of entertainment existentialism is found in are: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Breakfast Club by John Hughes. The Stranger is a book written about a young man whose mother dies, which soon leads him to becoming acquainted with the feeling of not caring about what his actions do to others or himself. The main character Meursault starts helping his friend Raymond, carry out ways to torment his mistress. Out of nowhere while at the beach, Meursault shoots Raymond’s mistress’s brother. He is thrown into jail and tried, but he seems to not be affected as much as he should about his actions. He first finds it hard to live without cigarettes, women, and nature, but he soon finds out he doesn’t need any of those. After being sentenced to death, he is suggested to turn away from his atheism but later realizes that human existence has no greater meaning. This realization and acceptance is what truly makes him happy (Camus). Next, The Breakfast Club is a very relatable movie about high school students suffering the consequences of their actions in detention. The kids are all of ...
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 it emphasizes individual freedom. Throughout The Stranger, the amount of existentialism views is abundant. The use of Mersault’s experiences covey 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.
What is the meaning of life? Some might immediately cite the will of God, or explain a complicated system of reincarnation and karma, or simply answer with the number forty-two. However, the existentialist would reject any of these answers and instead encourage the reader to find and make their own meaning of life, instead of following any other definite, absolute answers. Both existentialist novel The Stranger by Albert Camus and the film Stranger than Fiction examine unique protagonists who search for their own reasons to live. However, The Stranger is able to more effectively describe and develop existential themes through Meursault’s more dark and morbid conclusion, while Stranger than Fiction’s Howard Crick is robbed of his existential
Humans remain responsible and clueless. Human encounter existentialism in their very existence. Existentialism occurs every day, often in literature and plays. Many plays incorporate existentialism in its characters. In the play, “No Exit” or “Huis Clos”, Jean-Paul Sartre writes an absurdly clueless character who personifies existentialism in that he embodies absurdism with his ignorance to his own mistakes and attempts to avoid subjectivity in order to spare himself shame.
Albert Camus wrote The Stranger during the Existentialist movement, which explains why the main character in the novel, Meursault, is characterized as detached and emotionless, two of the aspects of existentialism. In Meursault, Camus creates a character he intends his readers to relate to, because he creates characters placed in realistic situations. He wants the reader to form a changing, ambiguous opinion of Meursault. From what Meursault narrates to the reader in the novel, the reader can understand why he attempts to find order and understanding in a confused and mystifying world.