Essay On Meursault Catharsis

Does Meursault catharsis affect his own existentialist behavior? Meursault catharsis affects people like the chaplain which eventually led to his own existentialist behavior. Meursault catharsis opens himself to “the gentle indifference of the world” (Camus 122). Meursault means that he is giving up his caring, that it hurts too much and is becoming as indifferent as the rest of the world. Through Meursault catharsis of anger leading towards the chaplain, religion, death and God are not his beliefs. These ideas led to existentialist behavior which emphasizes him into making his own meaning in life with freedom and choices that eventually illustrates the stranger as a final act.

Meursault is not religious nor has interest in religion to the

point where he decided to let out his catharsis to the chaplain. “Then, I don’t know how it was, but something seemed to break inside me, and I started yelling at the top of my voice. I hurled insults at him, I told him not to waste his rotten prayers on me; it was better to burn than to disappear” (Camus 74). Meursault told the chaplain to not waste any prayers for him because the chaplain believes that praying for him will save him from this mess and will escape from this prison cell. Instead, Meursault gets furious because he doesn’t like the idea of religion being in his life because he doesn’t believe in religion but believes in his own beliefs and meanings. Religion ties to catharsis because Meursault not being religious, bothers people and question it but Meursault won’t change the way he is to the aspects of religion. Meursault behavior lead to his anger because he chose to live his life in his way and religion was not in his life. Meursault leads his anger where chaplain wouldn’t listen that Meursault is not religion thus making him really mad and annoyed about religion. The importance of religion shows how Meursault just doesn’t want to believe in the same beliefs as everybody else. Also Meursault not being religious is not a terrible idea because it shows how religion led to existentialist because no one should be able to force someone towards being religious.
Death lead to Meursault catharsis towards death going one way where people making their own choice. “All alike would be condemned to die one day; his turn, too, would come like the others” (Camus 75). Meursault mentions how death is all the same where it effects his behavior because to him everyone dies eventually. Death will come to anyone it can be sooner or later and Meursault releasing his anger will be that death doesn’t matter in existentialist. Death connects to him releasing his catharsis because no matter what people don’t live for long. Some die faster than others and it annoys Meursault because he feels that people die one way but people see it other way. He got furious and said it will happen at one point to the chaplain death. Since Meursault knows that his death is coming, his anger shows that his life doesn’t matter and is going to let death happen. This shows how Meursault doesn’t care about dying because everyone dies but not at once since it is existentialist, Meursault choose to pick his life and kill the Arab now he has to face the consequences in which he is by facing death. Death connected Meursault catharsis since he feels that people will die eventually and in his case Meursault knows he is going to die so it shows how Meursault is connecting death to existentialist behavior. Death connecting to his existentialist behavior shows that he doesn’t care about his death and is not sad or worried about his own death. Instead, Meursault accepts the fact that he is going to die and as his catharsis explodes on chaplain shows that even his death will come or happen. Since the chaplain believes in religion, he believes his death won’t be anything soon. Meursault knows by him releasing his catharsis because he will die like the others. For Meursault it is the same thing meaning death is the same way because he knows that people will die one day so his catharsis wants the chaplain to realize that him death will come in time.
God was not in Meursault life whereas the chaplain putting and mentioning God out there got Meursault angry, he has his own beliefs.

“What difference could they make to me, the deaths of others, or a mother’s love, or his God; or the way a man decides to live, the fate he thinks he chooses, since one and the same fate was bound to “choose” not only me but thousands of millions of privileged people who, like him, called themselves my brothers” (Camus 74). Meursault states again that he does not believe in God. The chaplain insisted that all the condemned men he has known have eventually turned to God for comfort. Meursault becomes increasingly irritated by the chaplain's insistence that he spend the rest of his short life on God. Meursault shouts that nothing matters. Since God is the main hierarchy of the chain, Meursault doesn’t see God as him being the top. Instead, he sees nothing as being importance other than Marie and his friends but not God. Meursault letting out his catharsis shows that God has no importance towards him. He doesn’t believe in the idea of God or praying. People believe that God has a plan for them and according to Meursault he is just living his life with no importance. Nothing in the chaplain's beliefs is as certain as he thinks. Meursault himself is only certain of his life and his

death.
Meursault led his anger to the chaplain in which caused existentialist behavior because Meursault doesn’t believe in religion, god, and death. Religion, god, and death all connect to existentialist behavior because it shows that Meursault does not care about all of this whether people force him to believe or not. The importance of Meursault anger was to show that he is annoyed and has different beliefs other than God. As Meursault is a existentialist behavior he continues to believe in his own meanings and choices. Meursault catharsis leads to him opening himself showing no importance of caring. Eventually Meursault making his own meaning in life led to the illustrating the stranger as a final act.