How Does Albert Camus Use Of Absurdism

570 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Physical punishment

Albert Camus, the author of The Stranger, was a firm believer in absurdism. His philosophy was along the lines of believing that humans exist in a place that is meaningless and that there is no afterlife, heaven or hell. He portrayed this philosophy through many of his works, but a big portrayal was in The Stranger, through his character Meursault. He faces many different hardships in life, but through all of it, it’s as if he couldn’t care less. His mother’s death had little effect on him, the relationships he has just seem to be pointless, and even when he is dealing with punishment for his careless actions, he has no real feelings on it.
When the novel first starts it explains that his mother has just died. For anyone that would be a very

Show More
Related

  • 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 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

  • Maman’s Funeral Characterises Meursault And the World of The Stranger

    1659 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Albert Camus: A Journey from Mundanity to Intellect

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    Albert Camus, the second son of Lucien and Catherine Camus was born in Mondovi, French Algeria on November 7, 1913.

    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

  • Existentialism And Symbolism In The Stranger By Albert Camus

    1438 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of A Sense Of Places In The Great Gatsby

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Stranger, Camus’ displays Meursault as an individual that believes in the idea that human life is completely meaningless and absurd throughout the novel. Since Meursault believes that the existential belief holds to be true as well as him being an atheist makes him viewed by the society as a threat. This is further supported when Meursault and the priest are having a conversation about the existence of God, “[…] drawing himself up to his full height and asked me if I believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly. He said it was impossible; all men believed in God, even those who turn their backs on him. That was his belief, and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would become meaningless. "Do you want my life to be meaningless?" (69). This particular quote implies that both Meursault’s and the priest’s views about the existence of God are different from each other. Thus, Meursault’s image and the abstract idea of the meaninglessness of life is viewed in a negative way by the society. However, this difference in beliefs between Meursault as well as the society makes the readers gain an ambient feeling about Meursault’s character because throughout the novel Meursault doesn't alter his views towards life and God. In addition to that, this man vs society conflict makes the

    Read More

  • Meursault’s Subconscious Mind in Albert Camus’ The Stranger

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Part One of The Stranger, Albert Camus avoids religious confrontations with Meursault in order to subconsciously place blame on Christ for his criminal actions. Camus restricts Meursault’s relationships to further distance him from his mother. Meursault then alienates himself from the typical spiritual ceremonies and actions to demonstrate his distrust of religion. Simultaneously, Camus uses diction of clear and bright elements to characterize people in the novel, excluding Meursault. Camus associates dark colors with Meursault to depict a sadistic persona. To conclude, Camus places Meursault in recurring situations which result in him being distracted by “the light”. Camus uses these literary techniques in The Stranger to demonstrate man’s condemnation of God.

    Read More

  • Ethics And Morals In 'The Stranger' By Albert Camus

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethics and morals generally provide guidance to people’s lives as they tend to live accordingly. For the most part, that guidance is integrated into people through one 's experience, knowledge, and wisdom. Without both it would be nearly impossible for a human being to commit consistent and rational decisions with their lives. In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, people witness the life of an absurdist, Meursault. Throughout Meursault’s life, he receives constant judgement for most of his actions; although, they could go either way as moral or immoral. Nevertheless, the final verdict is reached and Meursault loses his life for the way he decides to live it. Even though most of Meursault’s actions receive negative judgement, it 's not entirely to blame on Meursault. Furthermore, Meursault is not an

    Read More

  • Albert Camus And Existentialism

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    When French Noble Prize winning author, journalist, and philosopher, Albert Camus, died in 1960 at the age of 46 his literary works that incorporated ideas of existentialism and absurdism were still studied and interpreted by scholars and his colleagues. Existentialism was one of the two philosophies Camus believed in and used in his works; existentialism is philosophical movement that focuses on the importance of the individual experience and self responsibility. The individual is seen as a free part in a deterministic and meaningless universe. The second philosophy Camus used and believed in was absurdism; a philosophy based on the idea that life and work are meaningless and looking for order causes inner and outer chaos. Camus had a dual culture as he was born in Algeria and lived most of his life in France, his culture duality also is expressed in his works. 1920's Algerian writer Albert Camus's works were profoundly impacted by his experiences in French colonial Algeria, his philosophical ideas and findings of existentialism, and current events of his times such as war, independence,and violence.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Absurdism In Albert Camus's 'The Fall'

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    An absurdist tends to discover meaning despite living in a meaningless world and are unable to fully accept and understand that every life ultimately ends. Depending on a person’s ethics and morals, some indications can be made on how someone’s life may transpire with each differing and playing a role. These people often partake in unethical and immoral actions, aware of it or not, in order to achieve some type of meaning in their absurdist life. In the novel The Fall, by Albert Camus is about an Absurdist man who used to be a judge penitent in Paris before he moves to Amsterdam. While living in Paris, Clamence lives a life full of lies as he views himself superior, as he tends to help the least fortunate. In reality, his motives are flawed

    Read More

  • Tragic Irony in Shakespeare's Macbeth

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    that he is a widower. This presents a great deal of irony to the reader, as well as a tragic

    Read More

  • Absurdism And Morality In Albert Camus's 'The Guest'

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Albert Camus’ The Guest revolves around the notions of moral justification and solitude with the underlying themes of absurdism and nihilism. Camus personifies absurdism through the protagonist, Daru–whether Daru makes the decision to release the prisoner to freedom or delivers the Arab prisoner into prison does not matter, since Daru allows the prisoner to choose, and the prisoner chooses to be imprisoned. There is also a sense of uncertainty of moral justification–how is one justified in one’s choice of action and on what scale is the justification based on, which is essentially the foundation of Daru’s dilemma. With the internal confliction of Daru’s personal beliefs against abiding superior authority, Daru is faced with two moral dilemmas:

    Read More

  • The Stranger Paper

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Stranger” was written by Albert Camus as an interpretation of the illustrations of the absurdist world during the war in Paris. He uses the connection of “Existentialism is a Humanism” because Meursault, the protagonist, reacts differently to every scenario, rather than acting like a normal, sympathetic human being. He has trouble defining his essence and developing emotional connections with society. The definition of a stranger is a person who is described to be unaware or not familiar with one’s surroundings. A stranger could also be defined as a person who is entirely unaccustomed to a feeling, situation, or situation. In my personal opinion, Meursault is estranged from himself, and society. He has a personal connection with nature,

    Read More

  • The Character of Meursault in The Stranger (The Outsider)

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about How Does Albert Camus Use Of Absurdism

Open Document