My first impression of the quote is that Meursault has lost hope and motivation for life. I feel that Meursault has been through challenging obstacles and he was an earnest person who had desire to succeed. In addition, I wonder how his past could have resulted in him losing his ambition. When he mentions “students”, it reflected how studious and ambitious he was. The word “but” made me disappointed because that words represents the contrast between his past and present life. I thought it was interesting how he described himself as a student instead of a kid or child. As a grown up, he does not have the desire to explore opportunities for growth. He is disinterested in everything and doesn't particularly care about what is happening.
I think that since he doesn't have ambition, he sees life as unimportant and meaningless.
Meursault, an unemotional, a moral, sensory-orientated character at the beginning of the book, turns into an emotional, happy man who understands the "meaninglessness" and absurdity of life by the end of the book. Meursault realizes that the universe is indifferent to man's life and this realization makes him happy. He realizes that there is no God and that the old codes of religious authoritarianism are not enough to suffice man's spiritual needs. One has to create one's won meaning in an absurd, meaningless world.
Meursault’s careless attitude affects the people around and his relationship with those characters. When he and Marie begin their romance, he doesn’t reall...
This passage is set before Meursault’s execution with the chaplain entering the scene, and telling Meursault that his “heart is blind”, leading to Meursault to yell and delve into his rant, and moment of consciousness. The passage has a calm in the beginning as if Meursault catches his breath from yelling previously, and he starts to reassure himself that he is not wrong for expressing his views as it went against the public’s religious beliefs, and states that this moment was so important to him that it was if his life was merely leading up to it. Why this particular scene is important to Meursault is that this is an instance where he successfully detaches himself from the world, and begins to deconstruct the world’s ideals as his rant shifts on to focusing on how nothing in life mattered. Meursault describes his gripes with the chaplain’s words as he explains his reasoning as to why the concept of a god is flawed as Meursault saw that everyone was inherently the same, with equal privileges just how often people could express them separated them. The passage continues with Meursault arguing that everyone would be faced with judgment or punishment one day, and explains why his own situation was not significant as it was no different. After that explanation the passage ends with Meursault posing the concept of everything in the world being equal both in wrongdoing and life in general, evident in his example of saying “Sala¬mano's dog was worth just as much as his wife.” Although the passage shows Meursault challenging the ethics and morals that the world around him follows, it does have instances like the end in which we see that the rant is still expression of Meursault's complex emotions, as it is unclear whether it is fear or a...
...re is no inherent meaning in life - its entire value lies in living itself. Meursault feels he has been happy, and longs to live. When he must die, he wants a crowd to greet him "with cries of hate"; they are screaming because they want life and the world to have meaning; they need this because that is what their entire existence is built upon. As the magistrate asked of Meursault, "Do you want my life to be meaningless?" Meursault understands how estranged the individual truly is from society. Until the conclusion, he was a stranger to himself as well as to the rest of the world. In the end, he opens himself "to the gentle indifference of the world," and "finding it so much like myself, - like a brother really," feels he has been happy, and is again. Society finds this unacceptable, and by refusing to conform to its face-value standards, Meursault must die.
Meursault is an amoral person. He does not think about the choices he makes, but instead he tries to please people that interests him. He was committed to his actions and did not back out on any of them. He didn’t have second thoughts of what he has done. He has helped a thug.(add more here). He has killed an Arab and goes to jail for it. He says, “At first, I didn’t take him seriously. I was led into a curtained room; there was a single lamp on his desk which was shining on a chair where he had me sit while he remained standing in the shadows. I had read descriptions of scenes like this in books and it all seemed like a game to me”(Camus 78). Meursault does not take the interview seriously. He believes he has done nothing wrong. It proves difficult for him to view himself as a criminal because he truly believes in the simplicity of this case---he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was all a matter of absurd luck. He does not believe there is a God in this world. He is now sentenced with the death penalty. Before he died he says, “As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish
Meursault is an isolated and incredibly honest man. He will not lie to save his life. His moods are affected strongly by nature and he is thoroughly independent. Meursault does not accept the idea of God or the conventional idea of happiness. Although it may not appear so, Meursault greatly transforms by the end of the novel.
To begin with, Meursault follows the phrase “existence precedes essence.” Meursault does not follow cultural norms and is defined through his actions. He does not determine himself through a title like his job and believes that “none of it really [matters]” (Camus 41). He does not believe in God and thinks that questions about deities and the universe “[seem] unimportant” (Camus 41). Meursault’s experiences also align themselves with this existential idea. Not only does he not cry at his mother’s funeral, which is important in society, but he kills the Arab for no particular reason. Morality, which many people consider to be a core of what it means to be human, goes hand in hand with the subject of murder. This concern was of no consequence to Meursault. He creates himself and defines the rest of his life with that one action, “knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (Camus 59). Next, Meursault is authentic to himself. Through not “crying once” on the day of Maman’s funeral, Meursault does what he wants rather than sticking to the role of the loyal and loving son. He does not act for the sake of duty or what society tells him to do, he is true to the life he has created for himself. Finally, in The Stranger, Meursault encounters anxiety and nothingness which lead him to an existential realization. In the final scene of the novel, he angrily tells the priest that “none of his certainties was worth one hair on a woman’s head” (Camus 120). Here, he realizes that defining one’s life through facts like religion is not enough and that without it, the priest is nothing. The only path to meaning is through simple, real existence. In this moment, facing his death and nothingness, Meursault truly realizes that “nothing, nothing [matters]” (Camus 121). So, in true existentialist fashion, Meursault accepts the way he has lived
Because of its omnipresent and inevitable nature, the sun is cleverly chosen to symbolize societal pressure and to metaphorically represent life. Through the use of this symbolism, the novel leads the reader to understanding and appreciating the implications of existentialism. In the final stage of Meursault’s life, he is content in realising that the universe is irrational, and that it is absurd that humans seek a rational order in life. It is interesting to note the contradicting ideas here. While Meursault realises that the universe is chaotic and irrational, he is content. Though he acknowledges the fact that the universe has no sun and is therefore irrational, he is able to find comfort as he is illuminated by the power of existentialism.
...everyone is surrounded by death. Camus explains that life isn’t about what is not envisioned, but it’s about what is evident. Meursault’s feeling of apathy is directly related to his conviction that life lacks necessary order and meaning, “As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope…I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world,” as he awaits his impending death, he finally recognizes that life is the most complex entity in the universe and one only has one life to live, so live it wisely (122). In the end, Meursault changed spiritually because he didn’t concentrate as much on the physical world because while he was in prison, he thought about life’s gifts and (although still atheist) realizes that faith in yourself and life is very important. There is also some irony here; he finally realizes the meaning of live just as he awaits his death.
...he world, which causes him to encounter a form of enlightenment that makes him come to realization of the true world. The realization of the world sprouts the idea that the universe is indifferent and life has no true meaning. Because Meursault realizes that the universe is indifferent to people and that he makes no importance to the world, he is reborn to a life that makes sense to him. The nonexistent emotions from the first part and the outburst of emotions from the second part cause a juxtaposition of Meursault as a character in the two sections. Camus uses elemental diction and sentence structure to portray this change in character and his acceptance of the universe around him. He accepts his death, finding that his life is truly meaningless, and believes that his life is a model for the philosophical ideas that he has come in terms with.
Meursault is very much like someone autistic. Autism is a developmental disorder which affects a person’s communication skills, social restrictions and behavior. Like people with autism, Meursault doesn’t know when to show emotions nor think they are important. You can see this pattern in Meursault when he is informed about his mother’s passing. It does not seem to affect him at all and shows this by saying “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (Camus 3).
Meursault does not care for objects in his world. He does not see the importance of certain words whose definitions attempt to explain human relationships either amongst themselves or their emotions in general. He does not follow 'conventional' social beliefs nor does he believe in God, nor salvation. Meursault however loves his life. It is a pure love derived from enjoying his existence on a day-to-day basis, rarely looking back and never looking forward. His love is not dependent on doing what society or some religion has deemed correct, but on what he feels he wants to do despite what most would consider common.
During the culmination of the The Stranger, Meursault essentially proclaims his absurd notion regarding his view of the world – nothing really matters, we all live and we all die, and essentially what we do before we die is in the end irrelevant – and this belief of his further substantiates the logical argument that he could most plausibly be considered an absurd protagonist. Meursault eventually acknowledges the belief that one’s current life is quite synonymous to one’s future death, which is Camu’s existentialist belief portrayed via Meursault. Furthermore, he also asserts that one will only find genuine happiness in life if and only if one attempts to find the meaning in life without the motivation of the almighty, or any other type of
The use of first person point of view greatly improved the understanding of this characteristic, as one is able to read his complete lack of emotion, and his complete lack of compassion. For example, soon after he is told his mother is dead, Meursault says, “The woman kept on crying. I wished I didn’t have to listen to her anymore, But I didn’t dare say anything.” This quote showed that Meursault did not care about the woman, nor was he sad himself about the death of his mother. Other expressions of sadness served to simply annoy him. Here, Meursault is revealed to be isolated, as though everyone else cares, he does not. This would not be revealed with another point of view, as here, one is able to read Meursault’s inner thoughts, thus revealing him as emotionless. This is evident again when Meursault speaks of possibly marrying Marie. He said, “That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to. Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her. ‘So why marry me, then?’ she said. I explained to her that it didn’t really matter and that if she wanted to, we could get married. […] Then she pointed out that marriage was a serious
Camus writes in a simple, direct, and uncomplicated style. The choice of language serves well to convey the thoughts of Meursault. The story is told in the first person and traces the development of the narrator's attitude toward himself and the rest of the world. Through this sort of simple grammatical structure, Camus gives the reader the opportunity to become part of the awareness of Meursault. In Part I, what Meursault decides to mention are just concrete facts. He describes objects and people, but makes no attempt to analyze them. Since he makes no effort to analyze things around him, that job is given to the reader. The reader therefore creates his own meaning for Meursault's actions. When he is forced to confront his past and reflect on his experiences, he attempts to understand the reasons for existence. At first, Meursault makes references to his inability to understand what's happening around him, but often what he tells us seems the result of his own indifference or detachment. He is frequently inattentive to his surroundings. His mind wanders in the middle of conversations. Rarely does he make judgments or express opinions about what he or other characters are doing. Meursault walks through life largely unaware of the effect of his actions on others.