The Absurd Morality of Death in The Outsider
In The Outsider by Albert Camus, death can clearly be seen as a
significant image - there being six deaths mentioned in total. In Part
One we are shown the natural death of Meursault's mother and
Meursault's murder of the Arab, and in Part Two we are presented with
the parricide of a brother/son and the subsequent suicide of the
perpetrators, another parricide that is to be tried after Meursault's
case and the death penalty pronounced on Meursault. Through these
depictions of various deaths, Camus shows clearly the conflicting and
often arbitrary treatment of death within society, a treatment that
reveals a confusion between the motives behind acts and the subsequent
response to the completed acts, which ultimately reflects the nature
of the absurd prevalent in the novel.
Section One: deaths directly linked to Meursault
Mrs Meursault's Funeral
Death, as an important image, is established in the very first
sentence of the book, "Mother died today."[1] The simplicity and
directness of this statement is shocking for the reader, and leads us
to try to understand what sort of man Meursault is - a task that we
discover later has been laid as a trap for us. However, even though
this first sentence is simple and direct, it is confused in the very
next sentence, "Or maybe yesterday, I don't know."[2] This confusion
over the time of the death can be generalised to the circumstances of
the death, which are in this case unclear, and indeed we are never
told what the cause of Mrs Meursault's death was. All we have are the
allusions to her age, "About sixty,"[3] and her 'friend', who was "an
old man"[4] that could not prevent himself from "fainting (like a
disloca...
... middle of paper ...
...t, The Outsider (Penguin Classics), p60.
[13] Ibid. P69.
[14] Ibid. P63.
[15] Ibid. P64.
[16] Ibid. P85.
[17] Ibid. P85.
[18] Ibid. P57.
[19] Ibid. P58.
[20] Ibid. P58.
[21] Ibid. P60
[22] Camus, Albert, The Outsider (Penguin Classics, 2000), p64
[23] Ibid. P68.
[24] Ibid. P98.
[25] Ibid. P99.
[26] Ibid. P116
[27] Ibid. P103.
[28] Camus, Albert, The Outsider (Penguin Classics, 2000), p104.
[29] Ibid. P109.
[30] Ibid. P109.
[31] Ibid. P114.
[32] Ibid. P112.
[33] Ibid. P115.
[34] Ibid. P117.
[35] Ibid. P117.
[36] Camus, Albert, The Outsider (Penguin Classics, 2000), p77.
[37] Ibid. P78.
[38] Camus, Albert, The Outsider (Penguin Classics, 2000), p 78.
[39] Ibid. P78
[40] Ibid. P82.
[41] Ibid. P82.
[42] Ibid. P102.
[43] Camus, Albert, The Outsider (Penguin Classics, 2000), p116.
Meursault is a fairly average individual who is distinctive more in his apathy and passive pessimism than in anything else. He rarely talks because he generally has nothing to say, and he does what is requested of him because he feels that resisting commands is more of a bother than it is worth. Meursault never did anything notable or distinctive in his life: a fact which makes the events of the book all the more intriguing.
Every character that revolves around Meursault seems to be in direct contrast to him. Meursault is an amoral person who does not seem to care passionately about anything. He acts in accordance with physical desires. In other words, Meursault is a sensualist person. At this particular time in his life, his path crosses with his neighbor, Raymond, who feels as though his girlfriend is cheating on him. He decides to take revenge with minor aid form Meursault. Meursault helps him only because he thinks he has nothing to lose if he does. As things lead into one another, the first major violent act of the book is committed.
"Fay struck out with her hands, hitting at Major Bullock and Mr. Pitts and Sis, fighting with her mother, too, for a moment. She showed her claws at Laurel, and broke from the preachers last-minute arms and threw herself forward across the coffin on to the pillow, driving her lips without aim against the face under hers. She was dragged back into the library, screaming, by Miss Tennyson Bullock, out of sight behind the blanket of greenery. Judge McKelva's smoking chair lay behind them, overturned" (86).
Meursault is a man who chooses to observe people, rather than interact with them. He often people watches from his balcony in the evening, than actually going down to communicate with them. While he was in exile, he was forced to converse and discuss his feeling to strangers like his lawyer, and the chaplain of the prison. Due to being a severe introvert, the idea of discussing his problem to another person was foreign for him. The experience of opening himself up to others for help was alienating, and contradicted his personality of being a stranger to everyone. Camus writes, “He didn’t understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me. I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else.” (Camus, 66) Meursault wanted to help his lawyer understand his point of view, but his nature is so closed off that he’s unable to put his feeling into words for others
The Brave New World treated death much as they did birth, this was in contradiction to the way the savage felt death should be
Since he cares little for the affairs of the world, claiming they do not mean anything, then justice—a major concern of the world—also means nothing to him. His actions both before and after his decision to kill a man without provocation demonstrate his apathetic view of the world, and his indifference to justice. Therefore Meursault’s search for justice, culminated by the court’s decision to execute him, remains an example to all of the inability of society to instill justice in criminals. Meursault’s perpetual refusal to acquire a sense of morality and emotion instigates skepticism in all who learn of his story of society’s true ability to instill justice in the
Although, parents try to be fair there are always subtle differences picked up by the children, whether one is preferred better over the other sibling. These occurrences are known as parents picking favorites. Of course, every mother loves her children equally, but tends to favor one over the other simply because he or she is older, smarter, holds more responsibility, or just better behaved than the others, the reason being always varies. Every sibling is different, each with his or her unique personalities and ways of expression. “I did something I never done before: I hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of (Dee) Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap. Maggie just sat there on my bed with her mouth open.” (Walker, Everyday Use) In the previous excerpt from the story Mama, in a sense, picked a favorite daughter out of the two. In this case, it was Maggie when deciding who should have the quilts. In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Walker describes her two daughters. Maggie and Dee are sisters. Throughout the short story, Walker reveals the two sister’s differences in character and personalities through the use of language (words) and actions as the story develops. The reader learns more about each sister through the mother’s words.
It is true that Meursault was different from the rest of society. However, he changes throughout the trial and eventually becomes an existentialist hero. This is because he finds meaning in life. It is ironic, though, that he learns to appreciate life after his is effectively over. His apathetic approach to life is made clear from the first page: “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” This foreshadows his approach to everything else in the book. His indifference to Maman’s death contrast’s significantly to Salamano’s distress at losing his dog. Many of the characters in this book also function to highlight his qualities through contrast.
In Wislawa Szymborska’s poem, “On Death, without Exaggeration”, the idea of Death is assigned characteristics of Deaths waged war against numerous quantities of emerging life that, itself, destroys life. Szymborska grew up in Poland during the Second World War, she was surrounded by Death, in addition, the experiences she had helped her to cope with Death and remain hopeful. The poem seems to make the reader think Death is an inevitable part of life and in order to appreciate life one must accept Death. However, if you read closely in the last line of the second stanza, “which is always beside the point” (7), Death is revealed to be indifferent, not accepting. Szymborska uses persona, irony, and personification to create rich
During the first half of the novel, we see many examples of Meursault’s freedom and how he exercises it. He does what he wants, when he wants to with no regard to how he affects the people around him. Meursault lives his life with no restrictions. He is his own boss. Relaxed and free.
Recently, I have been reading, “The Outsiders,” by S.E Hinton. I went into this book not knowing anything about it. After reading it, I decided I really enjoyed it. I have found myself relating to all of the characters, and feeling sad when one leaves, or passes away. The theme of the story is really shown in the last few chapters. Ponyboy, the main protagonist, and his brothers and friends, stand up to the bullies that have been picking on them for several years. The story gives an incredible message and has a good storyline and history to it.
Meursault is a different character than what is expected of a protagonist.
A classical point of departure in defining Death, seems to be Life itself. Death is perceived either as a cessation of Life - or as a "transit zone", on the way to a continuation of Life by other means.
The sky was fading it’s original color and all of the sudden there was darkness all around us. In that moment we knew that the rumble was about to start. We all heading where the fight was about to began that when we met all of our gang. The greasers were ready to fight then the socs were already arriving in their mustangs. “Hey ponyboy stand behind me alright,” I said. “Yes Darry I will be okay,” Ponyboy stated. I was making sure that my baby brother was okay. I can not loose my baby brother just like I lost my parents. I promise them I will take care of them no matter what happens. The greasers and the socs were ready to start the rumble. Suddenly Dally came to join us that is when we started to fight. Tiny drops of water was starting to
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.