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Character of meursault in the outsider
Themes of The Outsider by Albert Camus
Albert camus the stranger absurdism essay
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I will discuss the novel, the Outsider by Albert Camus and the relationship between Absurdism and the elements of death, freedom and physical gratification. Absurdism is the most prominent motif expressed in Camus novel, in order to successfully understand its full meaning and prominence throughout the novel; we must firstly understand the motif of absurdism and its relationships with other prominent themes within the novel. The themes that relate most strongly with the concept of absurdism within the novel are death; this plays a central role throughout the novel in relation to absurdism as Camus shows us the conflicting and arbitrary treatment of death within society. A treatment, that leads to the confusion of Meursault’s actions and which ultimately reveals the nature of the absurd prevalent within the novel. Freedom; Camus shows the relationship between absurdism and freedom within the novel as dependant variables, dependant on one another as through absurdism, freedom is achieved and through freedom alone the absurd may be realised. And the physical; Camus displays the relatio...
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world.
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.
to try to understand what sort of man Meursault is - a task that we
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.
In every single novel, the importance of the symbolism is probably as important as the language the novel is written in. Author uses symbolism to create memorable scenes that have a hidden meaning behind their original face value. Symbolism especially plays a huge role in the novel by Albert Camus, ”the Outsider” , where author’s examples imply various emotional short-cuts and serve as a helper to understand the inner world of the main character – Meursault. This is a thought-provoking novel, which brilliantly illustrated Albert Camus’s theme of absurdity. One interesting aspect about “The stranger” is the protagonist, where in his life there are no certain meanings and motives for his actions and his life overall. The absurdity of the protagonist has no rational explanation. Each of the many actions by Meursault have huge influence on the description of the indifference of the world, where symbolism used by the protagonist underlines the human’s dignity and unimportance of the world. In the provocative novel “The stranger” by Albert Camus uses symbolism such as the crucifix, th...
In many works of literature, a character conquers great obstacles to achieve a worthy goal. Sometimes the obstacles are personal impediments, at other times it consists of the attitude and beliefs of others. In the book The Stranger by Albert Camus, shows the character Meursault who is an emotionless character that let’s other people show their opinions and emotions into him, giving him a type of feeling even if Meursault doesn’t care. Meursault is a victim of emotional indifference between his friends and social indifference. This essay will be about the character’s struggle that contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
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.
The emotionless anti-hero, Monsieur Meursault, embarks on a distinct philosophical journey through The Stranger. Confident in his ideas about the world, Meursault is an unemotional protagonist who survives without expectations or even aspirations. Because of his constant indifference and lack of opinions about the world, it can be denoted that he undergoes a psychological detachment from the world and society. It is through these characteristics that exist in Meursault that Camus expresses the absurd. Starting from the very first sentence of the book, “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) The indifferent tone from these short sentences convey a rather apathetic attitude from Meursault’s part. Not only does he not feel any sorrow, he also “felt like having a smoke.” (Camus 4) Communicating perfectly Meursault’s disinterest, “[he] hesitate, [he] didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there. [He] thought it over; it really didn’t matter.” (Camus 4) The death of his mother prompts an absurdist philosophy in which he experiences a psychological awakening and begins to place no real emphasis on emotions, but rather on the physical aspect of life.
...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.
The trial and conviction of Meursault represents the main ideals of absurdism, that truth does not exist, and life is precious. The jury’s attempt to place a proper verdict on Meursault is compared to mankind’s futile attempt to find order in an irrational universe. Because there is no real truth in the trial, the verdict was unfair and illogical. Camus uses his beliefs of truth not existing and life being precious to point out the absurdity of the judicial system, and suggest the abolishment of the death penalty.
In Albert Camus’ absurdist novel, The Stranger, Meursault’s detachment from society and his killing of the Arab reveal moral and ethical implications for him and his society. As is common in many absurdist novels, Camus discusses the estrangement - and later development - of an individual in a benign and indifferent universe, one in which conformity prevails. Camus not only satirizes the conformity of society, but religion and the legal system as well. By writing in the first person (from the standpoint of Meursault), he draws in the reader, making the evils of society more prevalent.
The thought of Albert Camus creating a character like Meursault is absurd because ‘The Outsider’ was published in 1942, midway through the Second World War. Also with economies falling and poverty reigning, people turned to God for hope and it took everything they had to hold onto that faith. Amidst thi...
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.
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
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: The authoritative figure in The Guest is Balducci, where he instructs Daru to deliver the Arab prisoner to prison– something against Daru’s moral beliefs.