The Stranger Absurdism

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In The Stranger by Albert Camus, there are many meaningful lines that hold great passion and emotion for how the characters feel without directly stating it. My favorite lines come at the thrilling climax of the novel where Meursault shoots the Arab, but the passage comes before during his thought process. Before the climax, Raymond went back to the spring to shoot the Arab, but Meursault convinced him to hand over the gun. After Meursault receives the gun he stand motionless, and ponders:
...everything came to a stop there between the sea, the sand, and the sun, and the double silence of the flute and the water. It was than that I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot. (Camus 56)
Later Meursault and Raymond headed back to the bungalow, and a few lines later Meursault …show more content…

This passage exemplifies one of Meursault’s turning points as a character because at the end of the novel, his transformation is brought out by his understanding of the theory of absurdism. The theory of absurdism is the belief that the search for meaning is essentially in conflict with the lack of meaning. This concept is similar to Meursault’s response of whether or not to shoot. This passage brings out the concept of absurdism by how they both discuss the contradicting ideas that are about embracing what life has to offer with an ‘either or’ situation. Another level of meaning that could be brought out by this passage is the language and emotion that comes from the writing. The writing is more poetic and complex than what it has been before, which shows the transformation of Meursault’s character. The lines give a glimpse into the transformation that will come in the conclusion of the main character. The lines also evoke a response for the readers by what they do in a day to day life. Everyone makes choices like Meursault’s indecisiveness of whether or not to shoot, and this relates to reader’s choices that they make everyday. Overall, this passage can

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