The Stranger By Albert Camus Essay

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Recommended: Examples of existentialism in the stranger

Theme: Absurdism and man's quest to find meaning in a meaningless world.
Textual Support: In Albert Camus’s The Stranger, both existentialist and absurdist ideologies are depicted through style and tone. During his talk with the magistrate, Meursault finds himself struggling to understand the quest for a search of a higher power. His existentialism leads him to believe that life is meaningless, and nothing happens after you die. His beliefs are highlighted by writing: “But he cut me off and urged that me one last time, 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… that was his belief and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would …show more content…

During his time in prison, Meursault meets with his lawyer and describes his surroundings. “Despite the heat (I was in my shirt sleeves), he [the lawyer] had on a dark suit, a wing collar, and an odd-looking tie with broad black and white stripes” (Camus 62). Meursault outlook on life as purposeless leads him to take events as part of his environment, and out of his control. While in bleak setting, Meursault is concerned with his lawyer’s ‘odd-looking’ tie is more important than the trial he is facing for murder. Camus uses visual imagery to describes Meursault’s physical setting, regardless of the situation of judgement he may be in. Likewise, in a more dismal setting, the courtroom, Meursault is on trial and being questioned for his actions. Meursault knows that most likely, he will be punished for this murder, and yet he is still thinking of the physical world over the judgement of man. “…I’d found the simplest and most lasting joys: the smells of summer, the part of town I loved, a certain evening sky, Marie’s dresses and the way she laughed” (Camus 100). By using both visual and auditory imagery, Camus creates a positive tone in a negative

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