The Stranger

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Title: The Stranger, Published 1942

Author and Era: Albert Camus wrote The Stranger as a fictional expression of not only his philosophical concept of the absurd, but also to underscore the relationship between man and nature. World War I had left the world ravaged and displayed the hostility of the world to the people. Camus had experienced the loss of his father due to World War I (Bloom, “The Story Behind the Story”). With the advent of World War II in such a short time between World War I, Camus felt the indifference of the universe first hand, as did many other citizens of the world. Witnessing the Nazi-occupation of France along with the atrocities committed by the Nazis, Camus felt the need to address the palpable human despair in …show more content…

Camus has a lot of negative and pessimistic inspiration to draw from, so this comes as no surprise. The world Camus formulates in The Stranger was one to emphasize the indifference of the universe to man and his actions. Camus displays this furthermore through the indifferent and apathetic attitude of the main character, Mersault. This becomes apparent at the start of the novel, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” (Camus 3). Camus characterizes Mersault immediately and I realized this as soon as I realized this was a first person novel. The entire book builds of the idea of his apathetic attitude to his mother’s death. Mersault lacks remorse not because he is a psychopath, but rather he is cognizant of the absurdity of the world. Mersault’s belief of the lack of order in the universe is channeled into his worldview. Grief is pointless according to Mersault and this is how Camus underlines the absurdist philosophy. Camus’ use of extensive details into seemingly mundane events highlights the naturalistic style of the story. Whether Camus is describing Mersault’s room or how he passes days while he is in prison, naturalistic style exudes from the

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