Man’s Confounding Relationship With an Unresponsive Universe
Humanity has continuously fumbled around in the dark, searching for a light that may shed knowledge on the plethora of questions we constantly ask ourselves. Unfortunately, the universe is often reluctant to answer these questions. How do we respond? By stumbling around in the dark together, attempting to explain the silence through philosophy and religion, conceiving humanity’s strongest ideas. From Plato’s enlightened theory of the forms to Nietzsche’s pessimistic ideals of nihilism, humanity has often found means to express our own condition. Camus, author of The Stranger, elaborates on the idea of the truly absurd, which is an existentialist philosophy explaining man’s accidental,
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Throughout the novel, Frankenstein occasionally blames fate to his unfortunate downfall, but it is still highly evident that he is missing a sense of structure within his own life. Recalling the events of his past, Frankenstein convinces himself that “natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated [his] life” (Shelley 35). From the beginning, Frankenstein continuously claims a lack of control over his own life. Additionally, Frankenstein laments over his torment when working on a second, female monstrosity, hoping that once he is “enfranchised from [his] miserable slavery, [he] might claim Elizabeth and forget the past…” (Shelley 152). Comparing his second experimentation to slavery, Shelley clearly creates a protagonist that not only blames fate for his wrongdoings, but also maintains little authority over life’s decisions. Similarly, Mearsault effectively acts as a detached bystander within the toiling mechanizations of life, observing and acting without appearing to hold full dominion over his own life. The famous words that begin The Stranger already reveal absurdist/existential ideas the novel is full of, stating that “Mamam died today. Or yesterday maybe...that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday” (Camus 1). Mearsault’s passive demeanor reveals …show more content…
To explain, in Frankenstein, the monstrosity suffers a pitiful existence in solitude, expressing an intense desire for companionship as a means to end his own suffering. During the initial stages of his existence, the monster observes the social conventions of humanity by watching a small family. “What chiefly struck me is the manners of these people,” he ponders, “and I longed to join them” (Shelley 109). As a response to his own isolation, the monster initially holds a passionate desire to connect with other beings; when he is withheld from such an opportunity, rage and hatred consume the monstrosity. Eventually, Frankenstein longs for a companion to commiserate with; an individual “whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being” (Shelley 144). Shelley reveals an imperative relationship man must have with society, and suffocating oneself from these conventions only results in misery. However, unlike a literal sense of solitude, Camus’ protagonist remains figuratively isolated from humanity, acting with immense passivity when concerning the events of his own life. When holding the vigil for his own mother, Mearsault claims that he couldn’t hear the other attendees at the vigil, stating “it was hard for me to believe they really existed” (Camus 9). The statement reflects the idea that one can be aware of their own existence, but
As the monster carries on with his life, he understands that he is not in control of his future, and in his mind, the De Lacey family are, "Superior beings who would be the arbiters of my future destiny" (Shelley 115). He has acknowledged his disengagement and comprehends his dismissal, which compels the readers to feel pity and remorse for the Creature, inevitably making his fall into abhorrence more sensational and shocking. " When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned? I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me. I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge." (Shelley
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
A stranger is also someone who looks and acts strangely which is fitting to Meursault. Meursault never shows emotion and finds it annoying when people do. At his mother’s funeral he gets annoyed of a lady he didn’t
In the The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault serves as the protagonist as well as the narrator. Throughout the book his nonchalant personality becomes evident as he is presented with various situations which are expected to significantly change one’s life. However, such circumstances have an insignificant effect on Meursault's character. His mother’s death, his apathy towards Marie’s marriage proposal, and his final sentence serve to reveal Meursault's character and further develops the themes of absurdity and the irrationality of the norms of our society.
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.
The Stranger Essay The common person values his or her existence, and expects to live a long and full life. Meursault’s view is quite the contrary, showing how he does not value his existence, or when and how it will end. It is all the same to Meursault in the end. “Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter.
Camus’s “The Stranger” causes us to question the laws and ideals put in place in our own world. The book implicitly questions much that has long been accepted about human relationships--that one should reciprocate, sympathize, and honor convention. To Camus, these expectations are absurd and unrealistic because they are human constructs. As an adherent to existentialism, Camus would argue that the only thing that matters is living for the present without regard to arbitrary moral standards. In his novel, he explores this idea through the character of Meursault, a decidedly passive character who discovers the greater truth at the end of the novel.
Camus generates a man who is so honest that his honesty is his only admirable trait. Meursault, an anti-hero is an inconspicuous and nonchalant man who does not believe in god – though he believes in physical pleasures. Such physical pleasures are taken away as he is imprisoned for murder. Meursault only aware of his previous liberties and happiness after his imprisonment. The notion of existentialism is used throughout The Stranger to expose the true and cold nature of humans – Meursault is the perfect example of the truth in the face of society.
The Stranger written by Albert Camus is an absurdist novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault. A major motif in the novel is violence. There are various places where violence takes place and they lead to the major violent act, which relates directly to the theme of the book. The major violent act of killing an Arab committed by Meursault leads to the complete metamorphosis of his character and he realizes the absurdity of life.
Camus Influencing Meursault’s Absurdist Lifestyle In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the author incorporated his own philosophical belief of absurdism into his works. Absurdism is searching for meaning in a meaningless life. Craig Belanger, the writer of Camus’ biography, states that “according to Absurdism, just about everything, even action, is meaningless.” Camus strongly believed this philosophy; therefore, most of his books have an absurdist theme subsumed in them.
Some men have gone insane trying to comprehend the universe and their own existence. The Stranger by profound author Albert Camus follows a man detached from existence, just going through the motions of life. Camus wanted to share his take on life through a piece of literature, he accomplished this through this book.. Written in 1942, The Stranger is an odd tale that puts life in a different perspective, and invokes thought.. The Stranger by Albert Camus illustrates the journey of a man named Meursault who ultimately learns that life is all there is and that religion is false hope.
At the point when Albert Camus' novel, The Stranger, was first distributed in 1942, numerous readers did not comprehend what to consider Meursault, the morally separated character of Camus' novel. His absurdist confused the people around him and made them question his meaningless actions throughout the book. It was not just the characters who did not comprehend Meursault very well, it was the readers also. The characters in Camus' novel didn’t seem to understand Meursault’s reasoning. Camus titled this novel, fitting to the main character, Meursault, who is isolated from companions, society, and even himself, because of his different morals and standards.
This seemingly illogical and at times frustrating way of thinking is what drives the entire novel. Therefore, in "The Stranger", Albert Camus portrays the main character Meursault as the perfect existentialist, demonstrating that life is not only absurd but meaningless as well. In the novel, Meursault's situations are described in a unique fashion in the sense that there is no emotional attachment to any of it; only the physical aspects of every situation are recorded or thought by Meursault, which shows the depth of his existentialistic personality. Throughout the novel Meursault's physical description of things provide the reader with not only the plot of the story but a deeper look into the absurdness of life that Camus believes in.
In The Stranger, author Albert Camus portrays the meaning of the title by emphasizing the idea of isolation in the main character, Meursault. Isolation is present in Meursault during his mother’s funeral, his relationship with Marie, and his trial. The first major event in The Stranger that
Albert Camus wrote The Stranger during the Existentialist movement, which explains why the main character in the novel, Meursault, is characterized as detached and emotionless, two of the aspects of existentialism. In Meursault, Camus creates a character he intends his readers to relate to, because he creates characters placed in realistic situations. He wants the reader to form a changing, ambiguous opinion of Meursault. From what Meursault narrates to the reader in the novel, the reader can understand why he attempts to find order and understanding in a confused and mystifying world.