The Stranger

Meursault contradicts society's expectations. He does not indicate any signs of grief at the funeral and is therefore labeled a monster, thereby threatening the level of morality that has been instilled into the other members of society. Meursault's ideology concerning life has led him to deny the idea of a god or of an afterlife. Meursault's ideas threaten the ideas passed down by the Catholic Church in the Algerian society. There is no proof of an afterlife and therefore no purpose to worship a god.

“As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really” (Camus 122-123). On the dawn of his execution, the hopeless and confused Meursault understands the universal truth and meaning of life. Albert Camus’s The Stranger summarizes the themes and messages of the entire novel in these forty-eight words. In these final words, Albert Camus is able to point out many ideas and philosophies that could enlighten man. This final quote from Albert Camus’s The Stranger reveals absurdist philosophies and illuminates an universal truth that is simple yet difficult to comprehend.

“The Stranger” by Albert Camus follows the story of an apathetic and withdrawn man, Meursault, as he easily cruises through life with the belief that he is indifferent to the universe. The novel begins with Meursault receiving news that his mother had passed away. Immediately after traveling to the funeral, and not showing an ounce of emotion, Meursault engages in an unemotional relationship with a woman named Marie. His moral bankruptcy and emotionally detached demeanor stays constant throughout the majority of the novel, even after committing murder and being sentenced to death. In fact, as a consequence of his sentencing Meursault has an epiphany and realizes that the universe is irrational and therefore indifferent to human life. This theme

The book The Stranger thematically coveys that society is the real sociopath that uses manipulation to always prove it’s right in the face of the individual’s different truth. People will always side with society over the individual due to society “never” being wrong. Throughout Meursault’s trial he sits there in the hot courtroom listening to the prosecutor talk about everything but his crime. He’s on trial for murder and it is expected of the prosecutor to paint Meursault as this horrible monster and Meursault knows that but he still isn’t able to take it.

In “The Strangers” the theme is an individual life has no rational meaning or order. Albert Camus uses the word and actions of Meursault to show how an individual does not care about life. He creates the character as a passive and things come upon him. The quote in “The Strangers”, “To another question [the director of the home] replied that he had been surprised by my calm the day of the funeral. He was asked what he meant by "calm." The director then looked down at the tips of his shoes and said that I hadn’t wanted to see Maman, that I hadn’t cried once, and that I had left right after the funeral without paying my last respects at her grave”, This quote shows that Meursault doesn’t even have any emotion for his mother’s death and when he’s at the funeral, he act like a normal being, just moving on as it just happened. Meursault is really insensitive to things happening around him, he believes life will move on and everyone will die later on in life. Meursault watches a girl get beat and doesn’t do anything about it because he does not care and he beats the girls to. When he goes to jail for killing an Arab, he is sentenced to death but it doesn’t matter to him as he imagine

Maybe it was yesterday" (Camus3). This quote clearly states that Meursault and his other were not close it might also seems as if he does not care about her death or even when she passed. Since he grew up not knowing about God he thought that life was meaningless and when you die you die. On her funeral he did not want to see her body and did not even cry. The reason why he did not cry was because he

Meursault is a psychologically detached man on trial for murder. However, it is ultimately his psychological detachment, not the murder of another man, that proves to be most damaging to his reputation and judicial case. Deemed a monster by society for his lack of emotion and general indifference, Meursault is sentenced to public execution by guillotine. The Stranger, a philosophical novel by Albert Camus, explores the concept of alienation as a result of failing to adhere to society’s accepted moral standards. Camus begins with the idea of extreme indifference in a world that expects deep human emotions and feelings, continues with the murder of the Arab man, and ends with the concept of human life ultimately having no grand meaning or importance

In the beginning of the book before brutality occurs, Camus depicts actions that set Meursault apart from humanity. When Meursault’s mother dies, he shows indifference because he is unsure of her age or when she dies, he smokes, and he drinks coffee. He also doesn’t care if he gets married to Marie. Emotionally, this portrays him as an outsider in society.

In this relationship, Camus presents Raymond with selfish-like characteristics for using Meursault for his own benefit and not returning the favor to Meursault.

“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don 't know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn 't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” (1.1.1) In The Stranger, Albert Camus sets the stage for the character of Meursault. Meursault, being the main character, portrays an individual who struggles with himself in functioning and reacting to daily situations. Meursault views the world with lack of meaning and disregard to the meaning of human life. His lack of remorse for his mother’s death is just one example of Meursault 's absurd behavior. However, the absurdity is heightened when he is put on

The stranger by Albert Campus initially portrays Meursault empathetic and disconnected with the mortality, but in the end Camus shows that perception of person can change when significant of human life can be understood while your own death is around. In the beginning of the novel, Meursault is stated to be like an infant, but eventually he is shown to gain more maturity due to being more connected to his surroundings. Though, throughout the novel Meursault seems to take a role of villain due to his empathetic and absurd behavior, but in contrast to he is deadly truthful who didn’t lie even save his own life and that is the reason Camus strives to potray Meursault as a heroic figure. The events that make significance impact on Meursault’s life are the death of his mother, death of Arab and ultimately his own death..

In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault is seen as a very unique character, but not in a good way. Throughout the novel, he continually fails to show normal human emotions to things like his mother’s death, Marie’s love, and the man he killed. Most people in his town, along with the reader at first, are not able to reason out his actions but as the final events of the novel unfold, the reader begins to see Meursault in a different light.

In The Stranger, Albert Camus writes about a detached yet normal man, Meursault, who encounters unusual situations that evidently leads to his demise. From cover to cover, it was established by the author that Meursault had an unusual way of thinking and that he was continuously revealing his peculiar perspective on life and death. Throughout the novel, Meursault is reminded of death and continues to be judged by everyone in the society that he lives in, for instance, when he was put on trial for shooting an Arab man. Camus writes about the main character by describing his absurdist mindset. It is through the focus of funeral scene, however, that Camus is able to formulate the values of the character and the society in which they live in. This scene was able to reveal Meursault’s perspective on life as well as death.

Meursault's character lives life day by day trying to get what he can out of it because he does not believe in life after death. Because of this meursault does not normally care too much for things that last. He is only focused on him living another day just like that of an animal trying to survive another day. That is why when Marie asks to marry him he says he does not care. Marriage is meant to last forever and since meursault lives his life day by day it would be only natural to not care about something that would last that long.

   The Stranger by Albert Camus was published in 1942. The setting of the novel is Algiers where Camus spent his youth in poverty. In many ways the main character, Meursault, is a typical Algerian youth. Like them, and like Camus himself, Meursault was in love with the sun and the sea. His life is devoted to appreciating physical sensations. He seems so devoid of emotion. Something in Meursault's character has appealed primarily to readers since the book's publication. Is he an absurd anti-hero? Is he a moral monster? Is he a rebel against a conventional morality? Critics and readers alike have disputed a variety of approaches to Meursault. I believe he is the embryo